Living through the 80s could make ANYONE psycho

Rating: 7/10 (5 September 2000)

Not a bad film at all. Christian Bale is GREAT. Stylistically it is a very, very interesting movie. The satire of 80's culture is definitely fun to watch if you lived through it. The dialogue is bang on and the cultural references bring back many painful memories of the idiotic trends (pet pigs anyone?) The humour is especially sly at times. For example, all the guys have such similiar haircuts, its futile trying to tell them apart, yet you don't really have to in order to understand the story. It's the little jokes like that that do it for me. In addition, the mostly off-screen violence was especially well done.
The one problem with the movie is a loss of momentum. It begins ferociously with Bateman displaying his incredible self-indulgence and force of will. Gradually this slips away as the movie's clarity becomes unfocused in parallel with Bateman's deteriorating psyche. I think the director could've improved things for the audience either by distancing the narrative from Bateman's perceptions, or by fusing them together more tightly. Unfortunately, she sort of sits on the fence, so we're left doubting her direction. There are also a number of awkward scenes that really didn't have much point.
Still, for all the things this movie could've been, it didn't come up too short. Definitely worth a rental and I'll be on the lookout for her next picture.