Customer Reviews

American Psycho

5 star:		(97)
4 star:		(63)
3 star:		(33)
2 star:		(20)
1 star:		(37)

 

 

I just want to tell that is not an horror movie. So if you hate it because you hate horror movies, you have it all wrong. It is an extraordinary satire and it is full of dark humor. Just take a look at the "singing in the rain" murder with Bateman in raincoat. Wow! Great! And Christian Bale is, as usual, really excellent.

Mary Harron's film is a depiction of the Bret Easton Ellis (Rules of Attraction, Less Than Zero) controversial novel of the same name. It's only significant difference is that it leaves out some of the more gruesome scenarios in Ellis's book. I'm not sure whether that's a drawback or not but there was some rage missing in our killer's actions. The film operates as a first person narrative and contains the same kind of oddball combinations of extreme violence and dark humor. This kind of humor is exactly my kind of humor, so I laughed at American Psycho throughout. Mary Harron also seemed to recognize that the novel was old enough that she should approach the film as a period piece and she executes this well. Everything about this movie feels like the late 1980s. She creates a virtual remake of the novel as I pictured it in my head years ago. From what I understand Harron also fought hard to keep the role of Patrick Bateman (the title character and the story's protagonist) in the capable hands of Christian Bale. Bale is outstanding here and Harron really seems to be a directorial force with her actors.

Patrick Bateman is a 27 year-old wealthy and successful investor. He is clearly a product of a privileged and ultra-competitive background. We follow him around and listen to all of his observations of the world he lives in. This is of course the yuppie culture of the 1980s. Perhaps Bateman is the extreme yuppie and a harbinger to the ills of this socially produced subgroup and the culture they exist in. As it turns out his world features the substantiality that he is indeed a murderer. Unfortunately no one seems to notice this, despite his blatant and at times hilariously dry claims that he is a psycho. Evidence of his murders also seemed to disappear quite easily. American Psycho, like the novel, is a great satire that might leave viewers with some frustrating questions in the end. What was real and what was imaginary?

The rest of the cast includes Wilem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny, and Reese Witherspoon. All are fairly effective within their roles but the film weighed heavily on Bale's performance. He understands Patrick Bateman and makes the character the mind-blowingly shallow and overly competitive monster he is.

The thing that surprises me most is that a great female director like Harron decided to take on a story so pervasively accused of misogyny. Harron's other films are about a radical feminist (Valerie Salanas in I Shot Andy Warhol) and an icon of women's liberation (Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page). I almost think she intentionally went against the grain here to break out of the mold Hollywood can often create for women and minority directors. Good for her. Her movies are interesting and American Psycho is a stand-out.

Perhaps it is my dark humour, but I've always enjoyed this film. Never take it too seriously, however. If you're looking for a dark satire about Wall Street and corporate America in the '80s, you've got it. Plus, Christian Bale is beyond excellent. Rarely have I been disappointed with any of his films. Reese Witherspoon's character is a bit like her Legally Blonde one later, just slightly less ditzy (and far less pink).

Worth at least one watch, but I'd recommend buying it.

My evaluation of this monstrously nasty film is that the director Harron is on another one of her grand experiments with modern filming. This time she's found another questionable American archetype - the successfully wealthy, greedy, amoral investor banker from Wall Street - and elevated him in god-like fashion, only to have him ruthlessly destroy himself by yielding to the worst vice possible: a serious lack of respect for life. How she contrives this story makes the movie worth watching. Everything in the story line is a metaphor for what has gone wrong in the Age of Reaganomics, where the lust for money is truly in Harron's mind the root of all evil. We get to see Patrick Bateman, at the pinacle of power, portrayed as someone who can order people around, assume different identifies, flaut rules, and dispense with life in whatever fashion he chooses. His lifestyle, right from the start of the film, is so deranged and outrageous that the viewer can't help but offer a helpless laugh at such homicidal insanity. Call it gallows humor but as a device it helps introduce the viewer to the subject of gratuitious violence in a disarming way. While every decent person should be outrightly disgusted at such fiendishly, indecent behaviour on the big screen, some of us aren't. There is a part of us - the soft underbelly of our existence - that wants to laugh, and that's okay. In Harron's mind, this twisted film says as much about how people react to violence as about the untold misery its heaps on society. As Bateman goes on his homicidal mission to answer to the uncontrolled urge to kill, we get to see how the world around him responds. Now, I found that lack of care, concern, and compassion to be the real issue in this flick. Harron does a remarkable job in showing society as individually fixated on success that it can't for one moment exercise the responsibility of being one's brother's keeper. Get beyond the shock value of this movie and there might be something of value to learn about life in modern America. I have been advised to read Easton Ellis's novel-version in order to get a stronger sense of how alienated the individual has become in modern times. Overall, a entertaining watch but still a chilling reminder of the dark side of life.

I've finally caught a full viewing of the "American Psycho" because every time it came on TV I would usually catch it towards the end then turn it off. First I must say I found the title somewhat misleading as I fully expected it to be another slasher flick, but it's actually a psychological thriller with a dash of satire.

Christian Bale, as Patrick Bateman, gives a striking performance as a young, wealthy Wall Street yuppie, representing corporate America in the 1980's, where he and his peers are obsessed with getting into the trendiest restaurants and which of them possess the finest business cards. They all have the same haircut and wear the same business suits, rendering them nearly interchangeable and making for frequent cases of mistaken identity.

Bateman, whose idea of foreplay is pontificating on the merits of his favorite 1980's songs, is disgusted with his fellow man's lust for material status and conformity. Lacking emotion, he acts on impulse and murders co-workers and clueless prostitutes while maintaining the facade of shallow, materialistic conformity. Unfortunately, the shallow lifestyle is the very thing that leaves him feeling empty inside and provokes the killings.

The conclusion of the film leaves it to the audience to determine whether Bateman actually murdered anyone or if he merely fantasized the killings. Perhaps it was yet another case of mistaken identity, one which allowed Bateman to get away with murder. Of course American Psycho II (which I saw before part one) answers the question of whether or not he was a murderer. The movie was violent, but not as much of the book. However, I think blood and gore would have taken away from the overall satire of the film by turning it into a campy horror movie. The film had a not-so-clear subtext: The absurdity of the killer's actions and motives equal that of the rich, corporate, snob's. Directed by a woman, American Psycho is a thought-provoking study of the inner workings of a dark and twisted mind. It's a good one to watch especially for the price that Amazon is placing it for.

While American Psycho may seem a little dated now, it is still right on the money when it comes to corporate America's greed, corruption and materialism. If you want some top notch satire with a dark and violent twist, American Psycho is your film. The surreal nature of the film brings it to a higher level than your run of the mill social commentary. American Psycho is a must see for any non-conformist who appreciates cutting wit.

This is a pretty good movie. Christian Bale is great, and there are some very funny moments. The director Mary Herron deserves credit for salvaging something out of Brett Easton Ellis's vomit-inducing novel.
That is my real goal for posting this review: warning viewers to steer far clear of the book. Trust me, I am doing a valuable public service. You may be curious about the book because you liked the movie, but STAY AWAY! The book is a big, heaping, stinking pile of trash. If you thought the movie was voilent, you ain't seen nothing yet. Unlike the movie, the "satire" of the book gets utterly lost within scene after scene of depravity. You have been warned. Flipping through this book is like peeking into Ellis's toilet several hours after he ate a very large meal. You might find some pages of his book floating in there too, because that's all it's good for.

I thought this was a great movie. It has dark comedy in it, but it is mainly a horror movie. I thought Christian Bale did a superb job as Patrick Bateman. The movie was directed by Mary Herron, and was done really well. The cast includes Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, and Willem Dafoe.

'American Psycho' is about a rich businessman Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) who, during the day anyway is a charming guy, but sometimes he just wants to kill whenever he feels the urge.

DVD Features include Production notes, Theatrical Trailers, Making of 'American Psycho', and a Christian Bale interview. Overall this DVD is worth every penny you pay for it.

Crazy. Confusing. Entertaining. Funny ('feed me a stray cat'). Totally bizarre! This is simply an awesome film! Bale gives a perfect performance of Patrick Bateman, if you've read the book you'll know what to expect, its not exactly the sort of film your mother would enjoy but i really urge everyone to see this movie. The supporting cast all do their jobs well (look out for a young reese witherspoon) but Bale well and truly steals the show and is so effortlessly ingaging as Bateman i have found myself watching films purely if he is in them. Check out the memorable quotes to see some of the great one liners to be found in this truly spectacular film.

The film is thought provoking and to a degree quite scary as it makes you really think about the normal looking guy at work that little bit different. A must see.

Patrick Bateman: A 25 years old, 6'2", Christian Bale.

American Psycho...murder, clubs, sex, drugs, and 80's right? Wrong. A lot of people saw the title and must of thought about 'oh just another kill movie.' No. American Psycho is not a killing spree movie. It is a well plotted film, and since being a huge fan of the book, I thought this movie hit the book like a hammer on a nail. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is smart, intelligent, rich, and lives the life that most people can only dream of. He is everything I thought of Patrick Bateman in the book. A couple of things that they missed was Patrick Bateman's excessive details; The Patty Winters Show, and what he wears and what his friends wear. I guess that the screeplay writers didnt want to bore the audidence with his excessive detail about everything he see's as in the book. The story takes place in NYC in the 80's with him going to fancy dinners, and work. Although we dont know what he does since Bret Easton Ellis didnt want to tell us what Patrick Bateman did for a living. So there are times where he does talk to his fiancee Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon, which I think she tried a little to hard during the upsetting parts in the film), and he is always mistakn for someone who works wirh him since they all look alike; slick back hair, designer clothes, nice bodies, and good looks. Some of the disturbing parts is when he does kill, but I felt that the movie was not too violent enough like the book. The book was full of gore and I didnt mind seeing it in the movie, and the sex scenes were not up to par with the scenes in the book, but if it was then, American Psycho would of have been rated XXX because the scenes in the book describe sex like it is shown in XXX rated films. In all, the movie was beautifully described and tell told. Now in the end, it is where you have to think, bur I am not going to spoil the ending because it is very strange but yet very entertaining.