American Psycho
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Plot: A corporate man Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) who works in Wall Street lives a wealthy life and is impeccably neat.  His problem is that he lusts for women, blood, murder and even cannabolism.  He is driven mad by his materialistic friends and his obsession with being better than everyone else.  We also are dropped hints that his parents didn't raise him properly and still could care less about what happens to him.  He has a fiance (Reese Witherspoon) whom with he rarely communicates with.  They both cheat regularly on each other, and they are only marrying each other because they have the same friends and the same social status.  The only kind person in Patrick's life may very well be his lovely, kind secretary (Chloe Sevigny) who he doesn't even treat properly most of the time.  A detective (Willem DaFoe) is hot on his trail and is making Bateman nervous.  It seems his killing rampage might finally be coming to a sudden stop.
Rating: Poor

Distributor: Lions Gate Films
Rating: R
Genre: Dark Comedy
Release Date: April 14th, 2000 (theatre)
Running Time: 97 minutes
Director: Mary Harron
Cast: Christian Bale, Samantha Mathis, Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Sevigny, Willem DaFoe, and Jared Leto.
  Critique: This incredibally messy, ugly, pointless, gory, graphic film will no doubt be a waist of your time to see.  It has no character development, and Harron's is excuse is that the people in the film are too shallow to deserve character development.  Even our main character is utterly messy, and incoherent.  Bale's performance is one of the film's few perks, but his performance still doesn't help craft any kind of person, good, bag, ugly or insane.  The fault should mostly be pinned on the script; it is hopeless.  The director, Harron, seems to have an agenda to make a dark comedy about materialism and loss of individuality in our modern day world, but fails because the whole plot is so distorted and unrealistic that she seems to be pinning a fantasy world (Bret Ellis made in the 1991 novel) for these characteristics.
     We are obviously not all the same, at least not to the extent of the weird exaggeration in this film.  Indeed, even if we are, Harron needs to proove it.  She shouldn't craft some fantasy world and blame us for their ridiculous problems.
     You might be thinking that the fantasy world is meant for comparison, not direct representation.  Hardly, her arguments are not valid.  You might be thinking, 'why couldn't you just enjoy the fantasy for what it is?'  You're kidding, who enjoys watching a guy murdering people with graphic detail?  If you are going to make an ugly movie you better make a point.

                            review by supernothingman
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