A film review by Sam Floeter Copyright © 2000 Sam Floeter

The controversial novel by Bret Easton Ellis reads like the long and tedious manifesto of a corporate psychopath. The central character, Patrick Bateman, is the picture of economic success, not to mention the perfect physical specimin. He works on Wall Street, not because he has to, but because he wants to fit in. He is obsessed with the finer things in life, and is extremely jealous in nature when he sees others with material possessions that are finer than his own.

He is also one crazy bastard.

He kills a lot of people in a wide variety of inventive and disgusting ways. He hates everyone and everything, regardless of creed, race, age, or religion. But, it is because of this broad scope of anti-humanitarianism that the book looses the reader. Bateman never gets caught, no justice is served, and we must assume that he will continue to go on killing. Thus, after five hundred pages of fairly decent (yet at times repetitious) writing, we gain no further insight into the character of Patrick Bateman.

The same can be said of the film. If staying true to the book is a virtue not often found in many films, than 'American Psycho' is one of the few movies to accomplish that feat. After two hours, we again gain no further knowledge into Patrick Bateman's (Christian Bale's) psyche, save for the exception that he excercises frequently, he uses a number of aloe-vera gells and skin moisturizers, and, as before, he is one crazy bastard.

If you want my opinion, I was disappointed. Not just because the movie stunk, and not just because Michael Jordan's batting average is higher, on a scale of one to five, than the rating I would give "American Psycho". But more so, because the film, while staying true to the book, failed to capture the essence of the book: The split personality of Patrick Bateman. In public he is quite yet well spoken, charming, handsome and mysterious. In private he is a complete lunatic. While I thought that Christian Bale certainly looked the part, he failed to capture the characters totality. Unlike, say, Edward Norton, who managed to portray the schizopherenic persona brilliantly in "Primal Fear".

Appearances are made by Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, and Jared Leto. Unfortunatley, it is a motley band of actors who fail to save the film from its downward spiral. Thus is my summary of American Psycho. A film with uninteresting banter between characters, bad sound editing, the thread of a plot and not enough gore to satiate the viewer. Oh, and just between us, I've seen better 'acting' in 'fast acting Tinactin'.

	Running Time: 100 Min | Rated: R | US Release: April 14th | More >>

Related Links:

• Official Site
• Salon: Mary Harron interview
• The Official Christian Bale Web Site
• Upcomingmovies.com: American Psycho

Killer looks.