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:

I think my mask of sanity is about to slip

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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 business cards belonging to Patrick Bateman, David Van Patten, Timothy Bryce, Paul Allen, and Luis Carruthers each contain the same typo. On the top right, underneath where the company name "Pierce & Pierce" is listed, the department is written as "Mergers and Aquisitions" rather than "Mergers and Acquisitions".

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Goofs

At his apartment Jean asks Patrick if he's seeing anyone. It is odd that his secretary would know nothing about Patrick being engaged.

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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

In the television edit, there are these changes:

• Though the hooker scene is kept in, the threesome sex scene part is cut off, and after starting "Sussudio" it cuts to them with the light off. When Christian Bale gets up, his butt is not shown.
• Christian Bale's butt is also removed from "Morning Routine" scene
• Curses and some innuendo ("he won't give the maitre'd head") are cut. The line "I want you to clean your vagina" is kept however.

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Connections

References The Shining (1980)

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Soundtracks

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

User Reviews

Cruelty and Christian Bale

A very funny horror flick. A worthy companion piece to its literary roots. A phenomenal, fearless performance by Christian Bale that, in a way, cleared up my questions about this versatile British actor. I could never quite warm up to him. Not even in "Little Women". Now, Bale as Patrick Bateman, revealed the reason. It is the cruelty around his mouth. His smiles are chilling and they work to perfection in this, his yuppie modern monster.His actions have the pristine shallowness of his business cards and the disgusting taste of his self awareness. You don't feel sorry for him, the way one did for Norman Bates. No, his character is unredeemable. His rough sex with two women while he rides one of them looking at himself in the mirror is one of the most disturbing film moments I've ever seen. I wonder if Bale will ever be able to play goodness, convincingly.

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, Lions Gate Films, Muse Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

101 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Dolby Atmos

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1