# American Psycho (2000)

### reviewed by
Bob Bloom

American Psycho (2000) 3 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Christian Bale, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto, Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny and Willem Dafoe. Directed by Mary Harron. Written by Harron and Guinevere Turner.

I was uncertain what to expect when the lights dimmed and "American Psycho" began unreeling.

But I was pleasantly surprised, no, make that impressed, with Mary Harron's adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' notorious novel.

A bravura performance by Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a wealthy Manhattan stock broker who murders people, is the key to this dark, disturbing black comedy.

Yes, I said comedy. For there is no other way to interpret "American Psycho" other than as a satire about greed, envy and materialism.

In this respect, "American Psycho" is a first cousin to last year's "Fight Club," except that the former is set during the heady days of the Reagan presidency, which inspired young turks such as Bateman to get as much as they could as quickly as they could.

The movie contains another parallel with "Fight Club." The line between what is real and what is illusion is murky.

The film also brings to mind the disastrous "Bonfire of the Vanities". There, too, a movie examined a group of self-absorbed individuals who had forgotten their humanity.

You first view "American Psycho" as the story of a madman, someone who indiscriminately kills men and women for no other purpose than he can. Bateman admits to having no soul, no feelings, so why not kill. `My mask of sanity is about to slip,' he says at one point during his voice-over narration.

However, as you are drawn deeper into Bateman's world you begin to question whether the killings are literal or figments of his warped imagination. You never know for sure, and that is the enigma of "American Psycho."

Instead of taking the easy road and producing a yuppie-fied "Friday the 13th" slasher flick, Harron has devised a bloody social commentary that deftly blends wit and gore.

Be assured, "American Psycho" is not as bloody as the book. Much of the violence has been toned down, but it remains an intense experience.

And much of the movie's success can be laid at the feet of Bale, the former child actor best remembered as the star of Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun."

Thank goodness Bale did not lose this role to Leonardo DiCaprio, who supposedly expressed interest in playing Bateman, but whose asking price was too high for the producers. While DiCaprio has the acting chops for the part, he is too soft looking, too baby-faced, to have made a credible, convincing Bateman.

Bale's vacant eyes, his taut, hard body, is the perfect personification of a hedonistic `me-generation' sociopath.

His matter-of-fact narration as he drones on at the beginning about what body lotions, shampoos and soaps are best to use perk your interest in this unusual young man.

Harron fills the screen with some very comic set pieces. One, timed and edited like a high-noon showdown, has various young execs whipping out their business cards to see which one has the most expensive and tasteful lettering.

Bateman and his friends are like the living dead. They never seem to work, just go from one fancy restaurant to another, ordering exotic meals and drinks simply because they can.

No one seems to listen to anyone. At one point, talking to some women who ask him what he does for a living, Bateman says, `murders and executions.' `Oh, mergers and acquisitions,' the woman replies. This places the viewer on alert. Did what Bateman say come from his mind or his mouth? You are left with the ambiguity.

Underlying all of the proceedings is a sadness and a horror; sadness for the unfulfilled lives these people adhere to, and horror at their loss of humanity. They don't interact with each other as much as verbally spar and practice one-upmanship.

Beside Bale, the cast includes Reese Witherspoon as his overly-talkative fiancee. Witherspoon's Evelyn is a bit reminiscent of her Tracey Flick from "Election," except much more vacuous. Chloe Sevigny is sweet and caring as Jean, Patrick's mousy secretary.

     Jared Leto is Peter Allen, Patrick's main rival at work and in
    wardrobe.

Others in the cast include Samantha Mathis and Willem Dafoe.

"American Psycho" is a surprising film. It will make you laugh, but uncomfortably, as well as send chills down your spine.

Harron and her co-screenwriter, Guinevere Turner, may have sanitized Ellis' novel, but they have not lessened its impact.

Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, In. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or at bobbloom@iquest.net. An associate member of the Online Film Critics Society, Bloom's reviews can be found online at http://www.imdb.com/M/reviews_by?Bob+Bloom

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