American Psycho

My most recent request was from a long-time friend of mine, Mat. In all the time I've known him, he's always been the smarter of the two of us. He's just that guy who will always be the smartest person in the room but fortunately not in arrogant sort of way. Knowing this, you can understand why I felt it was necessary to give this movie a second look when he told me it was one of his all-time favorites. To be honest, I saw this movie in the theaters in 2000 since the previews looked so effin good. But I didn't get it. I walked away from it disillusioned, confused, and with ten less dollars. I filed it in my mind under "American Psycho: No need to see again." So here I am, much more grown up and with a few more years of interaction with all sorts of people... This became a whole new movie for me. I really hope you read this review before you see the movie (not like Rachel does) so you'll watch it with a better understanding of what it meant by "American Psycho." At least as much as I could get out of it. But what the hell do I know? Here's my best interpretation of...

Theatrical Release: April 2000

Genre: Horror? Thriller? Comedy? All of the above...

Sub-Genre: 80's parody

Starring: Batman (NOT Michael Keaton... No, not Adam West, either!); Josh Lucas (who may or may not be Matthew McConaughey's half-brother); Reese Witherspoon (before people started taking her acting seriously); Willem Dafoe (playing a cop who ISN'T emotionally unstable OR a cross-dresser); Jared Leto (from My So-Called Life and gay dance floors); and Chloe Sevigny (who did a pretty infamous scene for a movie called "The Brown Bunny," which distracted me for a good half hour while I looked online for a clip... No luck. Frowny face)

Overview: Unmistakably immersed in the materialistic world of Wall Street, circa 1987, seemingly ordinary investment banker, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), is as average as all the other overachieving chauvinists surrounding him. With one exception... He enjoys hitting people in the face with a chrome ax. Bateman's impulse control declines rapidly, resulting in a weird movie unlike anything you've probably seen before. Based on a (big surprise) really fucked up book by Bret Easton Ellis.

To avoid any head scratching, eyebrow raising, or pushing of your DVD player's eject button, let's take a little time to explore just what the term "psycho" means... Contrary to popular belief, when a person is labeled a "psycho", it doesn't necessarily mean "psychotic", which is any severe mental disorder so extreme that the person suffering from it has a noticeable disconnect from reality. Patrick Bateman is not psychotic. He is a psychopath, which is quite a bit scarier since they can often function in normal society with very few tells. Psychopaths are most readily identified by their outstanding narcissism. Internally, psychopaths fail to learn from their mistakes, have no concept of regret, and worst of all: They have no conscience. No inhibitions. No inner voice telling them what they're doing is wrong. If a psychopath chooses to do something, good or bad, they can simply do it. If the guy in the office down the hall got a nicer car than the resident psychopath, a logical next move for that person would be to get rid of the guy with the better toy. The only thing stopping them is that they take cues about what's

acceptable behavior from those around them. And that's how no one can really pick them out of a lineup. They try very hard to "fit in." A term often used when discussing psychopaths is their Mask Of Sanity, based on a book of the same name by Hervey Cleckley (and you can download the entire book for free by clicking here). The public face they present, the one they maintain to "fit in", belies the self-destructive, possibly violent true person seething just underneath. Sometimes, the mask slips off and you glimpse a person with no moral compass. But most psychopaths have spent their whole lives perfecting their Mask, to the point that a lot of them are considered very charming, nice to be around, intelligent, and tend to get laid a lot. But to a psychopath, it's all about them. Some shrinks claim that a few very successful people in the business world have psychopathic attributes but they've channeled their lack of a conscience into their work ethic and that's why they get promoted fast, make hard decisions without emotions, and work to further themselves (only). Think Donald Trump. How do I know all this stuff? Not to brag, but one of the two classes I took the one semester I went to Central Lakes Community College in Brainerd, Minnesota was Psychology 1. And I got a D. Which means I didn't fail. I also did a ton of internet research.

Now that you have a better understanding of what kind of person you'll be dealing with in this movie, let's set the stage for you by delving into the time period Patrick BATeMAN lives and works in... Wall Street, mid 1980's, historically viewed as one of the most self-indulgent and materialistic times of the 20th century. All the movers and shakers in this era lived by the Gordon Gekko (from Oliver Stone's Wall Street) ideology, "Greed is good." which allowed people who are only looking out for Number One (narcissists) to get ahead. There's no room for kindness in the world of investment banking. Kindness is weakness. It was perfectly acceptable - encouraged, even - to be aggressive and greedy in this time and this place.

Knowing both of these things, the true definition of a psycho and the perfect time in history for one to exist, and this movie suddenly turns into a character study. Patrick Bateman is a textbook psycho and the film portrays his Mask Of Sanity slipping off. First by shanking a homeless guy in an alley (in this scene, by the way, you fully expect the Batmobile to come screaming around the corner). As the movie declines, his violent outbreaks become harder to contain and more drastic until the end when Patrick runs naked through one of his victim's apartment buildings (except for his $130 Saucony running shoes) chasing a prostitute with a chainsaw. 

As my friend Mat pointed out, everything in this world is exactly the same but slightly different. Other bankers in Bateman's world try to one-up each other by showing off their business cards which are no different from one another, save for a slightly different font and an eggshell colored card versus a titanium white one. All the bankers have the same Gordon Gekko haircuts, wear nearly identical suits, eat at the same restaurants, listen to the same music, have the same conversations, it's a culture on auto-pilot. But what's portrayed isn't too far removed from the reality of 80's Wall Street. Populated by ruthless, aggressive, uncaring capitalists who are all completely self-absorbed and solely focused on their own portfolio. They have no real relationships, just business acquaintances they use to further their bottom line. If someone were acting slightly out of the ordinary (say, discreetly chopping up prostitutes), would anyone in that type of environment gives two shits about anyone else enough to notice? Would they even be able to differentiate one person from another if everyone dress the same, sounds the same, does the same job, and lives in identical buildings? Would anybody even care if they did have an inkling someone they knew was a nighttime murderer? Not in a society of narcissists. Because it's all about them. Well then aren't we back where we started? Where do you draw the line between the narcissist and the psychopath? Enough with the questions... This is an excellent movie for making you ask questions. And not to sound like some frat boy burnout but this would be an awesome movie to watch stoned, when your mind moves faster than usual... 

As far as the performances go, this is one of Christian Bale's better roles. There's no over-the-top gravel voice like in The Dark Knight and no fighting over face time in the scene like in 3:10 To Yuma. Everyone else pales in comparison to his stellar acting in this movie. Bale's physique is nearly as good as mine in this movie, which is exactly what it should be when you're a self-centered psycho. And Christian Bale's best acting ability is to make you feel uneasy at the drop of a hat. But that's his M.O. He makes people uncomfortable. Like you're gonna say or do something harmless to him like step on his foot and he's gonna be that dick who won't let it go and escalates the situation way too quickly by saying something like, "Yeah you better fuckin' watch your ass, queer!" and there you are, about to get wailed on by some 'Roid Ragin' boot camp dropout. I'd still take a beating like that over a chainsaw-rape. What?! Yeah, watch the movie.

Overall: 9 out of 10. Just short of a perfect 10 because the end still fucks with my head. Mat explained it to me and I get it (now) but I'd rather not be so confused at the end of a movie so tense. I know it's one of those "It's in the book" movies but if people read the books, they wouldn't need to make the movies, would they? No spoiler here... I don't even know how I'd explain it.

Best Scene: Patrick Bateman, dancing around his apartment, giving another rehearsed critique of a shitty 80's band (Huey Lewis and The News, I believe) before he hits Paul Allen in the face with an ax because he got reservations at Dorsi. It's what you get, you fuckin jerk!

What my wife said: Another one she didn't see! Maybe I should start getting movies we both like. In my defense, we went to see X-Men Origins: Wolverine in the theater... And she friggin loves X-Men! This is all her stuff...

Who would enjoy this movie: Richard Ramirez. Ed Gein. Norman Bates. Self-mutilators. Simon Cowell.

Watch it if you like: If Fight Club and Miami Vice had a baby with sociopathic tendencies, it'd be something like this movie. So... build on that.

Next in the Q: Thank you, everyone, for your requests... I promise I'll keep going through them. Sorry it's taking so long to get new reviews posted lately but despite what you might think, I do get outside sometimes, especially when the weather's so damn nice... Here's what's on the

wesley bLoggs playlist...

- Bury My Heart/Wounded Knee - [Shelly & Damen]

- Milk - [Angie]
- Wristcutters: A Love Story - [Anthony]
- Army of Darkness - [Erika]
- Little Shop Of Horrors - [Casie]
- Zack and Miri Make A Porno - [Anonymous]
- The NeverEnding Story - [Sam]