Violence for the sake of violence

Rating: 4/10 (20 November 2013)

American Psycho is highly regarded on IMDb, many have listed it in their favorite movies lists, this movie is based on the book by the same name. But I just don't understand what's so good about it.
American Psycho is basically a story about a man who goes on a rampage killing everyone for no apparent reason, apparently he is a sociopath, a psychopath, a man who has mood disorders or multiple personality disorder or something else which is never made clear. One time before killing he has a sudden change of heart and chooses not to kill. He just doesn't kill but completely mutilates the bodies of the victims and cuts them to pieces and displays them in his second house which he uses for most of killings.
Now I enjoy stories about serial killers, and Bateman shares many of their antics and method of operations, which is a plus point for me, I have also read stories and articles about serial killers and investigations, and also watched movies like Silence of the Lambs and Se7en which were both fantastic mind you. But while those films were very violent they had a meaning behind the killings, in this films there is no excuse or reason for Bateman's actions other than he is mentally unstable. Perhaps some therapy sessions with a psychologist or psychiatrist could have been used to make all this seem clear and find out what is really in his head and what's going on in his mind. Many directors alter the stories in movies as compared to the book so why not?
The main part which bothers me is the investigation part, Bateman kills so many people in the film but apparently the cops don't care about investigating the whereabouts, finding out what happened and find out who maybe involved, gather a list of suspects, perhaps try to find Bateman's house where many people went missing, other movies based on serial killers had this aspect but it is missing in American Psycho? It could have seriously made this film more fun to watch. Instead we have one detective who investigates the disappearance of Bateman's business rival but still finds nothing after his minor and very brief appearances.
The cops in the climax come after Bateman in force and overpower forcing him to escape, take refuge and confess all killings to his lawyer, but the cops did not go after him because of all the murders but because he shot an old lady who saw him trying to kill a cat. Right!. Then we are left with a wonderful twist in the ending that the murders were all Bateman's imagination. Bateman's flat where he did the serial killing was empty up for sale and not even his, apparently he killed no one all this was in his head. Again the "it was a dream" concept used to get rid of the cop investigation aspect. The director of the film said that she did not want the people to think it was all Bateman's imagination, but honestly that is the only way to analyze the ending otherwise the ending makes no sense to me at all.
No matter how you analyze the ending, dream or no dream the film's overall plot is boring and the ending is nothing we haven't seen before. One way or the other this movie will confuse the hell out of you to decide what is real and what is Bateman's imagination. Bateman's conversations with the investigator were they real? Was his assistant being in his flat real or not? Bateman attempting to attack that homosexual businessman in the toilet was that also real or all in his head? Seriously this movie messes with your head. Movies like the Usual Suspects and even Fight Club which follow a similar concept, made it all perfectly clear by the end.
Other than Bateman's serial killing the movie is filled with a lot of boring dialogue which is too cliché and almost painful to sit through, that dialogue bores me out of my mind and is not even a contributing factor to any of his killings apart from one perhaps, when he kills a businessman. The Investigator and Bateman's conversations are also nothing special. Bateman also spills out random threats for no reason but the people pretend they did not hear him as if he did not say anything, which ends up looking stupid.
Christian Bale's performance in the only saving grace of this film as he is really into the Bateman character and is given almost all the screen time, the other's are honestly nothing special and only there to fill a gap. Obviously if you enjoy tons of violence in films and the gore you will also find it as a high point, I don't, I am fine with violence but not only this is too much, there is no real meaning behind it all but the ending makes it all meaningless. I don't understand why this film is so highly regarded. Maybe the book makes things more clear and may make an interesting read but this film was a chore to watch in my opinion.
Overall: 4/10