not quite hip to be square

Rating: Null/10 (15 March 2003)

This had all the ingredients of being a good film - sadly, it turned out to be anything but. I'm sure you'll hear this a lot, but this is genuinely one occasion where you'd be mad not to take my advice to read the book that this film is based on instead.
The film changes the book to suit its purpose and Bateman, the wall-street yuppie and psycho of the title, is turned from an engaging character deep in existential angst into nothing more than a comic-book killer. The idea behind the book was that in spite of his detestable behaviour, the reader is forced to engage with more with Bateman than his shallow friends. In the film, Bateman's actions and psychology is never explained, leaving a sub-par slasher flick laced with heavy handed satire about the supposed greed of the late 80s.
That isn't to say the film doesn't have its good parts. Christian Bale is extremely convincing as Bateman, and it's only a shame that he was working to a poor script and poor direction at the hands of feminist director Mary Harron, who emasculates the book and turns it into a feminist critique of male mysogynism. Major yawn. To exemplify, in the film, it is a subject of some argument whether the murders are all in Bateman's head, but in the book the murders are very vivid and very real.
However, the sets are excellent (if a little too modern for a period piece) and there are some great moments of comedy which shine through the heavy-handed adaptation, and it's worth watching for these reasons alone. Legend has it that Bret Easton Ellis wrote a screenplay for this film himself, but it was rejected. The only question is - why? He was the only person who could have done this film justice.
This film is a hit and miss -- but mostly miss.