American Psycho

What I got was a film that, like the book, just dropped us in on the life of Patrick Bateman. The film toned down the violence in the book, but that is about it. The film really captured the satire of 80's life very well.

Though this film isn't a comedy I found myself laughing all the way through, just like I did with the book. A word of warning, this film should not be taken at face value. There is a lot going on here. If you are not in the mood to think don't watch this movie, however if you want to be challenged I cannot think of a better film to see.

Before I sign off I would just like to state that, in my opinion, the bar has been set for lead actor this year. Christian Bale you are the one to beat.


So far the best movie of 2000!   July 28, 2000
61 out of 80 found this review helpful

I seem to be one member of an elite group of people who absolutely LOVED this film. Upon seeing AMERICAN PSYCHO in a sold-out theater, it was painfully obvious to me that most of the movie-goers in there were expecting something along the lines of SCREAM. A crumby slasher flick. A story which displays a number of gruesome and well-thought out deaths. A story where there is a hero. A story which ends happily ever after. This movie had none of the above, which is what made it such a fantastic and original film. Despite the graphic violence portrayed in the novel by Bret Easton Ellis, most of the killing is off-screen and left to the viewers' imagination. But the slaughter is also accompanied by fabulous black humour. In fact, I can't remember the last time that I laughed so hard at a movie (and was looked back at like there was truly something seriously wrong with me). Mary Harron does a fantastic job directing this movie and her decision to cast (and stand behind) Bale as Bateman is nothing more than perfect. *Some may know that Harron temporarily left the directors' chair when the studio told her that Bale would be replaced by Leonardo DiCaprio. The film was almost given to Oliver Stone, but came back to Harron when Leo decided against the role...THANK GOD! All-in-all, AMERICAN PSYCHO is flawless. If you've got a taste for humour which is black as night, a knowledge of 80's pop culture and if you know just a tad about serial killers and the fact that they can indeed be that handsome man next door, you'll EAT THIS MOVIE UP! Enjoy!


In some ways better than the book   August 10, 2000
Damon Navas-Howard (Santa Rosa, CA USA)
8 out of 9 found this review helpful

When I first heard "American Psycho" was going to be made in a film I was happy and sad. As we all know most films based on the book are usually not that good and the film version of Bret Easton Ellis's "Less Than Zero" was horrible. As it went from here and there and through differnt actors it finally came out. I have to say the film does justice to the book and even makes it a bit more enjoyable. For one thing there's less violence and sexual content than the book. Finally we get to see Patrick Bateman alive on the screen and Christian Bale does an amazing job. One of the faults of the book was that it was too long and draged on with the same content leaving the reader not so excited as he was in the beginning of the book at the end. With the film we see about how much one can take. Mary Harron did a great job at picking the right scenes from the book and driving the question at the audience..Is this all in Patrick Bateman's head or is it real? Although by not reading the book you miss classic scenes like Bateman meeting Tom Cruise and the U2 concert. However I'm not really complaining because the film did a better job than I thought it would. Another great one by Mary Harron!