American Psycho
2.5/4
Starring: Chrisitan Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Theroux, Matt Ross, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Bill Sage
The version of the film being reviewed is the unrated one. For the record, the theatrical cut was rated R for Strong Violence, Sexuality, Drug Use, and Language
For about half the film, "American Psycho" has all the elements of a evilly funny black comedy: biting satire, vicious humor, despicable characters and a director who pulls no punches. Of course, this isn't really enough for a 90 minute movie, so director Mary Harron shifts gears and turns the film into a psychological thriller (albeit a somewhat unorthodox one). But for that to happen, we have to have some sympathy for the central character. But since he's Patrick Bateman, that's not possible.
Patrick Bateman (Bale) is one of the great psychos in film history. He's a narcissist to the extreme, shockingly superficial, and kills people as a way of soothing his hatred for the yuppie monsters he is surrounded by. These include his co-workers Timothy Bryce (Theroux), Craig McDermott (Lucas), David Van Patten (Sage) and Luis Carruthers (Ross), his fiancee (in her mind) Evelyn Williams (Witherspoon), and his drugged out squeeze, Courtney Rawlinson (Mathis) and his rival, the super-obnoxious Paul Allen (Leto). Patrick, who, by his own admission, has no emotion but "greed and disgust" despises all of them to no end, resorts to murder to vent his rage.
Apart from Patrick's loyal secretary Jean (Sevigny) and a prostitute he dubs "Christie," there isn't a single likable character in this movie. Everyone here is so despicable and disgusting that they deserve what they get, or if they don't get it, you'll wish they did. These are not people one would want to be hanging around with (except perhaps to mooch money off of). While it doesn't make for a pleasant movie going experience, such deplorable people make the perfect breeding ground for a comedy as black as this.
The acting is exceptional. Christian Bale is electrifying as the charismatic serial killer. With his perfectly sculpted body and long scowl, he looks the part of the self-absorbed maniac. But it's his considerable acting talent that sells the part. His deadpan delivery of his lines and, especially his laugh, drives the character home. Actually, the strength of his performance works against him during the second half. He's so good that it's impossible to regard him with anything but shock and the urge to vomit. Not the kind of person you'd wish wouldn't get caught for murdering untold amounts of people.
The rest of the cast does their jobs admirably, although in essence, they have the same goal: act like sociopaths and make us wish someone would bring the leaf shredder from "Fargo." The only ones who do get a measure of our sympathy are Jean, who is kind and loyal, and Christie, who is an innocent victim lured by Patrick (specifically, the green paper that he has).
Director Mary Harron directs this movie with both guns blazing. There are no sacred cows and there are no places she won't go to skewer an aspect of the "me first" mentality of the 1980's. The first half is viciously funny. The one-upmanship of their business cards, the extreme nature that Harron takes the characters and the biting lines that Bale delivers with relish (plus the fact that the characters he insults are too self-absorbed to get them. Or care, for that matter). Actually, this fearless approach ran the film afoul of the MPAA, although not for the reasons you might think. The violence was given the A-OK by the ratings board. What they found offensive was a non-explicit sexual threesome, that, ironically, was more important to the film than any of the gruesome murders. Go figure, huh?
Regardless, this is compelling viewing. I didn't exactly care for it, but a lot of people did. Although I can't for the life of me understand why people would call this film sexist. Patrick Bateman's venom is gender-indiscriminate.
Starring: Chrisitan Bale, Chloe Sevigny, Willem Dafoe, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Theroux, Matt Ross, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Bill Sage
The version of the film being reviewed is the unrated one. For the record, the theatrical cut was rated R for Strong Violence, Sexuality, Drug Use, and Language
For about half the film, "American Psycho" has all the elements of a evilly funny black comedy: biting satire, vicious humor, despicable characters and a director who pulls no punches. Of course, this isn't really enough for a 90 minute movie, so director Mary Harron shifts gears and turns the film into a psychological thriller (albeit a somewhat unorthodox one). But for that to happen, we have to have some sympathy for the central character. But since he's Patrick Bateman, that's not possible.
Patrick Bateman (Bale) is one of the great psychos in film history. He's a narcissist to the extreme, shockingly superficial, and kills people as a way of soothing his hatred for the yuppie monsters he is surrounded by. These include his co-workers Timothy Bryce (Theroux), Craig McDermott (Lucas), David Van Patten (Sage) and Luis Carruthers (Ross), his fiancee (in her mind) Evelyn Williams (Witherspoon), and his drugged out squeeze, Courtney Rawlinson (Mathis) and his rival, the super-obnoxious Paul Allen (Leto). Patrick, who, by his own admission, has no emotion but "greed and disgust" despises all of them to no end, resorts to murder to vent his rage.
Apart from Patrick's loyal secretary Jean (Sevigny) and a prostitute he dubs "Christie," there isn't a single likable character in this movie. Everyone here is so despicable and disgusting that they deserve what they get, or if they don't get it, you'll wish they did. These are not people one would want to be hanging around with (except perhaps to mooch money off of). While it doesn't make for a pleasant movie going experience, such deplorable people make the perfect breeding ground for a comedy as black as this.
The acting is exceptional. Christian Bale is electrifying as the charismatic serial killer. With his perfectly sculpted body and long scowl, he looks the part of the self-absorbed maniac. But it's his considerable acting talent that sells the part. His deadpan delivery of his lines and, especially his laugh, drives the character home. Actually, the strength of his performance works against him during the second half. He's so good that it's impossible to regard him with anything but shock and the urge to vomit. Not the kind of person you'd wish wouldn't get caught for murdering untold amounts of people.
The rest of the cast does their jobs admirably, although in essence, they have the same goal: act like sociopaths and make us wish someone would bring the leaf shredder from "Fargo." The only ones who do get a measure of our sympathy are Jean, who is kind and loyal, and Christie, who is an innocent victim lured by Patrick (specifically, the green paper that he has).
Director Mary Harron directs this movie with both guns blazing. There are no sacred cows and there are no places she won't go to skewer an aspect of the "me first" mentality of the 1980's. The first half is viciously funny. The one-upmanship of their business cards, the extreme nature that Harron takes the characters and the biting lines that Bale delivers with relish (plus the fact that the characters he insults are too self-absorbed to get them. Or care, for that matter). Actually, this fearless approach ran the film afoul of the MPAA, although not for the reasons you might think. The violence was given the A-OK by the ratings board. What they found offensive was a non-explicit sexual threesome, that, ironically, was more important to the film than any of the gruesome murders. Go figure, huh?
Regardless, this is compelling viewing. I didn't exactly care for it, but a lot of people did. Although I can't for the life of me understand why people would call this film sexist. Patrick Bateman's venom is gender-indiscriminate.
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