American Psycho (2000) Review

 

American Psycho (2000)

American Psycho follows Wall Street businessman Patrick Bateman who lives a double-life as a serial killer.

Based off the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, this is one of those striking films that finds an unusual balance between comedy and horror, where the humor and impeccable timing only adds to the dark, mystery of the movie.

Bateman is portrayed as an emotionally disconnected, psychopath who kills out of disgust towards humanity. But as we see in it’s excellent ending, the murders and events of the movie are just the imagination of a man who can’t discern reality from the things he dreams up in his head. The film leaves clues to this lying everywhere, in revealing aspects of his serial killer nature that go unnoticed, partly thanks to the implausible seriousness that goes unmentioned and also because of the complete disconnect socially between Patrick and his friends. He’s like a malfunctioning robot that stumbles his way through each interaction, leaving those around him bewildered at all times, making the plausibility of him living a double life as an impromptu serial killer so impossible because he’s just so bad at it.
The film also contains one of my all time favorite scenes in Patrick’s dissection of Huey Lewis & News while casually preparing to brutally kill Paul Allen. It’s so uncomfortable in it’s crass indifference to murder, yet makes you feel like dancing thanks to the emotional confusion of the scene.

We get some great performances from Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny, Willem Defoe, and of course, Christian Bale. Bale is so damn good here, giving Bateman an absurd quality of outwardly expression that he uses to conform to those around him, while under the surface being a sick and twisted murderer with a complete lack of empathy.

American Psycho is a social satire of the elite that lacks bridging & plunges you directly into complete horror, while keeping the satirical tone intact. It takes an obsessively compulsive individual like Patrick Bateman, and throws him into the deep end of social conformity, something he is hilariously incapable of, resulting in his downfall towards becoming the world’s worst serial killer.

9.9/10