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American Psycho (21-Jan-2000)
Director: Mary Harron Writers: Mary Harron; Guinevere Turner From novel: American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis Keywords: Horror, Serial Killer, Dark Comedy, New York
REVIEWS Review by Walter Frith (posted on 7-Jun-2007) Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) will deceive you. To women, his astounding good looks,
fabulous wardrobe and knowledge of mergers and acquisitions will seem
irresistible. To men, his personality and personal life (at least what
they think they know about it), is one of envy. Patrick likes to make
mention of the fact that when women ask him what he's "in to" he says:
"Murders and executions, actually". From a distance across a nightclub
table with loud music playing, it sounds like "mergers and
acquisitions". There is much more to 'American Psycho' than this
description and the film's layers of artsy decorum crossed with bizarre
humour and lacerating violence makes for a film with an extraordinary
vision on the part of Mary Herron who captures the horrors of violence
as well as any director praised in the modern era. It's an old story,
but this is a film mostly for film buffs who know what makes a good mix
in the film industry and the average movie patron may discard it as
sick trash. This hurts the film somewhat because its limited appeal
will get lost in an ever increasing amount of film productions and a
film like this may end up as a needle in a hay stack, for lack of a
better term. Patrick Bateman has another passion. After luring his prey
to his yuppie pad in the heart of New York City, Bateman has the
seduction going perfectly. Champagne in the bedroom, a pleasant
atmosphere and he puts music on and critiques it in harmonious fashion
before killing his victims through strangulation, the use of sharp
instruments or chain saws.....all done with an intensity to bloody his
hardwood floors, muck up his white walls and clutter up his closet with
dismembered body parts. The film puts an interesting twist on the "me"
generation. Set in the heart of the 80's era of greed (1987 to be
exact), all of the familiar wardrobes, music and sets of that time come
back to show what times were like and how the human mind is capable of
so many dark and evil things. We get a sense early of Patrick's violent
tendencies when he goes to pick up his bed linen from a Chinese laundry
and shrieks at the fact that stains haven't been removed and he bellows
out: "I am going to kill you" to the owners of the laundry facility
after his frustration boils over from their inability to speak proper
English. His over reaction and ability to make a mountain out of a mole
hill make Patrick Bateman a character to be feared and Christian Bale
pulls off the role perfectly and you may recall him as the young boy
going through World War II in Steven Spielberg's 1987 effort 'Empire of
the Sun'. One thing that LOOKS like it will hurts this film is the lack
of participation on the part of the other characters. Willlem Dafoe
plays a police detective who investigates the murders that Patrick has
committed, Reese Witherspoon is his materialistic and semi-synthetic
fiancee and Chloe Sevigny is Patrick's executive assistant and Jared
Leto is a colleague of Bateman's in the high powered world of finance.
But as shallow as these characters are, the film works just fine for
one reason. The film is told from Bateman's point of view and his own
obsession with the violent aspects of his mind and the acts that come
about as a result of his fantasies shuts out all of the character's
grasps on his life to the extent of only rejoicing in his own violent
excess. 'American Psycho' was originally intended as a turn for Oliver
Stone to direct Leonardo DiCaprio. Given the fact that many consider
Stone's 'Natural Born Killers' a cult masterpiece, he would have been a
good choice but this film needed a fresh vision from a relatively
unknown film maker. It's one of those subjects that's been done too
often to put a familiar name in the director's chair and the fresher
the directing senses are for a film like this, the more likely it is to
rile up people to cause controversy and talk which will only increase
the film's success. The film has a conclusion that will throw you off
key somewhat in terms of what actually DID happen. The balance between
comedy and horror in this film is as difficult to pull off as a tight
rope walker balancing himself on a wire hanging over Niagara Falls. A
great deal of the credit for the film has to be given to editor Andrew
Marcus. He sharply enhances Bale's performance in the lead by inserting
his image routinely like a pop up target in many scenes to make the
audience truly recognize him as a hard boiled and classic movie
villain. Visit FILM FOLLOW-UP by Walter Frith
Locate a copy of this film here.
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