American Why-co?

Rating: 5/10 (8 June 2003)

What keeps us from doing evil? A capacity for empathy, hopefully, plus our subconscious belief (ingrained by, among other things, our habitual shortage of money) that you simply can't do anything you want. As neither of these attitudes characterise the yuppie, the idea that such a person could become a psychopathic killer is quite a good one. Nonetheless, "American Psycho", based on exactly this premise, is not really a successful film.

There are two linked reasons for this. Firstly, the idea that the yuppie is as inhuman as the murderer is introduced at the outset, a position so extreme there is no onward journey that can be made. Secondly, the killer's actions are a response to his life in general, rather than to particular stimuli, hence there's no plot in the conventional sense. Christian Bale does a good job playing a man with no soul, but there's nothing new to learn once the concept is grasped. The emphasis on the 1980s settings also serves to dull the film's satirical intent, de-stressing its own relevance to us, today.
Brett Easton Ellis can certainly write, but this is not a great adaptation of his famous book. For a really disturbing and suspenseful look at the world of American business, try Neil La Bute's "In the company of men".