A statement on narcissism and high society with Bale in top form

Rating: 8/10 (3 May 2015)

Christian Bale is top notch in this dark comedy that compares serial killer-like sociopathic traits to the drives and ambitions of the opportunists of the New York stock exchange. The setting is the trendy night clubs and big city environment of the 1980's, and Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is an executive investment banker who just so happens to have a psychopathic personality that lacks emotion and lusts after torture, murder, greed and social status. His mask of sanity is so well portrayed that eventually when his alter ego gets the best of him, his colleagues and associates do not believe that he is able to commit the crimes he is confessing to.
This is a well thought out production by Director, Mary Harron who's screenplay is based on a Bret Easton Ellis novel. Bale plays the ego-maniacal Patrick to sheer perfection. His character, although extremely narcissistic and murderous in nature, displays a guilty conscious that inevitably results in a complete breakdown. The content of the film is dementedly hilarious, as Bateman amorally murders the homeless, mutilates prostitutes, and kills his fellow colleagues over things as simple as business cards and professional status. Bale is excellent at playing a fictional but very complex character, and the film captures the predatory aspects of the big city executive hierarchy. Director, Harron seems to present a statement on the hjman ego and how destructive and desensitized it can be. Comedic touches include Bale chasing a prostitute with a chainsaw through the stairwell of an apartment building completely naked and screaming, and staring himself in a mirror while having sex with prostitutes revealing his complete obsession with his own self image. Its a psychological thriller combined with a twisted sense of humor and appreciation of the musical culture of the 1980's. It features music by Huey Lewis and the News, Genesis, and Robert Palmer, and it all centers on Bateman's ability to irrationally justify his destructive tendencies and descend into a world of madness and depravity. Willem Defoe is a detective hot on his trail and Reese Witherspoon is his self-absorbed, unknowing girlfriend. Audiences will laugh and bewilder over this structurally complicated, satirical character study. Its a story about climbing the ladder of success while disintegrating morally and leaving behind a spiritless, empty shell, but it never ceases to be entertaining.