How to rate? Quite simple really. Be fair and just and the same will happen to you eventually. I rat...
How to rate? Quite simple really. Be fair and just and the same will happen to you eventually. I rate it as I see it, I can be a bit blunt and to the point and very opinionated.
C'est moi!
Member since:05.03.2001
Reviews:15
Members who trust:34
I have long been a big fan of Bret Easton Ellis’s cult book of the same name. I looked forward to the release of this flick more than any other film in the last year. I was intrigued to see how they could possibly convert such a disturbing and at the same time witty novel onto the screen.
Then, as usual with most major adaptations, the rumour mill started up to speculate who would take the lead role of Patrick Bateman, the egotistical Jeckyl & Hyde yuppie at the centre of Ellis’s novel. Initially it looked likely that the lady boy would get it but thankfully they came to their senses and plumped for a far more convincing actor in Christian Bale.
With the highly respected Mary Harron in the director’s chair it looked promising to actually get a reasonably close transfer onto the screen. So I sat back and waited.
•The Film
Patrick Bateman seems like your run-of-the-mill 80’s New York yuppie. He has it all, a high paying Vice President in a major organisation (where he doesn’t seem to ever do any work), he wines and dines every night and has an exclusive apartment with a wardrobe to die for. Sounds perfect, but Patrick
isn’t a happy bunny.
He is by the strict definition of the word, a Psychopath. This means he has a deficiency in his emotions, which is replaced by violent and unpredictable behaviour, for which he feels no remorse or consequences. HE is also a very competitive guy, even when it comes down to trivial things such as business cards. He has to have the very best. If he can’t then he does something about it!
He an obsessive person, and keeps to a set routine of exercise and cleansing to keep his looks. As a social comment on the time it is a stinging indictment of the 80’s really. Very shallow and promoting physical looks and money above all else. So they got that spot on then.
The film follows Patrick as he gradually descends deeper into chaos. Other characters are introduced but are not particularly important. Reece Witherspoon puts in a useful turn as his annoying fiancée and Willem DeFoe pops up now and again as a detective investigating the disappearance of one of Patrick’s colleagues. Both characters are fairly unimportant to the film as it is Patrick’s reactions and erratic behaviour which are truly the interesting and funny hooks of the film.
Yes, you didn’t read it wrong. This is a comedy, albeit a particularly black one at that. This has an 18 certificate for a very good reason, as anyone who has seen the trailer will doubtless already know (why do they insist on showing so much of the film in it!). The gory scenes are necessary for the film but thankfully have been toned down a touch from Ellis’s book. Some of them would have been impossible to convert to the screen anyway and would have detracted from the comedic element of the film.
You will never be able to listen to Huey Lewis & the News in the same way again. His fascination with music just outlines his obsessive personality, which can move from subject to subject instantly.
•Is it any good then?
This is a very difficult question to answer. My personal opinion of the film is that it is a good adaptation of the book but it could still have done more. It left me with an empty feeling that the book did not. Again, to have fully transferred the book onto film would have been impossible but there was a lot of depth in his character that was left out nonetheless. For me the film gets four stars.
The problem though is that the film is not easy to adjust to. Some of the scenes are fairly graphic and will put off many people from watching the rest of the film. Overall it isn’t really that accessible to the film going public at large and will only appeal to those people who have read Ellis’s book first. It’s humour is dark and can be easily missed. Many people around me who went to watch it just didn’t get the fact that it was a comedy. For the points I’m going to give it three stars.
Not a bad attempt, but could’ve done much better.
• The DVD
Features on this Region 2 DVD include the following:
- 2.35:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format (it will stretch to fit the screen) Personally I really deteste watching any film not in anamorphic format now i've got quite used to it. - Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (English only). - Deleted Scenes. A few of the scenes that were left on the editing room floor. I can see why them left all of them out really, as they wouldn't have added much to the film (but would have added too much time on top of the 100 minutes as it stands now). - Cast & Crew Interviews (on the set). Particularly good interview with the Director Mary Harron. One of the better interview features i've seen on a Region 2 DVD as they give a nice insight into the making of the film. Not just the run of the mill interviews to promote the film that you normally get. - Theatrical Trailer
Not the worst DVD i've had so far, but not the best either. I'd recommend renting the film out first before buying this on DVD. The DVD features won't keep you coming back to watch it time and again, but the film itself may do.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
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Brilliant film but it depends on your taste! - I loved every second although I still have not seen the second movie, I will have to check it out. Nice Op! (SC)
MRSCANADA 09.04.2002 05:46
I can't believe I read a page..but your reviews were so interesting..I've added you to my alert..LL
Brett Easton Ellis established a reputation as theenfant terribleof American fiction in ... more
the 1980s with his controversial novelLess than Zero, but with the publication ofAmerican Psychohe became established as one of the most notorious and reviled novel...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Advantages: Christian Bale is superb, film full of suspense and humour within well worked violent scenes. Disadvantages: Apparentely not as true to the book as many would have liked. Horrible 80's soundtrack.
Mercury 23.01.2001 (24.01.2001)
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Ciao members have rated this review on average: very helpful
Review of American Psycho (DVD)
Advantages: Something to watch (and pick holes in) when you're bored Disadvantages: Horror/comedy doesn't work, no depth to the plot, predictable, unbelievable
![American Psycho [2000] [VHS]](http://picnica.ciao.com/uk/83952334.jpg "American Psycho [2000] [VHS]")
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