Rating: 
Summary: Interesting adaptation puts satire ahead of violence
Review: American Psycho is the long delayed film version of the novel by Bret Easton Ellis. When it was published nearly ten years ago, it was met with a storm of controversy. Its quite graphic violence caused critics to overlook the book's central theme, which is that a society awash in materialism will lose its collective soul. As the main character puts it, "The only true emotions I feel are disgust and greed." Originally, Oliver Stone wanted to film it using Leonardo DiCaprio as the protagonist, Patrick Bateman. I can see Leo D. in the part, but I imagine Stone would have made a very violent and very loud mess of it. Finally, the project was placed in the hands of director Mary Harron, and she wisely chose to emphasis the book's satirical and comedic elements over its violence. The result is a movie that is about as good a filming of the novel as one could hope for. Whether or not it is also entertainment depends on each viewer's tastes. Christian Bale gives the performance of his life as Patrick Bateman. Patrick is a young man who is the epitome of a soulless success. Wickedly bright and utterly ruthless, he makes big bucks working at a high powered finanical concern in New York. He works out religiously. He is fanatical about his appearance, and his morning routine of getting himself cleaned up, made up and dressed for work would put any movie star to shame. His wardrobe is impeccable. His haircut is perfect. Even his business cards are designed to be the best. Any coworker who dresses better or looks better than Patrick is considered to be competition and, thus, one of the enemy. His carefully contrived personal appearance goes far beyond the masks we knew in the past. It is more of a tool than his words or his actions. It is also a trap and a weapon. Yet most of the people Patrick knows seem to be using the same weapon, while Patrick is the only one who knows that behind the facade there is usually only emptiness. In this pursuit of meaningless physical and material perfection, he has also gone stark raving mad. He finally snaps. One evening he takes Paul Allen [Jared Leto], his fiercest competitor, out to dinner and then to his apartment, where he coldly and calculatedly kills him with an ax. When the police question him about the missing Allen, he coolly throws them off the track. At the same time, as his madness takes complete control, he goes on a murderous rampage. American Psycho is not a slasher flick nor is a thriller. It is a satirical black comedy that makes a valid attempt to show the ultimate futility of a relatively small but influential segment of American society. It does not always succeed, especially towards the end, because the violence ultimately becomes too numbing. This fact does not prevent it from being one of 2000's more original movies, and it does nothing to overshadow the enormous talents of its star and its director.
Rating: 
Summary: Psycho? where??
Review: Well,
how many of us have been shown up by someone we despise, or have been made a fool of by a woman/man we find attractive? how many of us get cut off by someone in traffic and get mad? how many of us get mad about things day after day, and have murderous thoughts? and act on them? Bateman is that part of us that DOES act on it....and eventually it becomes a way of life...how many of us would give into murderous impulses???? and then LIKE it?....thats the REAL question here, how many of us get close to acting on our impulses??? what if that ONE time you DONT hold back...you become JUST like HIM!! and find you Cant stop!!!!!????? so next time you are standing in the elevator next to a normal looking guy,or are sitting next to some cute guy in the theatre....ask yourself this question before walking in front of him 4 times to use the bathroom....."does HE hold back his impulses?" so do yourself a favor!!! use the restroom BEFORE the film starts!!!!!!!!... did I like this film you ask? whether I liked it or not, It asks a VERY important question...... how close are we all to being an "American Psycho"????? I dunno, but if that lady in the apartment above me stomps around ONE more Time!!! ..........there will be HELL to pay!
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent satire/horror plus comedy.
Review: Finally, a real rolemodel steps to the plate. In the disturbed, unfeeling world of New York, 1987, a world not too unlike our own, a hero rises up to show the way to true hilarity and non stop comedy, American Pyscho Patrick Bateman! Marvel as Christian Bale's portrayal of this wall street yuppie gone mad attempts to feed a cat to an ATM machine. Witness the glory as our protagonist films his own brand of adult entertainment. See the triumph as Bateman runs naked through apartment after apartment wielding his trusted chainsaw. Yes, all this and he even eats their brains...and cooks just a little.But really, this satire on america's "upper class" is an engaging commentary on the absurdness of not only Bateman's behavior, but how the world he lives in helps create it. Its depiction of violence is actually quite tasteful, and dramatically more reserved than the book. Fascinating and fantastic, this horror/satire really delivers. And as Christian Bale admits on his DVD version exclusive interview, don't be ashamed the laugh!
Rating: 
Summary: 2 Words describe this movie........DREADFUL and STUPID!
Review: Quite frankly, I don't see what everybody else saw in this movie. All I have to say is that, I found it to be not only incredibly boring, but stupid. I was so mixed up at the ending. I thought it was TERRIBLE!. Enough said......
Rating:
Summary: A Good Adaptation
Review: I was stunned to see WHO played Patrick Bateman in this movie. One of my favorite films of all time, "Empire of the Sun" (see my review if interested) starred a fourteen-year old Christian Bale with a heavy English accent. What happened!? He's all grown-up, hunky, and quite the convincing actor (even the accent is gone!). I thought this movie was good. As I have stated in another review, this book was banned in places accessible to me during my high school years. I eventually read the book to discover that it was quite a work of art, often reminiscent of "Clockwork Orange". The movie adaptation is well-done, even though it left out much of the gore of the printed edition.
The story takes place amidst the decadence and hairspray atmosphere of the 80's. Patrick Bateman(Bale) and his friends are obsessed with women, money, great restaurant reservations, and themselves. Patrick's whole existence is identified to us by his lifestyle. He is obsessed about everything from his skin care line to his business cards. He is perfect and seemingly normal to his peers. However, this hunky, wealthy, "perfect" guy has a big secret: When this Wall Street yuppie is not trying to get into "Dorsia", NYC's finest restaurant, he's an insane serial killer. Patrick lives two lives that have only one thing in common...his obsession for cleanliness and perfection. Is he truly insane, or are we all? It's a rough question to ask yourself while peeking into his behaviors through night and day. The ending leaves us a bit confused. It seemed rushed. I can't give it away, but it leaves some questions to toss around for hours after finishing the movie. I thought performances by Reese Witherspoone ("Legally Blonde") and Chloe Soveigny ("Boys Don't Cry") were well done. In all, this is a great film to rent. I won't recommend purchase. I think the extreme gore would probably, in my opinion be a little tiring after a while, but I must say, I couldn't get enough of Patrick Bateman's constant sarcasm. He has some lines that are so laughable, you sometimes forget this is a Drama/Suspense or Horror in most video stores. While not a perfect "date movie" (my own sarcastic attempt), "American Psycho" is sure to please if you have a good sense of humor. I can't wait to see what movies Christian Bale will choose in the future. He has done well painting the tale of a psychopath with excellent taste in food and ties.
Rating:
Summary: A good adaptation A great performance
Review: Based on the controversial best seller by Bret Easton Ellis, AMERICAN PSYCHO the movie, is pretty intense. One time child star, Christain Bale, is nothing short of brilliant as Patrick Bateman, a Wall Street power broker, who is also a brutal muderer. The movie is a dark exploration of excess in the 1980s, murder, and sex. At the same time, the film also displays a perverse sense of humor. It walks that very odd tightrope successfully. I can't say enough about Bale's acting in the movie. I think it was very brave of him to accept the part. Fans of the book (I am one) for the most part should be pleased. The film is not for the timid. The unrated version only differs from the theatrical release by one scene. But both are still pretty graphic. Directed by Mary Harron, the movie is both well made, and bold in its style and substance. The DVD (Unrated Version ) is pretty standard when it comes to special features. The one highlight is the interview with Bale. The rest of it is just fluff and ho-hum The inclusion of a commentary track might have helped. Still, as stated before, Bale's performance is not to be missed.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: Considering how wrong any adaptation of Ellis' notorious book could have gone, Mary Harmon has fashioned a rompin'-stompin' good film, and was smart and fortunate enough to cast Christian Bale in the lead. Tongue-in-cheek production design and music supervision add to the vicious lunacy exploding from almost every frame. Of course, no one could have expected less from her after "I Shot Andy Warhol," another great time at the movies that tossed darts at a bygone era. The film will have most appeal to folks who had to suffer these monstrous urban characters in the 80s and 90s - foul yuppies with little more than status and oneupmanship on their festering minds - so the biting satire will be lost on its targets who, likely, continue to live in abject denial of their past tawdriness. The "business card scene" rates as classic, the over-the-top chainsaw chase comes close, and Bale swooning over the cultural contributions of Whitney Houston and Phil Collins as he hacks his way through the mediocrity of his own mind is just delicious. One just wishes Lions Gate had not gone for the jugular with its tacky cover art. It's like pasting a Golan-Globus Cannon Films sensibility on top of an art film in order to hawk it to the Great Mass it sees as proles. Typical self-serving Hollywood arrogance offered up by folks who only read reviews and then pass them off as their own opinions.
Rating: 
Summary: What Was Wrong With the 80's...Is Wrong With This Movie
Review: Following a great introduction and wonderfully controlled plot development, this movie ends with a fizzle. Much like the 1980's -- the decade in which the story takes place. A big "thank you" to the production team on this movie for not making it the bloodbath it might have been. I was never a fan of Brett Easton Ellis but when he published the novel on which this film is based, I knew he was a rank amateur and that little more than luck had fueled his career. His use of extreme violence was only a means to get attention for an otherwise paltry manuscript. No -- or very minimal -- artistry involved. I've heard that the director of this film wanted to rescue the story. And she did a wonderful job. This isn't the first time this has happened in film. In fact, compare another very famous film -- Hitchcock's "Psycho" -- to the novel by Robert Bloch on which it was based and you can immediately see a parallel. Even bad novels may contain the seed of a great idea. And we are lucky sometimes to have movie directors capable of reworking them and creating art. The actor, Christian Bale, is phenomenal in this movie. I had never seen him before but I will be looking for him in other roles. Here he plays the title character perfectly. I can't think of anyone better to play Patrick Bateman. The rest of the cast is excellent. And I am once again pleased to see the beautiful Chloe Sevigny. Unfortunately, she is not in many of the film's scenes. But when she is, wow! So, I wish this movie had ended more satisfactorilly, but I understand what the director was trying to do. The eighties were about style more than substance. And while this movie has both, in the end, substance loses.
Rating:
Summary: Quite possibly the best movie of all time
Review: What to say about this movie? I've now seen it upwards of 30 times, and I love it more and more with each viewing. It's really less about a psycho killer as it is satirical look at the "yuppie lifestyle" of the 1980's. As far as actual violence, the movie is way toned down compared to the book. I think the category it best fits into would be a dark comedy. The more you see it, the more you notice every nuance of every character, with Christian Bale's portrail of Patrick Bateman being the undisputed masterpiece of the film. He brings a witty and amusing, yet still scary edge to Bateman. This is one of the best performances I have seen by an actor in a movie. This is definitely a must-see.
Rating:
Summary: Black satirical comedy
Review: This adaptation of the gritty bestseller is a real find. In it we have Christian Bale as 'psycho' of the title Patrick Bateman, spurred into action through a boring 80's lifestyle of business and appearances. By focusing on middle-class society's little nuances, this movie manages to show just how complacent society has become, with Bale's lifestyle of a perfectly astute businessman masking his other life as a murderer who hires prostitutes up to his trendy flat. The performances are all good but it is Bale who impresses the most as he calmly murders a colleague yet becomes pent-up with rage when someone has a more expensive-looking business card than his own. The audience sits back and watches as the beautiful ensemble cast (including Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon and Jared Leto) are lured or skewered by Bateman. This is black comedy at its very blackest, forcing its audience into nervous titters as Bateman moonwalks behind one of his victims, wielding an axe, or prepares for a murder whilst listening to Whitney Houston. It's not only a darkly humorous piece but it also says a lot about society today, despite being set two decades ago. Moreover it's a definite improvement on the book, toning down the violence to make it a lot more comic and a little less horrific but not to the extent that the message doesn't come across loud and clear.
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