Rated 4 out of 5
BIZARRE AND GORY ON SURFACE, A SMASHING SATIRE UNDERNEATH!
I confess I didn’’t care about this seemingly pretentious movie the first time I saw it. But it is a daring movie, and its sordid potrayal of a whacko’’s life is certainly not recommended for the faint of heart. If you look beyond the gore (which is perhaps incidental to the plot) it’’s actually quite a piquant satirical take on a superficial, greed orientated society. The violence here is not gratuitous, at least to me it did not seem to be a convenient vehicle to make a voyeuristic film and shock audiences. It surely is not a movie that investigates the innards of a psychotic killer’’s mind as some reviewers lament.
Ostentatiously, the plot is about an eccentric Wall Street yuppie Patrick Bateman (played brilliantly by Christian Bale) whose life revolves around the superficial trappings of materialism -- parties at swank bars, 1500 dollar Valentino suits, threesomes with professional women etc etc. At first you are struck with the utter weirdness of this guy’’s mannerisms, no one would associate with this wacko in real life. Bateman’’s attempts to out-do his peers and be noticed and accepted get more and more pathologically brutal and heinous as the story progresses. But, despite his insanity, he’’s desperate to be caught. The confession at the end which draws total dismissal from his peers, just reiterates the kind of society we’’re in.
We have a smattering of super-sardonic moments, the crescendo reached when we witness a business card comparison match between corporate peers. Or hotel reservations, the ultimate badge of Who’’s Who.
The film has very subtle undertones if you are willing to read between the lines. For a genre that is too often too campy, too violent without cause, and too brainless, American Psycho is a breath of fresh air. It appears campy at first. It is violent, especially towards women. But it is not brainless. I’’d say it is even well written.
Take the time to actually watch this movie and think about it. You’’ll see there’’s much more than meets the eye.
Rated 5 out of 5!
