I just don't get it...

Rating: 4/10 (6 May 2005)

I give every film adaptation from Bret Easton Ellis at least one chance because so far, I haven't liked a single movie. I don't get this man. First of all, the cast of characters are all WASPs in each book/film- as if the world is devoid of anyone non-caucasian. It's unrealistic and a tad racist, don'tcha think? The only non-caucasians are a homeless man ("Psycho") and a coked-up drug dealer Rupert ("Rules of Attraction"). Those seem to also be some negative stereotyping. But then again, ALL stereotyping is a tad negative.
To me, the film was dreck. I'm surprised it outgrossed its budget for the short lived time it was theatrically released. The movie was boring, and I just didn't identify with Patrick Bateman. Perhaps if I were affluent and living on the East Coast I'd think differently. That seems to be the norm to Easton's characters. What was up with every chick (except the prostitute) all having blonde hair? They were all starting to look the same to me: Reese Witherspoon/Chloe Sevigny/Samantha Manthis/Jared Leto...
The only thing this movie had going for it was the production design and the cinematography. No doubt- I thought I was watching outtakes of "Bright Lights, Big City". I give the DP major props for the job. Funny how Christian Bale was about 10 when this film was supposed to take place. But after the Willem Dafoe scene, there was no suspense, and the movie just kind of shot itself. So the ending wasn't suspenseful at all. You just sat there and thought, "I sat through two hours of THAT?" I'm glad to see that this film was able to garner a straight-to-video, "American Psycho 2" and "...3". If only the first one did and disappear like a fart in the wind.
I'm done.