American Psycho (2000) * * * *

Directed by:  Mary Harron

Starring:  Christian Bale, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross

The novel American Psycho was so controversial it begged for Hollywood to film it.    The novel was graphic in not only its descriptions of murder, sex, and cannibalism, but the lifestyle of its main character, Patrick Bateman.     Bateman narrates the book and lovingly describes his morning routine in the same fashion as his killing and eating other people.   He is an 80's yuppie with a homicidal bloodlust.   Other men like him are cutthroats, but not like this.    

The novel doesn't work because it is so matter-of-fact it grows tiresome to read Patrick droning on in such explicit detail about, well, everything.     The film version has voice over narration by Bateman, but it also allows a different point of view.     It allows us to see Bateman from the outside and decide for ourselves what is going on with him.     Is he really a depraved killer or simply fantasizing about being a depraved killer?      Is there even a difference?   

American Psycho doesn't pretend to make its protagonist likable or misunderstood.    Bateman is an icy, loathsome person even if he doesn't kill anyone.    His apartment is lavish, has all of the latest gadgets that yuppies are supposed to have, but it doesn't feel lived in.     Bateman describes himself as, "Flesh and blood, but I'm not really there."    Bateman is so wrapped up in his world of consumerism, excess, and homicide that he barely can conceal his self-loathing or loathing of others.     One wonders why anyone would want to associate with him.     However, since his friends are all as empty as he is, they barely seem to notice anything odd about him.     They don't even pretend to care.   They're all consumed with one-upping each other with the latest technology and business cards.    Yes, business cards are things to be compared and envied.    Texture and print are discussed as if such things even matter.      These guys could rule the world if they were actually productive. 

Casting makes all of the difference.    Christian Bale is athletic, sleek, and with his slicked-back hair looks the part of an 80's Manhattan yuppie.    He manages to make Bateman watchable despite being unlikable.    It's quite a stroke of strong acting.     Willem Dafoe plays a New York detective snooping around about the whereabouts of Paul Allen (Leto), whom Bateman kills because he mistakes him for another of their friends.     Dafoe may or may not already know that Bateman is the killer.    He may just enjoy toying with him while seeming innocuous and friendly.    Dafoe is great at playing a character who may be more complex than he first seems.   

American Psycho never fails to be fascinating.   Bateman yearns to be somehow stand out from the crowd and his monologues about Huey Lewis and the News and Whitney Houston are evidence of this.    He recites these as if he had been rehearsing and waiting for the right moment to dazzle his cohorts with his knowledge.    They barely seem to notice, which likely enrages Bateman further.     Is he really committing the acts he describes?     How on Earth did Paul Allen's apartment, where Bateman stores his dead victims, get so clean in such a short time?    How can he track and kill a woman with a running chainsaw without anyone stirring?     At the end, is he revealing that he can no longer contain himself and will unleash his rage on the world?     These were questions not left open to interpretation in the novel.    In the film version, we are left to decide and these questions create an additional element of depth in such a shallow world.