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Trevor Reznik has been deteriorating for a year, he has become an insomniac. It has been a year since has he has enjoyed what it feels like to sleep. He has the same routine, he goes to work, meets a hooker, and then goes to a local cafe where he talks to the waitress. This is all he has, until one day he meets a new mysterious co-worker named Ivan. Trevor believes that for some reason or another Ivan is out to destroy his life. Trevor begins to investigate the situation and everything is not what it seems. Trevor finds himself the center of delusion, paranoia and exhaustion. In his state of mind there is a fine line between imagination and what is actually real.
Trevor Reznik is the definition of a walking dead man. His face is sunken in, the bags under his eyes are dark, and his ribs are visible through his skin. Trevor looks terrible. His life is in shambles, he doesn’t really live for much. He sticks to his everyday routine and keeps to himself. Until one day after an accident at work, Trevor feels that everyone is out to get him. He doesn’t know how to react, he just keeps trying to avoid any and all conflicts, but the pressure just keeps building. Trevor’s life is spiralling out of control and there is absolutely nothing he can do about it.
The film has dark images, sexual references, a not so deep attempt to be deep. This film is clichéd in many aspects. The first scene gives a major clue, the story progresses exactly how you think it will. Still through all the clichéd aspects, it still has a touch of honesty. Whether it is how bad Christian Bale made himself look for the role, or much you just cannot help but want to know more about Trevor. Trevor is that character that is down to earth his life isn’t perfect, yet we find ourselves assuming the worst of this guy. Trevor isn’t made out to be the hero in the situation. The film goes the complete opposite way with Trevor and kudos for that. To be extremely critical of this film would mean it would get a bad rating. There was a lot missing in this film. They exposed the plot way too quickly. They added way to many characters into a short film. Despite all these faults, the characters from Christian Bale and Jennifer Jason Leigh were played honestly. There were no added elements to these simple characters. They were easy going, they weren’t perfect, they had normal human feeling. They felt connected to each other. As Trevor explodes on everyone that is in his life, you begin to feel sorry for Stevie . She cared for him and he being messed couldn’t quite see that.
Despite seeing the outcome from the beginning, it still is a good ending in a sense. This film is a lot like Memento (Which I wasn’t impressed with) but this film did manage to give us a very simple plot with some disturbing images of a man who let himself go. Bale and Leigh are good in their scenes, but all in all this film misses the key elements to be a solid film. Still a decent film, that isn’t long, and if you want to watch it and enjoy two good performances then go for it. Just don’t expect it to be amazingly well twisted.
7/10
