Written by Mary Harron And Guinevere Turner
Directed by Mary Harron
Patrick Bateman: "I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don't know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip."
I'm not sure this movie should be something I should review in this particular month but it's been on my list for a while. With it's 25th anniversary since it's release and Luca Guadagnino about to do his own version, it was time to revisit this one.
First of all, this was a role that could've easily been career suicide for Christian Bale and any actor might have listened to their agent at the time and avoided it. Fortunately for us, Bale made the right decision and decided to take part in this movie. There's a reason why it's become one of his most iconic roles.
In this film, Bale played dissatisfied investment banker, Patrick Bateman. Bateman was a man who wanted for nothing, including a gorgeous but shallow fiancée in Evelyn Williams (Reese Witherspoon), whom he largely felt disdain for her. For a man with everything, there was only one thing that seemed to spark any kind of life into him - murder.
Yup, Patrick Bateman was a serial killer and in a lot of ways, he made no effort into hiding that fact. He was mostly indiscriminate in his choice of victims but there was certainly an emphasis in the women he murdered such as sex workers Christie (Cara Seymour) and Sabrina (Krista Sutton) and acquaintance Elizabeth (Guinevere Turner).
Not that men got off too lightly as well. Bateman did kill fellow banker Paul Allen (Jared Leto) quite brutally as well as a homeless man and his dog and various people at the height of his madness. He almost killed a cat, only for an unfortunate bystander to stop him. It's something when the cruelty to animals Patrick displayed was more shocking than what he did to various people in the movie.
Speaking of people, one of the few who managed to not get killed by Patrick was his secretary Jean (Chloe Sevigny) and his pill popping mistress Courtney (Samantha Mathis). He also didn't kill co-workers such as Timothy Bryce (Justin Theroux) or Craig McDermott (Josh Lucas). Even Courtney's closeted fiancé, Luis Carruthers (Matt Ross) or private investigator, Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe).
However the bigger question was posed by the end of the movie - did Patrick Bateman actually kill anyone at all? His lawyer, Harold Carnes (Stephen Bogaert) discredited Bateman's confession about Paul Allen being dead and the movie ended with Bateman caught in his own personal hell of his confession to murders amounting to nothing at all.
- Patrick Bateman would appear in other novels from writer, Bret Easton Ellis and eventually get a comeuppance for his crimes.
- Patrick narrated throughout the movie, in particular with his lifestyle routines and music trivia. He's also mistaken for Marcus Halberstram (Anthony Lemke) by several characters in the movie.
- There are some changes from the source material. Bateman doesn't kill a child in this movie.
- Guinevere Turner who co-wrote the movie also played the unfortunate Elizabeth too.
- Standout music: Huey Lewis & The News Hip To Be Square, Genesis's In Too Deep and David Bowie's Something In The Air. It's a bloody killer soundtrack.
- Chronology: 1987 and 1988 New York with Christmas briefly factoring into things halfway through the movie.
American Psycho absolutely has earned its legendary and it's a brutal satire in parts and plain horrifying in others. Christian Bale completely nailed the role of Patrick Bateman in a fascinating character study.
Rating: 9 out of 10
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