Synopsis
Bret Easton Ellis's dark and violent satire of America in the 1980s is brought to the screen in this unsettling drama with blackly comic overtones. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), the son of a wealthy Wall Street financier, is pursuing his own lucrative career with his father's firm. Bateman is the prototypical yuppie, obsessed with success, fashion, and style. He is also a serial killer who murders, rapes, and mutilates both strangers and acquaintances without provocation or reason. Donald Kimble (Willem Dafoe), a police detective, questions Bateman about the disappearance of Paul Allen (Jared Leto), whom Patrick murdered several days earlier. As Kimble stays on Bateman's trail, Bateman's mask of studied, distant cool begins to fall apart. American Psycho also features Reese Witherspoon as Bateman's girlfriend, as well as Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny, and Guinevere Turner; the latter also co-authored the screenplay. Controversy followed the production from the start, when speculation that Leonardo Di Caprio would play Bateman sparked concerns that he would lure preteens to an R-rated movie. Di Caprio soon bowed out of the project, and original leading man Bale was reinstated. Later, a group of Toronto residents attempted to block filming in that city after Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo claimed that Ellis's novel inspired his murder spree.
What Critics Say
Director Mary Harron adapts Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel
concerning serial killer Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) who acts
out his male rage by killing women ... or does he?
Story
Bateman is young, handsome, successful ... and homicidal. This Reagan-era yuppie-gone-mad portrait is not a savory story. Fortunately, much of the
violence is off screen, and some of the more gruesome elements of Ellis'
novel were not in the script. Though Wall Street's 1980s excesses seem
dated, this black satire is oddly fascinating.
Acting
"American Psycho's" standout is Welsh actor Bale, whose convincing performance as a chainsaw-wielding sociopath is matched only by the pure delight of watching
Bale's sculpted physique. Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis and Guinevere Turner are at turns humorous, tragic and touching in the supporting roles, but who notices? Throughout the movie, Patrick flexes, poses and preens in all his tighty-whitie glory.
Direction
Harron, rather than concentrating on the murders, focuses on the excesses of Patrick's lifestyle -- expensive meals at exclusive restaurants, designer facial products and business cards printed on the finest paper. What could have been a run-of-the-mill serial killer pic is instead a mesmerizing account of the mystery behind a murderer.
Bottom Line
If you long for Reaganomics and hot bodies (and don't those two go together!), you'll like "American Psycho."
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Movie News
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Bale Used Cruise for 'American Psycho'
Tom Cruise was the inspiration for Christian Bale's frightening portrayal of a bloodthirsty maniac in 'American Psycho,' according to the movie's director Mary Harron.
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'American Psycho': No Kids Allowed
SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 18, 2000 -- Has the fate of "American Psycho" been sealed even before its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival?
The big-screen adaptation of the controversial, ultra-violent Bret Easton Ellis novel has been slapped with an ungainly NC-17 by the ratings board at the Motion Picture Association of America.
The film, the sophomore endeavor from Mary Harron ("I Shot Andy Warhol"), depicts the psychopathic behaviors of a Wall Street wunderkind (played by Christian Bale) who kills women in his off hours. It is scheduled to debut nationwide in theaters April 7.
Yet despite the flick's subject matter, its NC-17 apparently wasn't awarded for bloodshed, but for what the MPAA calls "explicit sexuality." While the organization today declined comment, trade-paper reports says the ratings board frowned on a scene in which Bale's character eng
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ROLE CALL: 'American Psycho' Goes Straight
HOLLYWOOD, June 19, 2000 -- No more Mr. Bad Guy for Christian Bale. The Welsh actor, who was the embodiment of evil in films such as "American Psycho" and "Shaft," will play a just, upright police (good guy) who subverts a fascist society in the futuristic thriller "Librium."
Daily Variety says that Emily Watson and Taye Diggs will star alongside Bale in the flick.
PROFESSOR ROTH: Tim Roth is in talks to play Professor Snape, the magic teaching wizard, in the upcoming "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone."
THE WORKING BALDWIN: Billy Baldwin will star in the indie cop flick "Double Band," it has been disclosed. Joining him in the cast will be Elizabeth ("Frequency") Mitchell.