American Psycho
American Psycho is a masterpiece of misdirection and confusion that is set in the ‘80s during the materialistic plight of the Reagan era. The film’s very core is soaked with shallow and meaningless trivia and characters which show the effect of these trends upon one particularly unstable individual, one Patrick Bateman. Bateman exists in the year 1987 as a blank slate, a human being devoid of personality and identity who soaks up the trends of the day and manifests his personality through his acquaintances and material possessions. To further enhance his persona, or mask his lack of one, he spouts hilariously vague monologues that clearly sound like memorized bits of news articles. When his world doesn’t quite work the way he thinks it should, or his status in the yuppie pecking order is questioned, he goes on kill crazy rampages and rants about bad ‘80s music… proving that despite all of the clever things he says he has no idea of what it good on his own… seriously, Huey Lewis and the News? What kind of sick fucker would pontificate on the virtues of Hip to Be Square? The type of guy that tries to cram a cat into an ATM machine I guess.
The film is brilliantly directed by Mary Herron, who surprisingly hasn’t done anything else of importance since this movie. Heron’s visuals are delicious and represent the inner turmoil and vapidity of Patrick Bateman’s internal state. The design of the film is wonderful as it plays games with its viewers disorienting them and turning the film on its head with wonderful moments of misdirection. The ambiguity of Herron’s film is one of its most charming qualities, while the brutality and over the top nature of the film set it a step above most “serial killer” flicks. The dark humor that runs through the film is captured perfectly by Herron’s talented eye for filming conversations and dialogue and keeping them fresh and interesting.
The acting in the film is top notch. Christian Bale gives the best performance of his life as the psychopathic Patrick Bateman. Bale’s tight delivery of his monologues keeps the viewer in tone with Bateman as he journeys through his confusing land of shallowness and homicide. Willem Dafoe is delightfully misleading as the quirky Detective Kimball and Jared Leto shows up to get killed… the best part of his performance, even though you’ll wish they had shown a little more of it.
American Psycho is one of those movies that has many viewers confused at the end of the movie as it plays around with viewpoint, frequently tossing monkey wrenches into the viewer’s carefully laid logic. The twisted viewpoint of the narrator is intriguing and, while Bateman is never really likable, he is damn fun to watch in a “look at that douche bag” sort of way. Bateman’s yuppie lifestyle is hilarious as he spends his time trying to land reservations at upscale restaurants and comparing business cards with the seriousness of a heart surgeon in the middle of a quadruple bypass.
Many people remember American Psycho as a confusing flick that fucks with the viewer but its violent and brutal nature is secondary to the humor and the idea that materialism is not a replacement for happiness or personality. But the killing’s pretty fucking money, too.
Final Synopsis: American Psycho is one of the best looking horror flicks of the last decade and its tight dialogue and disorienting affect upon the viewer are seldom matched within the genre. I recommend a buy for this one.
Points Lost: -1 for being a little too ready to misdirect viewers, -1 for not killing Jared Leto in a more brutal manner, -1 for going a little overboard on the violence in the last 15 minutes, it’s funny but also really out of place
Bonus Point: +1 for the line “You’re a fucking ugly bitch. I wanna stab you to death and play with your blood.”
Lesson Learned: Every once in a while, ATM machines get a hankering for some cat.
Burning Question: Do you think Patrick Bateman is a big fan of Wings Hauser in Vice Squad? If you don’t know what I’m talking about, watch the movie… Neon Slime!
American Psycho
8/10
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