99% brilliant

Rating: 8/10 (30 October 2001)

I saw this movie when it first came out, and there were over twenty people in the theater, including me and my friend. By the time it was over, it had fallen to six, but we both thought that the film was, as a whole, a masterpiece. Yesterday, I rented it for the first time (since no one else will ever check it out) and watched it with another of my friends. Once again, totally blown away.
This IS indeed among the most underrated films to come out. It's got an amazing cast, amazing acting by the cast, and beautiful locations. On the other hand, it's one of the most gratuitous movies I've ever seen. Doesn't bother me in any way, but it's very easy to see why the Oscar committee might run and hide. One look at the threesome sex scene, and they were hiding under their seats.
The true beauty of this film comes out in the acting of Christian Bale, a virtual unknown. True, he had held a bit part in "Pocahontas" and the role of that kid Jack in "Newsies", but I doubt he'd want us to talk about that. The role of the psychotic, yet well organized Patrick Bateman came almost immediately after him being in a role as far to the other side of the spectrum as possible...Jesus. His incredible breadth is shown throughout such tense scenes as the business card showdown, the hilarious phone message ("I just had to kill a lot of people!"), and the disturbingly funny murder of Paul Allen, done to a personal review of Huey Lewis and the News.
The one problem, the very ending. This second time, I figured out what was really going on, but it took me a damn long time. I'll probably end up watching it again today...just to make sure I was completely right. Still, I can stand up and say "I completely understand the ending to American Psycho!", and people will respond "What are you talking about?"