American Psycho (2000)

A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.

Director:

Mary Harron

Writers:

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

Stars:

Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas

8 wins & 13 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	...	Donald Kimball
Cara Seymour	...	Christie
Guinevere Turner	...	Elizabeth
Stephen Bogaert	...	Harold Carnes
Monika Meier	...	Daisy
Reg E. Cathey	...	Homeless Man

Storyline

It's the late 1980s. Twenty-seven year old Wall Streeter Patrick Bateman travels among a closed network of the proverbial beautiful people, that closed network in only they able to allow others like themselves in in a feeling of superiority. Patrick has a routinized morning regimen to maintain his appearance of attractiveness and fitness. He, like those in his network, are vain, narcissistic, egomaniacal and competitive, always having to one up everyone else in that presentation of oneself, but he, unlike the others, realizes that, for himself, all of these are masks to hide what is truly underneath, someone/something inhuman in nature. In other words, he is comprised of a shell resembling a human that contains only greed and disgust, greed in wanting what others may have, and disgust for those who do not meet his expectations and for himself in not being the first or the best. That disgust ends up manifesting itself in wanting to rid the world of those people, he not seeing them as ...

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Plot Keywords:

narcissism | materialism | serial murder | 1980s | business card | 

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Taglines:

No Introduction Necessary.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The film cast includes three Oscar winners: Christian Bale, Jared Leto and Reese Witherspoon; and two Oscar nominees: Willem Dafoe and Chloë Sevigny.

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Goofs

(at around 1h 30 mins) The TV that is shown at the end of the movie with President Reagan speaking is a late '90s model of Sony Trinitron.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Waiter #1: Our pasta this evening is squid ravioli in a lemon grass broth with goat cheese profiteroles, and I also have an arugula Caesar salad. For entrees this evening, I have swordfish meatloaf with onion marmalade, rare roasted partridge breast in raspberry coulis with a sorrel timbale.
Waiter #2: ...and grilled free-range rabbit with herbed french fries. Our pasta tonight is a squid ravioli in a lemon grass broth, and the fish tonight is a grilled...

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Alternate Versions

For the US theatrical release, director Mary Harron had to edit the following two scenes (which are available on the unrated edition) in order to receive an R-rating from the MPAA:

• The word "asshole" in the line, "Christy, get down on your knees so Sabrina can see your asshole" was changed to just "ass".
• The threesome during the same scene was trimmed several seconds.

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Connections

Referenced in Supernatural: Hello, Cruel World (2011)

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Soundtracks

Ya Llegaron A La Luna
Written by Santiago Jiménez
Performed by Santiago Jiménez Jr.
Courtesy of Easy Disk/Rounder Records Corp.
Published by San Antonio Music Publishers, Inc.

User Reviews

Two Chainsaws Up

Without a doubt the most underrated movie of the past decade, "American Psycho" is a piece of American cinema that shouldn't be missed by anyone, regardless if they do not like the violence (which does have its reasons).

Christian Bale gives a flawless performance as the troubled, deep down wannabe Yuppie who has psychotic, violent impulses. This is true acting here, folks. Not phoned in Tom Crooze acting. Some people object to Patrick Bateman narrating the movie [always a weak sign in a movie] and not letting us figure his motives out on our own, but if you watch closely, Bale shows us Bateman's vulnerablity through every minute of every day of his life. The movie is at times hysterical, as his character uses dominant Alpha Monkey behavior around the opposite sex. But again, it's all for good reason.

If not for Bale's performance, see it for the knife twisting satire of the '80's -- from the clothes, to the hairdos, to the music [I'll never be able to hear Phil Collins in the same way again!] The production value is rich in '80's nostalgia from the "Black and White" set designs to the enormous cellphones [how could we forget those?].

This is a movie that major studios are too afraid to touch. This is film making. Remember film making? When films took you on a ride in someone's life and you would walk away with a piece of their mind? American Psycho doesn't have any real morals or answers, but it shows the deep psychological insecurities some men suffer everyday. Oh yeah, and it was directed by a woman, so all you feminists shut up!

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook

Country:

USA Canada

Language:

English Spanish Cantonese

Release Date:

14 April 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

American Psycho

Filming Locations:

Alley at 51 Nassau Street, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$7,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$4,961,015, 16 April 2000

Gross USA:

$15,070,285

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$34,266,564

Company Credits

Production Co:

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

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1