Delivers Some Shocks, But Ultimately Just Hollow And Boring

Rating: 5/10 (11 May 2001)

Much like its contemporary "Fight Club", the film "American Psycho" attempts to express dissatisfaction with the status quo of modern society through shocking (and typically violent) means. However, while this intent can be applauded -- sometimes, it's good to shake things up a little -- the execution cannot. "American Psycho", for the most part, features unlikable, unsympathetic characters doing unlikable, unsympathetic things to one another, ultimately creating a film that's very difficult to care about . .. or to take seriously.
Based on the overrated novel by Bret Easton Ellis, "American Psycho" is the story of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a young, handsome Wall Street stock broker who's finding it more and more difficult to deal with how utterly hypocritical and fake his life has become. He hates the world so much, he doesn't feel like a real person, so the only way he knows how to feel real is by committing acts of sadistic depravity -- rape, torture, and murder. The ironic thing is, Bateman doesn't try to cover his tracks particularly well -- he almost wants to get caught -- but no one else believes he's capable of such heinous acts; after all, how could such a young, good-looking successful man be such a monster?
The problem with "American Psycho" lies with the psycho himself -- Bateman. Christian Bale does an admirable job with the character, considering how badly the part is written, but the fact of the matter is that Bateman is never a particularly sympathetic protagonist. Yes, the people he tortures and kills are a bunch of unpleasant, two-faced hypocrites, but considering that Bateman is really no better than they are, there's no way of understanding, let alone condoning, his actions. He also has options besides becoming a serial killer, obvious (and more positive) options. Think about it -- Bateman's been given more opportunities (money, friends, intelligence) than most people can ever even dream of in his life, and he chooses just to squander them as an Ed Gein-wannabe? Come on. Another problem is that Bateman is far too sane. He's nuts enough to think up some incredibly sick stuff to do to people, but he's rational enough to realize what he's doing is wrong. It may not have made him more sympathetic, but it might have made the character slightly more believable if he'd been crazier, thinking that his sick actions were just as rational as the mundane, boring things he did at work. (A subplot involving the idea that Bates isn't actually killing anybody -- all the murders are just in his head -- helps to make the film a little more believable, but not by much.) The result? One mean-spirited person kills a bunch of other mean-spirited people. Who cares?

Visually, the film's fine. Director Mary Harron moves the film along at a smooth pace, flipping with great style between false notes of security and genuinely disturbing. However, since the disturbing elements are diluted by the fact that it's difficult to care at all about the characters involved in "American Psycho", some tremendous efforts in regards to cinematography and editing get wasted. Ditto the performance of the actors -- as mentioned above, Christian Bale is very good as Bates, Willem Dafoe is good as the criminally under-used private investigator Donald Kimball . . . but no actor or actress on the face of the Earth could ever make any these characters remotely interesting, likable, or for that matter, watchable.

"American Psycho" deserves some credit for trying to be daring, but it's ultimately an emotionally hollow film filled with some oddly gratuitous, clinically detached violence. Pass this one up. Grade: C-