American Psycho (2000)

A wealthy New York investment banking executive hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he escalates deeper into his illogical, gratuitous fantasies.

Director:

Mary Harron

Writers:

Bret Easton Ellis (novel), Mary Harron (screenplay),

Stars:

Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas

4 wins & 7 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christian Bale	...	Patrick Bateman
Justin Theroux	...	Timothy Bryce
Josh Lucas	...	Craig McDermott
Bill Sage	...	David Van Patten
Chloë Sevigny	...	Jean
Reese Witherspoon	...	Evelyn Williams
Samantha Mathis	...	Courtney Rawlinson
Matt Ross	...	Luis Carruthers
Jared Leto	...	Paul Allen
Willem Dafoe	...	Det. Donald Kimball
Cara Seymour	...	Christie
Guinevere Turner	...	Elizabeth
Stephen Bogaert	...	Harold Carnes
Monika Meier	...	Daisy
Reg E. Cathey	...	Al, the Derelict

Storyline

Patrick Bateman, a young, well to do man working on wall street at his father's company kills for no reason at all. As his life progresses his hatred for the world becomes more and more intense.

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Plot Keywords:

fear | materialism | violence | psycho killer | decolletage | 

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Taglines:

I think my mask of sanity is about to slip

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for strong violence, sexuality, drug use and language

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Cantonese

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Psicópata americano

Filming Locations:

Boston Club - 4 Front Street East, Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

£749,526 (UK) (21 April 2000)

Gross:

ESP 466,785,361 (Spain) (29 June 2001)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Am Psycho Productions, Edward R. Pressman Film, Lions Gate Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bret Easton Ellis was sent several death threats after American Psycho was published.

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Goofs

During Patrick Bateman's first meeting with Detective Donald Kimball, Jean brings Detective Kimball mineral water that he does not want. She sets the bottle of water and glass on the corner of the desk. During the conversation between Bateman and Kimball, the glass and bottle move from the corner of Bateman's desk to a slightly deeper part of the corner, and an ashtray moves into their original place.

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Quotes

Patrick Bateman: [narrating] I'm fairly certain that Timothy Bryce and Evelyn are having an affair. Timothy is the only interesting person I know. I'm almost completely indifferent as to whether Evelyn knows I'm having an affair with Courtney Rawlinson, her closest friend. Courtney is almost perfect looking. She's usually operating on one or more psychiatric drugs; tonight I believe it's Xanax. More disturbing than the drug use, though, is the fact that she's engaged to Luis Carruthers, the biggest dufus in the ...

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Connections

Referenced in Lunar Park

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Soundtracks

"Suicide"
Written by John Cale
Performed by John Cale
Courtesy of John Cale Music Inc.

User Reviews

The majority of those who complain probably haven't read the book...

... because with "American Psycho", Mary Harron and her screen writing partner have delivered the most faithful adaptation it would be possible to release without getting the film banned or revolting audiences so much that no one comes to see it. It would be IMPOSSIBLE to take some of the most extreme sequences from the book and commit them to film. What the movie instead does is to give us an insight into the stunningly fragile and insecure mind of Patrick Bateman, and to speculate whether his unstable nature would REALLY lead him to perpetrate vile acts, or whether he just fantasises about doing so.

I think it matters little in the context of this film whether Bateman's exploits are actually based in reality, because whether they are or they aren't, Bateman is still left in the grip of paranoia, brought on by the shallowness of the society that is around him. Bateman is less of a 'psycho' than a vessel for all the selfish evils of society to corrupt, and a sensible audience is more likely to be left reeling at how he has been turned into a 'robot', than by the discreet amounts of gore that do feature in the movie.

"American Psycho" is fascinating to watch because Bateman is such a complex character. We feel revulsion at his violent tendencies, amused by his complete superficiality, and pity at his crumbling sanity. In order to evoke such diverse feelings from one performance, we need a superb actor. Bale's performance is right on the money. Never does HIS mask slip as does that of Patrick Bateman. He is completely believable in all his emotions.

There is NOTHING in the film that is not true to the book (although there are bits in the book that are not true to the film) Both the reading and watching experiences are valuable and rewarding ones, but what they share with each other is that while they're exploring somebody else's mental state, they are also probing that of their audience. Can we see the funny side in the fact that these murders were committed for very trivial reasons?

Can we ridicule someone with the knowledge that he is also a fantastically dangerous person? The film and book are constantly pushing boundaries, and if you don't fight that, but instead surrender to it, they will take you to many interesting places. Don't be afraid to give in to your emotions and laugh when you see something funny, because the movie shows us what emotional repression has done to someone like Patrick.

Kudos to Mary Harron for tackling a seriously difficult project and turning it into one of the cleverest movies of recent years. "American Psycho" is anything you want it to be; glossy and superficial, or deep and meaningful. The question is: Do you look at things from the same narrow angle as Patrick Bateman does? If so, then the movie is not for you...