Did He or Didn't He?

Rating: Null/10 (24 October 2000)

I haven't read the novel by Bret Easton Ellis (no relation, thankfully), but now that I've watched the movie I feel the book might help. There's no possible way to figure out what director Mary Harron has put on the screen, and perhaps not even Mr. Ellis himself could explain it. Or Harron either, for that matter. Christian Bale plays a young, successful Wall Street executive whose cup of hate wildly runneth over, and he kills indiscriminately. Or does he? Are we only glimpsing his bloody and hideous fantasies? I tend to think the latter is the case, because he leaves a vast trail of bodies behind him and yet he continues to pursue his usual lifestyle and nobody suspects him of anything. Well, detective Willem Dafoe (completely wasted) thinks he may have been involved in the first real/false murder, but he disappears from the story early on. No one else pays any attention to the endless mayhem. Don't think for an instant that Harron has set up a Jekyll-and-Hyde character. Bale is 95% Mr. Hyde and yet none of his friends ever seems to wonder what's wrong with this weirdo. Unless, of course, he's imagining his own demeanor too. This is a continuing problem with the plot and with Harron's direction: has she any purpose other than to confuse? Is that a worthy goal for a director? The story reaches a peak of mindless misdirection in the case of a hooker who "needed surgery" after her first ugly encounter with the Bale character. They meet again. Does she run away screaming? Not in this movie. Once more he entices her with money and soon he gives her a check. A check? I burst out laughing. On another occasion, in his apartment, he sneaks up behind an unsuspecting female guest and has the muzzle of a monster gun within an inch of her skull. He's psyched himself up to kill -- but suddenly his phone rings. Several times. He freezes there, patiently waiting to hear the incoming message. Yes, I think we're definitely dealing with a disordered mind. Harron obviously loves gore -- real or imaginary -- and wallows in it throughout. Bale is a fine actor and deserves far better. If the movie poses the question, "Are these real or imaginary murders?" -- I don't have an answer. If they ARE real, the movie is inept beyond belief. But after spending two chaotic hours with this repellent thing, I think the American psycho should have considered adding director and writer to his hit list. Real or imaginary. 3 stars out of 10