The Best Satire Since Fight Club

Rating: 10/10 (13 August 2009)

I like the satire and thriller genres. American Psycho is a spoof of yuppie-culture in the 1980s. The movie is basically about how some people see material possessions as more important than human life, which Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) and his murders symbolize. The movie is based on the controversial bestselling novel by Brett Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero, The Rules of Attraction).
Patrick Bateman has everything, a beautiful fiancé (Reese Witherspoon), wealth, a great job at Pierce & Pierce, a big circle of friends, nice clothes and most of all: an addiction to murder. Patrick Bateman descends further and further into insanity as his murder spree goes along. He murders and sometimes rapes colleagues or even strangers without hesitation. This great film also features a great supporting cast including Willem Dafoe as Detective Kimball and Chloe Sevigny as Bateman's secretary, Jean.
American Psycho is a disturbing and intelligent trip into the life and exploits of a madman. This is probably Christian Bale's greatest performance, it shocks me that he didn't get an Academy Award nomination. But then again, it isn't that surprising considering that the Academy usually gives their happy movies the awards. Since when has Christian Bale been disappointing?
Patrick Bateman is an interesting character. Who is likable at certain points but mostly downright despicable. Roger Ebert from the Chicago Sun-Times even praised Bale's performance as "heroic in the way he allows the character to leap joyfully into despicability; there is no instinct for self-preservation here, and that is one mark of a good actor". Indeed, he is right.
The movie also has a lot of humor. Mainly the humor comes from the character's personalities. Each of these characters that Bateman hangs out with are total embodiments of the many stereotypes about yuppies.
American Psycho has even spawned an LARGE cult-following. People on the IMDb message board even constantly quote the film, I have never seen that on any other board here. I guess that just shows how great the movie is. I hope that one day American Psycho earns a spot in the Top 250. I don't see how it hasn't made it yet.
American Psycho is also not just about a man running around killing people, like another consumer satire, Chuck Palahnuik's Fight Club (I also recommend the film and the novel of that), American Psycho produces a good and true message about consumer culture and materialism. As I said, it is about how people sometimes see material possessions as even more important than human life.
Here is a couple of notes about the fantastic book by Bret Easton Ellis and how it compares to the movie. The movie and the book are both great but the book, as usual, has so much more detail and you hear more of Bateman's sick thoughts. The movie is more like an examination of a sociopath's daily life while the book is basically a descent into Hell. It even starts with the lines from Dante's Inferno, "Abandon all hope ye who enter here."
This movie almost did not get made. It had developed so much controversy from feminists and animal rights groups before and after it had been published due to its graphic violence. The filmmakers had to remove a lot of the graphic violence and disturbing acts that Patrick Bateman commits (including cannibalism, only mentioned in the movie and necrophilia, both are described in great detail). I wouldn't watch this movie without reading the book. Beware, if you don't have a strong stomach: do not read the book, I found it hard to read on some parts.
10/10