A Directorial Hack Job

Rating: 4/10 (9 September 2000)

Not having read the book, I will take this film on its own merits. `American Psycho' is a satirical horror film that had greater potential than was realized. Mary Harron's adaptation and direction seems to be the problem. Part of the story was a lampoon of the excessive materialism of the 1980's, focusing particularly on the yuppie lifestyle. That should have served as the background for the character study. However, Harron pushed it to the foreground and exaggerated the portrayals of yuppie superficiality and arrogance to the point where it became sophomoric. She then pounded on the point until it was threadbare.
The film would have benefited from more development of Bateman's tortured inner self rather than this obsession with his and his friends' way of life. The story presented an opportunity for a fresh approach to the horror genre. Most horror films are presented from the perspective of the victims, whereas this story was from the killer's perspective. In addition, since it was a first person narrative, we had an opportunity to look inside the killer's head. Though some of that was done, too much of the introspection focused on his thoughts about his lifestyle and not enough on his feelings about the people he was killing or the acts themselves.
Another problem is that the killings were sloppily done. In most cases it is inconceivable that he wouldn't have been immediately apprehended based on all the forensic evidence he was leaving behind. This is the director's way of giving us a not so subtle push as to how to interpret the ending. If the killings were masterfully planned and executed, the ending would have been much more perplexing and effective.
The acting by Bale was excellent. Though I didn't agree with Harron's vision of Bateman as the poster child for yuppie conceit and tawdriness, Christian Bale played the caricature to the hilt. He was more pompous and supercilious than your typical Roman Emperor. The scene depicting his emotional disintegration was terrifically done and very intense.
Overall, the way the story was presented created an air of incredulity about all the characters and their behavior, which took the effectiveness out of the psychological angle. That left us with a mindless horror flick with only mediocre effects. Despite some excellent acting, I rated this film a 4/10. A directorial hack job marred a good story concept. Since it failed miserably at the box office, the film's best hope is that it becomes a cult classic in rental. It is kitsch enough for that to be a distinct possibility.