American Psycho

Directed by: Mary Harron
Release Date: 2000

I read this book written by Bret Easton Ellis way before I knew a film adaptation was going to be released. I remembered being intrigued by the ambiguous ending of this book and wondering if the film would follow suit. Well, the film did exactly that and I loved Harron's choice in not providing an explicitly clear ending. 
If you haven't seen this film, it's time to. Honestly, the plot is absurd in the best way because of its social commentary on identity, yuppie culture, and greed in the eighties. The film takes place in New York City during the eighties, which makes sense for the intent.

Patrick Bateman is a VP on Wall Street. He has the most rigid facial care and exercise routine and is obsessed with getting reservations to the upscale and well-known Dorsia. He also compares business cards with his co-workers to see which one of them he can one-up based on the finish and lettering of their names. To fit in, he likes to be in the "know" and listens to Huey Lewis and the News and Phil Collins, popular artists of the time. While he seems like any old yuppie, Patrick leads a double life. He has homicidal tendencies and his urges have a body count. Except when he learns someone he's murdered was seen, we wonder if everything he's done and witnessed has been all in his head this whole time.

I love this film for so many reasons:
1) a horror film directed by a woman. You don't see that everyday
2) One of Christian Bale's early pictures and those pecs
3) The satire is on point especially regarding how yuppies at the time all look the same so they can't even tell each other apart
4) Early Jared Leto sighting!
5) That orgy scene is so over the top it's nothing short but laughable
6) The fact that Harron got so much shit for making this and yet, so many men make more gruesome and violent films all the time
7) The death scenes, period. Especially with Huey Lewis and the News playing on the stereo? You can't help but guffaw
8) I don't particularly enjoy voiceovers in films because I find it as a lazy storytelling technique but it works superbly in this film
9) That dumb ass face routine! I loved every moment of it!
10) Seeing Samantha Mathis, Reese Witherspoon, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas and Chloe Sevigny in this little old picture about a psychopath. I really enjoy seeing different known actors in older films

Overall, Harron's interpretation of the source material was solid. While Bret Easton Ellis himself never intended the book to be made into a film, this one did his book justice. Yes, there are many details that weren't included in the film as is the case when adapting from one medium to another but that didn't bother me. I was as disturbed watching the film as I felt upon finishing Ellis' novel so many years ago.

Oh, the greed. And it hasn't really changed. 

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