22 Comments

1. seung

   Too wacked out for its own good.

2. Duerr

   As far as these exploitative comedies go, this one isn’t too bad, but loses a lot of its interest on the second viewing.

3. ptconf

   Bad
   Plot: 0
   Originality: 5
   Visuals: 3
   Acting: 3

   Overall: 2.75

4. Janice

   Very strange indeed and yet very good.

5. aogvc

   Damned be the day this movie was made
   Rare is the film that is so utterly bad, so amazingly awful, so terribly disgusting–that the dishonor of "Worst movie ever!" is so easily deserved. Never before have I witnessed a film divide audiences so greatly…you either love "American Psycho" or you hate it (and boy do I hate it!). This film could easily be classified under ‘kinky porn,’ but that would be a compliment to this wretched piece of trash. The fact that–ugh, forget it, I can’t continue. But whatever you do, avoid this movie at all costs! You’ll be grateful that you did. Trust me.

6. d.ford

   would have been a better score, but frankly didn’t quite do the book justice.

7. xilga

   i liked this film more than most movies with the word psycho in the title

8. ddab

   don’t accept the story at face value. it isn’t totally about what it seems

9. ters

   This movie will definitely make you think about it for days. Very well done.

10. popx

    Terrible. Nothing but porn. Do not waste your time.

11. luigi

    WOW! This is one disturbing movie. I’m going to go see it again.
    It took me a little while to decide if I liked it or not. I found that I do like it.

    The movie is set in the mid to late 80’s. And I believe the movie is about how messed up the 80’s were. The main character is a well-off New Yorker, who works on wall street. He is a very disturbed person, who is abscessed with popular 80’s music and little trivial things. The background of the film is scattered with bits about the Iran/Contra scandal, drug abuse, Aids, even the homeless.

    This is the kind of movie that film students watch 8 or 9 times to pick out all of the little subtleties and analyze the entire film. Maybe then someone can explain it all to me.

    Everyone should see this movie at least once. This film is very powerful and it will evoke some emotion, you’ll either love it or hate it. But isn’t that why we go to the movies?

12. madhu

    Needed more savage wit!!!
    Patrick Bateman is not your typical serial killer. He is obsessed with consumerism, and has an affinity for music by Huey Lewis and the News and Whitney Houston, not to mention Phil Collins. He also happens to work at a firm in Wall Street. Patrick is a handsome, young man who is ruthless and arrogant - a yuppie who just happens to love killing people.

    I was initially miffed to hear that Christian Bale was going to play the title role, but then I guess I had forgotten his smugness and arrogance in the wonderful "Little Women." Bale is the perfect choice because he encompasses the soulless, excessive period of the 1980’s integral to the character of Patrick Bateman better than any other actor would have.

    Bateman’s life is not all that exciting. He works in merger and acquistions (which is slyly referred to as "murders and executions"), though we mostly see him listening to his walkman in his office. He has a pretty secretary (Chloe Sevigny) and has a group of friends whose main concern is where they will be eating dinner and if there are reservations available at any one of the top restaurants. Bateman’s day begins by applying several lotions and creams to his body while taking a shower, working out by doing a thousand push-ups a day, and in general, planning his evening with his dates, including a socialite girlfriend (Reese Witherspoon). Sometimes Patrick picks up some prostitutes and then kills and dismembers them. Other times he will kill someone he knows, such as an ex-girlfriend or a rival co-worker (who has mistaken him for someone else) by using an ax or a nail gun. But who is Bateman really? Is he so devoid of identity that murder is all he needs to bring spice to his life? Or has he lost his soul and thinks that his identity is defined by his consumerist ideals, or the specific type of business card he carries?

    I have read the controversial, infamous book by Bret Easton Ellis, though I am fuzzy on recalling certain details. Naturally, the big shocker of the book was the relentless, graphic violence against women - how they were dismembered and, well, you get the idea. For about the first hour of director Mary Harron’s adaptation (she co-wrote it with Guinevere Turner), "American Psycho" has great fun with all the minute details of Patrick’s life and his circle of friends. There is a classic scene set to the music of Huey Lewis’s "Hip to be Square" where Bateman invites his rival (Jared Leto) to his home while explaining the brief history of the rock group and their gradual artistic integrity - the scene is especially tense considering that one can smell murder in the air. But the film loses its grip after a while mainly because Bateman seems to lose his mind, and we can’t fathom why. Has he realized the errors of his murderous ways? We are never sure and though I would not expect a motive necessarily, his reasons can’t be any more silly than that he feels his life has become a void - empty and unidentifiable. Many other Wall Street types may feel the same way without having to kill anyone. Somehow, this rings false, as in the book, and I wish that the twist ending was removed. It feels like a cheat and makes the whole affair more surreal than it should have been.

    "American Psycho" is often fun and at times, surprisingly funny and on-target. Thanks to Harron’s almost monochromatic visuals, such as Bateman’s apartment, there is a Kubrickian coolness to it, detached and grayish, as if life meant nothing. Even the restaurants look like science-fiction artifacts from "2001" - this is the alternate reality of the 1980’s where money and greed were all that mattered. But the film also feels cold and remote, and since we follow Bateman in his violent streak, we never come close to understanding him one bit. Despite some satirical touches and Bale’s superb performance, this "Psycho" needed a little more savagery to really hit the mark.

13. jkyx

    More comedy than anything really If you liked the book - stick to that. Where the book is disgusting and deplorable, the movie is stupid and comical.

14. ranko

    oscar worthy!
    american psycho, without a doubt one of the best movies of the decade, if not century. a psychological thriller, delving into the depths of a of a highly disturbed yet fascinating Christian Bale, in rare form as he delights us in rare charismatic form of a young Deniro/Pachino in their earlier hay days. Always on edge, always in your face, always intense. . . the plot twists and turns that left the audience with a standing ovation, one that i have never experienced myself. a rare classic, destined for greatness. A very possible oscar contender for best picture. Insanely impeccable!

15. bin

    Disturbing and memorable…
    its hard to say that you actually like this movie, because then people may think that you actually relate to the movie and its main character.

    however, i beleive that this movie takes an extreme approach as did fight club in order to pound its message across. judging from the on-going conversations i had with my fellow moviegoers, and analysis of bits and pieces of the movies afterwards - it does does this effectively.

    if you liked fight club and its sadistic view on life and the daily drudgery of work - you may enjoy this. i actually enjoyed ‘american psycho’ more than i did ‘fight club’, but i am at odds with my fellow moviegoers.

    ok, i think i am going to return some movies now and buy a chainsaw.

16. lbtu

    i liked it, but definately not for everyone…
    I went into the movie knowing what to expect. Christian Bale was surprisingly good for such a bizarre role(which leonardo decaprio’s agents had to talk Leo out of taking this role, they said it would tarnish his reputation of being a good guy). Don’t expect realism, you won’t get it. Instead expect a one in a lifetime quirkfest.

17. Allie

    One word. Odd.
    It took a lot of analysis and bickering between four relatively intelligent guys to finally cobble together the movie into a semblance of a plot. Even then we never came to a unified consensus.

    I think the movie fits into the same theme as the Sixth Sense and Fight Club. You are presented with an unusual story and supposedly very near the end of the picture they present you with a plot twist that brings everything together. Both of the afore mentioned films did their jobs brilliantly. This one left me with a resounding "huh? WTF?"

    The ending came way too quickly (although for some sitting in the theater apparently the ending didn’t come quickly enough) and I was left trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle of a plot with pieces that don’t match very well.

    Very frustrating indeed. I think this movie has some serious potential and I really wanted to like it but the way it was presented it just plain missed the mark.

18. Barney

    Edgy thriller with a sadistic, yet humorous approach.

19. ndiggs

    I would rather have been one of the characters killed in the movie!
    I have never been more insulted than I was Saturday, April 15th seeing this turd of a film! I don’t want to spoil it for those who plan on seeing it, but it was literally one of the most confusing and convoluted pieces of trash I had ever seen. If you are into movies that have alot of killing and blood in them, then you would enjoy that aspect of the film, but overall story and cohensiveness………totally lacking!!!! All and all, watch Halloween or Friday the 13th for better storylines than this piece of boring, confusing, long, and useless piece of trash!

20. yee

    An odd opening, followed by a perpetually decreasing intelligence factor
    I’m not altogether sure when I was so disappointed with a movie that I wanted to walk out, but didn’t because it just *had* to get better. The suspension of disbelief is required from the start — which is not a bad thing, as most good movies have this need — but the depths to which this goes are unbelievable.

    Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale) is the star of the movie, a typically banal up-and-coming mid-80’s financial manager (don’t let the VP title fool you) who just seems to have a problem keeping his anger in check. He comes across as greedy, emotionless, and rather trite, always looking for an edge. Unfortunately, as time goes on, he simply becomes unbelievable. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for the plot twist, and when it finally did arrive, I felt as though I had been asking for water and given mud.

    The rest of the cast just sort of filled in the spots they were assigned. Entirely predictable, even for the predictable crowd that they were. The scenes all contained predictable outcomes, and even the ending was eminently predictable; I saw it coming at least an hour before it finished.

    While not as gory as some other thrillers, and certainly with its own brand of dark comedy, this cannot save the movie — admittedly unique — from being a long journey down a dark tunnel with only one light at the end, and it was the Exit sign over the theater door. I’m really not sure that anything could have been done to save the film in my eyes. Maybe not making it would have done the trick.

21. bulas

    Messed up. Good in a very strange way, but very messed up.
    I saw this movie a couple of days ago and i’m still trying to figure out if i like it or not. It is very strange. Seeing as how that is what they were going for though, they did a very good job.

    I guess I have to say that I really did like the movie, I mean i’m giving it a 7 out of 10, but I feel dirty just saying that. Worse yet, I couldn’t help but kinda like the main character at times. What can I say, he was damn funny at times.

    I know they were trying to get all deep and stuff with how materialistic our world is, and at times they did a good job of pointing it out and making you think, but then it would get so freakin wacked that you would forget all about that and spend the rest of your time wondering if the guy next to you had an axe with him.

    I think I’ve talked enough now. I have to go return some videos.

22. arthur

    This movie is a Killer
    It is such a great film. Nothing like the book but it is very close. Very well directed and Christian Bale is great as the role. If you see at least one film this spring make sure its this one.