Dark Commentary on 80s Wall Street Culture

Rating: 9/10 (16 April 2007)

Patrick Bateman is a heartless man with no concern for those around him. Serial killer... or capitalist? This film explains there might not be much difference and perhaps shows us why serial killers in the 1980s were more celebrated than any time before or since in popular culture.
This is not a film for everyone. Some (like myself) will love every little aspect, while others might be turned off my the sex and violence... or just be really confused by the style (the directing is weird, but actually pretty straight-forward once you've read the book). I suppose that is to be expected. Even those looking for a horror film might be let down, as that isn't the real focus here.
The cast of this film is amazing. Willem Defoe needs no introduction. Chloe Sevigny (one of my favorites), Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon (not my favorite but good for her role) and Gwen Turner. Even Samantha Mathis shows up. But, of course, stealing the show is Christian Bale.
Bale was the perfect choice to play Bateman and I'm glad director Mary Harron would settle for no one else (turning down Ed Norton, who gets compared to Bale but remains inferior). Bale is able to be any character he wants (comapre this to "Batman Begins", "The Prestige" and especially "The Machinist" and see if there's any of the same characters here). As Bateman, he is perfectly self-absorbed and also maniacally distant. The little dance during the Huey Lewis scene (one I have heard he added himself) remains for me one of the two key scenes (the other involving a chainsaw).
Besides the great acting (the real reason to watch this), the music is very noteworthy. The book does a fine job of elaborating on the music of the 1980s, and I think they incorporated that well here (throwing it in to death scenes rather than as solo pieces adds an interesting twist). This film, along with the gentlemen I go to the tavern with, really got me into Huey Lewis and Phil Collins. Which is really wonderful. Not so much on the Robert Palmer or Whitney Houston...
I guess I should also compliment them on the tasteful way (read: artistic) the sex and violence was done. Ax wounds, chainsaws and bite marks... threesomes and science-knows-what done with a coat hangar. But the vast majority is shot from such angles that it's almost all left to the imagination: you think you see more than you really do.
Clearly, I really want you to see this film. It's possibly Bale's best, or at least the one that pushed him into the spotlight. He steals the show. You won't like it if you don't like horror, but the title is "American Psycho" and the cover has a man with a knife, so you know what you're getting yourself into. Grab some popcorn and a Cherry Coke Zero and kick your feet up. Enjoy!