Dark comedy that is worthwhile...

Rating: 6/10 (13 April 2009)

1st watched 3/9/2009 – 6 out of 10 (Dir-Mary Harron): Dark comedy that is worthwhile but loses it's thunder in the last ½ hour due to the filmmakers turning us in strange directions. The film is basically about a 80's yuppie who has a secret obsession to kill while spouting off reviews of popular 80's music. Christian Bale is wonderful in the twisted role of a VP for a wall street firm who knows how to say all the right things and has the right acquaintances but can't stand it when one of his comrades has a better business card than his. This jeolousy and overly-perfect perspective leads him to kill those who he thinks deserves nothing and anyone who might get in the way of his own ego. He loses his ability to be cool around all this after a detective starts asking him questions about the disappearance of a colleague that he killed. At this point in the movie the dark comedy tries to take a direction towards whether or not Bale's character will make a mistake and be caught. This is where, in my opinion, the movie goes downhill. His "don't care about anyone" mentality is challenged but is never really taken anywhere. The way the movie ends also doesn't make sense and we're left with a good movie that could have been much better. The movie is unique in it's dry attempt to make fun of this yuppie generation and Bale's portrayal lifts the movie above mediocrity but the lack of a good conclusion lessons the films impact. Still, it's a movie to watch and enjoy for the most part.