Release Date: April 14, 2000
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny
Directed by: Mary Harron
Distributed by: Lions Gate Films
MPAA Rating: R (strong violence, sexuality, language, drug use)
A 27-year-old, well-to-do man isn't quite as he seems to his friends. He has a lust for blood and gets his kicks by slaughtering people randomly. That's about the extent of this critic's explanation.
Very few films have the ability to go absolutely nowhere for their entire length. But this is true of writer/director Mary Harron's (I Shot Andy Warhol) American Psycho. She is to blame for adapting Bret Easton Ellis's putrid story to the screen. The novel has been loathed by many and it's quite possible that this film is the best thing that could have happened to it. If that proves to be true, God help Bret Easton Ellis.
Some credit should be given to the actors, especially Christian Bale. He delivered the best performance he could, and it was definitely something to salvage from this mess. The supporting actors were also decent, but it's too hard not to let them be taken away with the trash.
Harron tried to make her film a satire of American businessmen and their intense desire to conform. But neither this nor any other message in this film's 100 minutes surfaced until the very end. Bale's character proved he was insane, something we knew from the opening credits. It was trying to be somewhat like Fight Club, a film way out of its league. It also left us trying to decide whether what we just saw actually happened or if it was merely the imagination of an extremely disturbed individual. This last is something that might be credited to the movie. Any time you can deceive an entire audience for the length of a feature film, you did something imaginative. The only question is whether that's a compliment.
Some may find American Psycho interesting, and that's probably the kindest word for it. Just don't say I didn't warn you.
all contents © 2000 Andy Zientek