Fantastic performance by Christian Bale brings a disturbing character to life.

Rating: 8/10 (17 September 2006)

"An American Psycho" is one of those films that people seem to find very difficult to come to grips with. Is it a masterpiece deserving of praise? Is it a completely boring, insensitive piece of sick trash? Or is it something in between? Through all this argument though, there is one thing that cannot be denied. That this film will provoke a reaction from the viewer whether it is feelings of disgust, praise, amusement, unease or all of the above. Well, unless of course the viewer is in a similar state of mind as Patrick Bateman that is.
You see, Patrick Bateman externally appears to be everything a man could want to be. He has a body to die for, a big earning job and all the worldly possessions that come with the territory. Yet despite all this, Patrick finds it difficult to feel anything. He states in the film that he feels no human emotions other than "greed and disgust" and it's this complete lack of connection with the world that drives him to violence. However, even these extreme outbursts of gruesome bloodshed still can't make him feel anything but empty and only distance him further from humanity, driving him towards madness.
Christian Bale's performance as Patrick is simply stunning. He fills the character with humour, anger, charm, intelligence and copious amounts of vanity. Christian makes even the strangest of scenarios in Patrick's existence appear to be completely realistic for him. An example of such bizarre behaviour is the way he verbally critiques Huey Lewis and the News while murdering a colleague. Or when he decides another colleague should die for the simple fact that they now have a better business card than he does. These occurrences are as funny as they are unsettling but never unintentionally so. The direction is perfectly understated and considering the extreme nature of the book it is based on, the screenplay is as loyal as decency (amongst the general movie going population anyway) and budget would allow. I should point out though that I have not yet read the book and this review is based only on the movie itself and not the quality of the adaptation.
"An American Psycho" is not for the faint of heart and yet there essentially isn't all that much on-screen gore. Not to say that killing people with chainsaws and axes isn't gory, only that these brutal acts of slaughter are mostly either only suggested or just out of the cameras view. But more than the acts themselves, many viewers will find the nonchalant, motiveless way in which Patrick conducts them far more disturbing, not to mention his degrading use of women as self gratifying objects.
I thoroughly enjoy this movie. Despite all the disconcerting aspects of the story it remains an entertaining film and multiple viewings have definitely been rewarding. The only way in which I feel this film is not a complete success is in the ambiguousness of its final moments. Although it certainly makes a great discussion point post viewing, I can't help but feel it to be frustrating and slightly unnecessary. I have my views on what it all means, but I won't mention them here as I don't want to ruin things for those that haven't seen the movie yet. Besides, I have to return some video tapes.