American Psycho (2000) Reviewed by Eugene Novikov http://www.ultimate-movie.com/ Member: Online Film Critics Society
American Psycho is technically superb, tantalizingly ambitious, morally sound and very well acted. And yet I can't, in good conscience, recommend that people go see it. Though in hindsight the film is an excellent think piece, I left the theater with a sour taste in my mouth. I'm a liberal guy, but this movie goes beyond "disturbing" and gets dangerously close to "repulsive" in its portrayal of senseless sadistic violence and sexual violence. It's true that American Psycho's purpose was to jar the viewer but I wonder: should any movie being passed off as entertainment go this far?
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a yuppie living in New York in the 1980's. He's a sleek, efficient businessman, perhaps less cocky than his friends, who regularly have business card contests (an obvious symbol for the men's sexual frustration) and have competitions to see who can get the most difficult restaurant reservations. This is what the lives of everyone but Bateman consist of. When Bateman himself goes home, he kills: viciously and for no apparent reason. He also likes to hire prostitutes and have bizarre, violent sex.
One of Bateman's murders doesn't go over so well. When he kills one of his co-workers, Paul Allen (Jared Leto), he makes a few mistakes which send a detective (Willem Dafoe) after him. Though the detective never makes it clear whether or not he is really on to him or whether he is simply doing routine questioning, Patrick, for the first time in his life, becomes a little paranoid and loses his seemingly perpetual cool.
American Psycho has stirred up talk in Hollywood since day 1. Originally, Leonardo DiCaprio was slated to play Patrick Bateman; when he bowed out, little-known (though prolific) British actor Bale was brought in and the budget went down. Then, as the film creeped closer to completion, new controversy came up. The film got an NC-17 rating for a graphic mé·nage à trois scene. Director Mary Harron, at first, refused to cut a minute of the film but later gave in and edited it for an R (in my opinion, the film should have still received the NC-17).
The MPAA didn't seem to be particularly concerned about the movie's violence which is abundant, but not as graphic as you might think. Still, it was presented so nonchalantly that I was genuinely shocked by some of it even though I've technically seen more explicit violence in teen slasher movies. It's all in the attitude. I agree that this was exactly the film's intention and can only counter with one argument: the movie made me feel terrible. Movies aren't supposed to do that.
Still, there's a lot to praise in this adaptation of what was widely regarded as an "unfilmable" novel (unread by me). *MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD* Mary Harron leaves some things deliberately ambiguous; at the end, she raises the question of whether these crimes may have been committed in Bateman's bored, materialistic mind. Consider, for example, the fact that nobody seems to notice when Bateman kills a half-naked woman with a noisy chainsaw on an apartment stairway. No one even peeks out of a door to see what all the ruckus is about. Harron does not emphasize this but it is hard to believe that she would just forget about it accidentally. This makes the movie good for debate later if you don't bolt out of the theater halfway through, like I was very close to doing.
Christian Bale is a wonderful actor, perfectly pulling off the darkly comedic scenes scattered throughout the movie. It would have been most amusing to see DiCaprio try it: I don't have an antipathy for the actor but I don't think he would dare play some of these scenes straight. Chloe Sevigny, an Oscar nominee for the similarly disturbing but far less lurid Boys Don't Cry also shows up for a small part as Bateman's secretary.
Look: this movie didn't warp my mind. I'm not scarred for life because I saw it. But I can tell you that it made me feel very uncomfortable, going beyond its intention of throwing the viewer somewhat off-balance. If that floats your boat, fine. But if you bring a friend, you may be severely berated afterwards.
Grade: C+
©2000 Eugene Novikov
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