AMERICAN PSYCHO R
Starring Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, and Chloe Sevigny
Eric says: ******** 1/2 (8 1/2)
Again my expectations have been shattered by a movie. I went in expecting something along the lines of "Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer" and left having been entertained by a black comedy that skewers men and the Me Gerneration of the 1980's.
Relative no-names Mary Herron and Guinevere Turner have breathed a decidedly feminine touch into a story that first saw light as a controversial novel in the early 1990's that found itself under siege from women's groups that felt its mysoginistic tone was over the top. It was probably the perfect touch, then to have two women head the project. (Even though, at one point, the studio had pegged Oliver <Natural Born Killers> Stone to direct and Leo DiCaprio to star - thank goodness sanity prevailed.)
Christian Bale stars as Patrick Bateman, an executive in a New York investment firm who wants to feel human emotions. Unfortunately, he doesn't opting instead to surround himself with the trappings of a successful man. Bale brings to the role a cold nothingness that permeates Bateman's entire life - from obsessive-compulsive morning rituals to heavily coreographed small-talk, to the speeches on pop music he gives before senselessly slaughtering people. At no point do we know the real Patrick Bateman, but that may be because there is no real Patrick Bateman. He has no individuality left - he is just whatever each situation requires him to be.
Yet, how is that different from any of us? After all, we are all different people. We try to be a person to woo our lovers, to get ahead in work, around our family, around our friends. There is no reality anymore. No one wants us to just be ourselves. Admit it, there are a handful of thoughts you have had that creep even yourself out, ones you'll never share with anyone - except yourself. After all, the only time that we are ourselves is when we're alone, muttering to ourselves, daydreaming, fantasizing. Leaving this movie, the best question you might ask yourself isn't How crazy is Patrick Bateman, but, instead, How sane are any of us?
P.S. - Great cinematography, especially the scenes set in Bateman's sterile bachelor pad.
David says:
-CURRENT MOVIES-
U-571
THE SKULLS
BLACK AND WHITE
AMERICAN PSYCHO
RULES OF ENGAGEMENT
ROAD TO EL DORADO
FLINTSTONES:VIVA ROCK VEGAS
FREQUENCY