AMERICAN PSYCHO
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Capsule: This is a sharp-edged black comedy
set in the Reagan era. In the high profit but
scruple-less, rarefied atmosphere of Wall Street
finance, one corporate vice-president relieves the
boredom with murder and sadism. Nobody seems to
notice. That one joke is done excruciatingly well,
but unfortunately that is the only joke the film
has. The soullessness of people at the top is
hammered home again and again as they impassively
commune and compete with each other in pristine
dress and surroundings. Though Bale's acting and
shifts of mood are impressive, basically this
remains a one-joke comedy. Rating: 6 (0 to 10), +1
(-4 to +4)
It would seem that Ed Gein has inspired yet another film. The real Ed Gein was a retired Wisconsin farmer who in November 1957 was discovered to be a serial killer. He made a hobby of killing at least fifteen women and eating or playing with the parts including wearing the skin of his mother. His crimes were the inspiration for the films PSYCHO, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE, and now AMERICAN PSYCHO. To date almost all serial killers have been portrayed on the screen as being lower class or at best lower middle class. AMERICAN PSYCHO asks, "What if such a person were in Wall Street's high-earning elite?" For the purpose of satire, Bret Easton Ellis's controversial novel looked at a wealthy young financier at a serial killer. The intent is not so much horror but as a satirical view into the lives of the rich, successful, and vacuous. Canadian Mary Harron, who scripted and directed I SHOT ANDY WARHOL, has scripted and directed AMERICAN PSYCHO based on the Ellis novel.
As Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) readily admits to himself and to the audience, he is empty. Patrick Bateman is in most senses just "not here." Nobody greatly notices. Bateman is one of a set of nearly identical vice-presidents of a Wall Street financial firm. He makes a salary that is at least six figures and probably more. He wears the perfect suits, he eats in the best restaurants, and he comes close to having the perfect business cards, though this is a field of great competition among the vice-presidents. Like the other vice-presidents he does everything so perfectly that they are really impossible to differentiate him from the others and themselves have problems telling each other apart. Bateman's one distinguishing characteristic is his hobby of sado-masochism and murder. If Patrick Bateman really did inhabit his body he might have some feelings about the killing, but as he sees himself as an empty shell he might as well enjoy the momentary respite from total monotonous boredom.
Much of the film is just a view into the wealthy lifestyle with people who feel no human emotion but greed. They go to absurd lengths to get reservations at the finest restaurants but will return only to those whose bathrooms that have the best facilities for snorting cocaine. Bateman takes the luxury a step further with a home gymnasium where he can exercise to the strains of THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE and pornographic movies. Every once in a while he will do in a homeless beggar or a co-worker. At work he seems to do little real work beside tell his secretary (Chloe Sevigny, Oscar-nominated for BOYS DON'T CRY) what to wear. He has a fiancee (Reese Witherspoon) and a mistress (Samantha Mathis). Both are very spacey though it is a little harder to tell with the fiancee since her condition does not come from chemicals.
Christian Bale plays his role cool, making seamless shifts from dapper to ripper. But he seems really to enjoy his hobby of killing. Reese Witherspoon has just a small part, but now every role she takes reminds me of the high school prig she played in ELECTION. Willem Dafoe plays a police detective is the traditions of Columbo.
It is curious how this film echoes other recent films. Bateman's descent from the rich and stylish into his netherworld of violence resonates with a similar descent in EYES WIDE SHUT. In this film Bateman readily tells people that his hobby is murder, but people just do not connect with him as we saw in GROSSE POINT BLANK and THE SIXTH SENSE. Bateman's money seems to go into entertainment gadgets, not unlike the people we saw in BOILER ROOM. One could even say that Bateman's secret anti-social actions resound with THE FIGHT CLUB.
This is a film that makes a sharp, strong, but surprisingly simple statement. But perhaps the one statement is less than we should expect for a feature-length film. I rate this a 6 on the 0 to 10 scale and a +1 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
mleeper@lucent.com
Copyright 2000 Mark R. Leeper
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