Wall Street in the late 1980s. Cocaine is ubiquitous, mobile phones are huge and image is everything. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a typical city high-flyer, working in mergers and acquisitions (misheard early on in the movie and resulting in the quote used in my title) and obsessed with health, fitness and fashion. But Patrick has another, secret obsession. He has uncontrollable homicidal urges, mainly against women, and is a brutal murderer, having already murdered numerous prostitutes and ex-girlfriends.
Bateman’s crimes have gone un-noticed, until he kills his colleague, Paul Allen (Jared Leto). Then, Detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe) gets wind of the situation and appears to be on Bateman’s case.
American Psycho is based on the book of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis. On its release, the book caused huge controversy, due to its graphic descriptions of depraved acts of murder and sexual violence. Although the film
is violent and bloody, much of the actual violence is depicted by implication only. We see Patrick wielding an axe above someone’s head, and then seconds later covered in blood. This movie is not, however, for the faint hearted as there are still images of unpleasant murderous acts and sexual violence. One scene, early on in the movie, where Bateman murders a homeless man’s dog is particularly upsetting, but other scenes are almost comical, for example as a naked Patrick chases a prostitute down the stairs wielding a chainsaw, fuelled by his recent viewing of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”.
I struggled, at times, with the point of this movie and it left me with more questions than answers. My interpretation was that it was a satire on the image-obsessed yuppie existence of the era and its main point was to demonstrate that the people in Patrick’s world were so totally self-obsessed that he was able to literally get away with murder under their noses. This belief held true almost until the end of the film when a throwaway comment by one of the characters makes us doubt almost everything we have just seen, leaving us with an extremely ambiguous ending.
I have nothing against films that make you think and leave you to draw your own conclusions, but, for me, the scenes leading up to the unusual ending did not give enough food for thought (although perhaps I need to watch the movie again in the light of what I now know in order to understand it fully).
The movie’s strongest point, for me, was its ironic depiction of the image conscious lifestyle that Patrick and his colleagues lead. There is a particularly funny scene where the men compare their new business cards in order to see whose is the most stylish, and there are other jokes such as Patrick’s constant failure to secure a booking at one of the city’s most exclusive restaurants. Patrick is also obsessed by the music of the era, and delivers monologues about the merits of albums by artists such as Whitney Houston, Genesis and Huey Lewis and the News – often as he is about to murder an unsuspecting houseguest. This incongruity only serves to make the situations even more ridiculous.
The movie has an excellent soundtrack that should appeal to anyone who is a fan of 1980s music and you will be pleased to know that it encompasses a wider range of styles than the list of artists previously mentioned.
Christian Bale’s performance is excellent and he has a body-builder physique that perfectly complements the role. He is ably supported by a cast that includes Chloe Sevigny as Patrick’s secretary Jean, who is clearly madly in love with him, and Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis and Guinevere Turner as just a few of the women in his life. Willem Dafoe also delivers a good performance as Det. Kimball, but his character mysteriously fades into obscurity towards the end of the film, leaving us with yet another unsatisfactory ending.
I wanted to like this movie, and whilst I was watching it I did enjoy it, as despite the violence it is quite entertaining to watch. However, it ultimately left me feeling unsatisfied.
Recommended, but it won’t change your world.
The film seems expensive, with the DVD currently retailing at £18.99 on Amazon and the VHS version at £13.49. However, we recently purchased it as part of a 5 DVDs for £30 in Virgin Megastore, so if you fancy buying it, it may well show up in another similar promotion soon.
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Excellent review. I only recently watched this film as I was always a little unsettled by the book - I did actually find the film hilarious though, I couldn't work out if it was supposed to be funny or not....
rednirt 13.07.2006 12:28
A nice, thought provoking review. I do have to add though that the film may lack a little in direction and purpose, but I think to truly understand the piece you have to read the book. I found it very powerful indeed.
bwsr2 11.12.2004 23:06
Given the very dark nature of the book, I thought the Director did a superb job on this film. I would agree that there were a number of ambiguous scenes and loose ends but given the starting material, that was always likely to be the case. However, this review was extremely comprehensive and very helpful- Thanks, Bruce (bwsr2)
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...
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Advantages: A nice critical stab at the greed and shallowness that was the 1980's Disadvantages: Nowhere near as detailed and as enjoyable as the book was, and the ending was a bit unclear
Slim_Lee 06.03.2001 (16.03.2001)
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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]")
May 5th, 2004
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