[e-mail] Review of American Psycho

American Psycho (2000)

Yuppie by day, Gigolo by nightfall, Bloodthursty Killer by heart

[30 November 2004]

"American Psycho" is a grotesque and satirical fabrication of the deception and tolerance of society and what is designed to unleash our wrath against complying with the social crowd and conformity. This is a gory, yet honest tale of a self-obsessed, arrogant, and repulsive New York yuppie (Christian Bale) in 1980s Wall Street, who wakes up behind a mask, is addicted to cleansing and grooming, listens objectively to Phil Collins music, goes to work, inflicts his verbal rage upon his clientele and friends, arrives back at his penthouse apartment with a lady friend or two, and proceeds to literally mutilate his company, as the cycle goes every day. We can hardly sympathize or even begin to understand this man (Patrick Bateman)'s troubles, frustrations, and compulsive wraths, for he hasn't anything to be infuriated about: he's young, dashing, rich, and can afford any possession or woman of his desire; when his violent rampages manifest, it's anyone's guess as to who or what is perturbing Bateman: perhaps he is manufacturing rages for no apparent reason other than out of sheer boredom and lack of interest. He is one of the most arrogant, superficial, vapid, and utterly detestable figures imaginable, and if we weren't conscious of his fascination with Phil Collins and his adoration with looking petite, we might surmise that Bateman hasn't any sensibilities and is virtually inhuman, making him more of a creature than a man. "American Psycho" is perhaps a social commentary on how appearances can be very deceiving: as oblivious characters are enticed into the deranged trap of Bateman, they can only mistake him as being a regular, well-to-do man, without any noticeable deficiencies or dangers, which we realize is quite the contrary to the figure we have come to know and loathe. The film doesn't demand or even any sympathy or understanding for Bateman, but rather, acknowledges his various victims, who are regular dupes in the social landscape of America: they (particularly prostitutes) don't really become acquainted with someone, and yet make themselves perfectly available for a deranged psycho such as Bateman, to have them in their possession and proceed, unsuspected by them, to decapitate their body! This is a chilling, engaging, and ultimately surprising film that sometimes gives overabundant weight to its subject (in the purpose of having us despise his repulsive tendencies), and not enough insight as to the reasons behind his psychopathic behavior. Yet perhaps this is excusable, because some psychopathic figures are not worth examining for their inconceivable features, as they haven't any conscience to examine! Christian Bale is fantastically loathsome as Patrick Bateman, in a film that defies to manufacture excuses or insights for its subject's insanity, but rather, suggests that his actions are all concoctions of his own bewildering, despicable, nature. What an "American Psycho"! ***1/2 out of ****