Rating: Summary: This Film Does the Book Justice Review: I read "American Psycho" before I saw the movie and I'm very glad I did. My reading the book prepared me for the disturbing images I would ultimately see on the screen. Christian Bale did an excellent job of portraying the monstrous yet calm Patrick Bateman in a story that takes place in the 1980s.The story mainly revolves around a man in his twenties who is very successful on Wall Street in New York City. He seems very charming and normal to just about all who meet him - he even has a fiance played very well by Reese Witherspoon. However, what these people don't know is that under that charming exterior lies a vicious killer who must satisfy his need to kill whenever the mood strikes. Even though he does possess the traits of a killer, there are also some lighter scenes in the movie. The scene where Patrick and his co-workers discuss their business cards will bring a smile to your face. It's amazing how the type of paper or ink used on a card can be so important and almost seem life-threatening to these men. Their entire level of status rested upon a small card. You will probably find yourself in shock throughout most of the film, but sometimes that can be a good thing. This is not a regular film that one goes to see for enjoyment. This film was made to make you feel uncomfortable and make you take a serious look at the sort of things that go on in the world everyday. The ending will have you second-guessing yourself and make you think, "How did that happen?" This movie is not for the faint of heart, but if you think you are up to challenge of watching this film, I'd recommend it!
Rating: Summary: A brutal , uplifting masterpiece Review: Based on an equally disturbing book , American Psycho is a spectacular movie if you have the stomach for it . It tells the story of yuppie Patrick Bateman who , along with his friends , spends the biggest part of the day worrying about what they wear , eat and listen . Bateman has another side in his private live though. He is a cold-blooded murderer . He takes his victim's lives with the worst possible way. Analyzing the meaning behind Whitney Houston's music or Huey Lewis & And The News's lyrics is obviously not enough to define himself. Not that he kills people in order to achieve that . It's more like an effort from a man who has no inner-side ( as he himself confesses in front of the mirror ) to feel alive in a way . The murder scenes are absolutely abominable and can almost cause damage to a sensitive person's soul . Haron doesn't hesitate to add black humour touches to a movie as shockingly gory as this one ( Bateman washes...his gloves after that meeting with his collegue in the bathroom ) . Yet it's Bale's exceptional perfomance as the sick psycho which makes this as great and breath-taking as it is. If there was any justice in this world an Oscar golden guy ( or at least a nomination ) would have found it's owner.
Rating: Summary: Best movie of all time! Review: Hello, I wanted to buy a movie for me and my husband to watch just for scares, so we did. We got three. The first one wasn't really entertaining nor was the second, but this one was. "Americian Psycho" was repeatedly rewinded over and over again, it was basically the best movie out there. A rich man Patrick Baitman, in New York is a psycho killer because of these pills tat he takes, noone suspects that it's him because he has such a great reputation so he kills prostitutes, coworkers and some homeless people. His rich friends include, Timothy Bryce ( Justin Theroux ) and other co workers. Him and his fiance are both having an affair with other people and they thik that the other doesn't know about it. Patrick never really proposed but his fiance has bought an engagment ring and is planning the weddin.g Patrick doesn't want to get married but doesn't leave his fiance until the end of the movie. Patrick and his friends go clubbing, do drugs such as cocaine and steriods, but keeping in mind this movie is taking place in the 80's so they don't know about all the bad stuff yet. I recommend this movie to everyone over the age of 21. Because this movie can be offensive to the younger viewers.
Rating: Summary: A very good adapition of the book Review: American Psycho...murder, clubs, sex, drugs, and 80's right? Wrong. A lot of people saw the title and must of thought about 'oh just another kill movie.' No. American Psycho is not a killing spree movie. It is a well plotted film, and since being a huge fan of the book, I thought this movie hit the book like a hammer on a nail. Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is smart, intelligent, rich, and lives the life that most people can only dream of. He is everything I thought of Patrick Bateman in the book. A couple of things that they missed was Patrick Bateman's excessive details; The Patty Winters Show, and what he wears and what his friends wear. I guess that the screeplay writers didnt want to bore the audidence with his excessive detail about everything he see's as in the book. The story takes place in NYC in the 80's with him going to fancy dinners, and work. Although we dont know what he does since Bret Easton Ellis didnt want to tell us what Patrick Bateman did for a living. So there are times where he does talk to his fiancee Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon, which I think she tried a little to hard during the upsetting parts in the film), and he is always mistakn for someone who works wirh him since they all look alike; slick back hair, designer clothes, nice bodies, and good looks. Some of the disturbing parts is when he does kill, but I felt that the movie was not too violent enough like the book. The book was full of gore and I didnt mind seeing it in the movie, and the sex scenes were not up to par with the scenes in the book, but if it was then, American Psycho would of have been rated XXX because the scenes in the book describe sex like it is shown in XXX rated films. In all, the movie was beautifully described and tell told. Now in the end, it is where you have to think, bur I am not going to spoil the ending because it is very strange but yet very entertaining.
Rating: Summary: Superb satire Review: In American Psycho, novelist Bret Easton Ellis starts brilliantly satirizing life duing the 1980's, focusing on the culturally bankrupt lifestyle of Wall Street investment bankers and their bretheren. Ellis depicts a shallow world populated by yuppies obsessed with status symbols: clothing, the right job, getting in the right restaurants, etc. Ellis is clearly in-tune with the cultural "ins" and "outs" of the era, providing an accurate time capsule for readers. Within this world, these yuppies fail to notice that one of their own, Patrick Bateman, is consummed by an ever-growing compulsion to kill, especially those people that disturb his worldview. Writer/director Mary Harron tackled the difficult task of adapting the book for the silver screen. Appropriately, her movie adaptation focuses in on the satirical elements. Actor Christian Bale (also appears in Shaft in a somewhat similar role) deserves much of the credit for bringing the movie to life with his outstanding performance as Patrick Bateman. Through his performance, you can easily understand Bateman's deep underlying psychosis and the on-going conflict in his mind as he tries to control that bloodlust. All this is done with a pitch-black sense of humor. Fortunately, the movie skips the book's more disturbing and disappointing elements. Ellis' novel rapidly disintegrates from its promising beginnings rooted in satire. I found that Ellis' novel increasingly focused on the violence, increasingly elaborate and disturbing. Although I think the graphic violence is highly effective in conveying Bateman's ever-slipping grasp on reality, it makes the book unreadable for most and is the source of much of the negative criticism. Credit Harron for keeping the violence off-screen, and the absurdity of the violence renders it almost cartoon-like. That being said some viewers still will not be able to stomach it. The movie's ending is essentially true to the book and very fitting. As for the DVD itself, it is disappointing in its failure to take advantage of the medium. A commentary for a controversial movie like this would have been extremely interesting.
Rating: Summary: Don't Just Stare At It. Eat It. It's A Period Piece. Review: I have to say, personally, that "American Psycho" was one of the better films to be released in the year 2000. Compared to the other drivel and cliched movies that Hollywood released, expecting the audiences to unquestioningly choke down with their popcorn, "American Psycho" was a stand out and well-worth checking out, in my opinion. The main character, Patrick Bateman (played by Christian Bale), is the perfect example of the limitless clones that wondered through their selfish and uncaring lives in the American 1980s, devoid of any sense of common human morals and sense of decency. He works and lives Wallstreet, and what sets him apart from his other Harvard Vs. Yale "friends" is that he is completely and utterly insane. While his co-workers are stressing over deciding on which font setting looks best on their business cards and trying to get reservations at the stylish restaurant of the week, Bateman is struggling with his unquenchable lust to murder. The movie takes off from there, trying to show whether or not Patrick will go too far with his evil desires. What I really liked about "American Psycho," besides the fact that it was better than 90% of the other films released in 2000, was that it didn't rely on gore and gratuitous violence to create an entertaining movie. The fact is that most of the violence is implied. Movies like "Scream" and "I Know What You Did Last Summer" in the recent resurface in the teen horror flick genre have featured more violence and have left me more disturbed in its visual violence than in watching "American Psycho." Another aspect is that each actor or actress works very well in his or her part, each showing the total insignificance of one person to the other in the corrupt business world of the 1980s. Some characters don't show up as much because they are just not important, and especially not meaningful to Patrick Bateman. The 1980s are captured very well in this film. From the discussions Bateman has about popular music acts of the time to sly references to sitcoms. This film works very well on three levels: first as a satire of the Yuppie Wallstreet era of the 1980s; second, as a murderous dark comedy; and third, as a surreal look into the mind of a very disturbed individual. If you like dark comedies much like "Evil Dead II" and "Fight Club," then you'll probably enjoy "American Psycho." However, if you don't like movies that push the limits to the mainstream, then you'll probably want to skip this one. This one is not for the kiddies (they won't understand) and not for the politically minded with strong left or right tendencies (they won't understand). It takes a weird sense of humor.
Rating: Summary: Journey into the mind of a psychopath killer... Review: I thought this was a great movie. It has dark comedy in it, but it is mainly a horror movie. I thought Christian Bale did a superb job as Patrick Bateman. The movie was directed by Mary Herron, and was done really well. The cast includes Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, and Willem Dafoe. 'American Psycho' is about a rich businessman Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) who, during the day anyway is a charming guy, but sometimes he just wants to kill whenever he feels the urge. DVD Features include Production notes, Theatrical Trailers, Making of 'American Psycho', and a Christian Bale interview. Overall this DVD is worth every penny you pay for it.
Rating: Summary: Good movie, avoid the book Review: This is a pretty good movie. Christian Bale is great, and there are some very funny moments. The director Mary Herron deserves credit for salvaging something out of Brett Easton Ellis's vomit-inducing novel. That is my real goal for posting this review: warning viewers to steer far clear of the book. Trust me, I am doing a valuable public service. You may be curious about the book because you liked the movie, but STAY AWAY! The book is a big, heaping, stinking pile of trash. If you thought the movie was voilent, you ain't seen nothing yet. Unlike the movie, the "satire" of the book gets utterly lost within scene after scene of depravity. You have been warned. Flipping through this book is like peeking into Ellis's toilet several hours after he ate a very large meal. You might find some pages of his book floating in there too, because that's all it's good for.
Rating: Summary: Do you like Huey Lewis and the news? Review: Crazy. Confusing. Entertaining. Funny ('feed me a stray cat'). Totally bizarre! This is simply an awesome film! Bale gives a perfect performance of Patrick Bateman, if you've read the book you'll know what to expect, its not exactly the sort of film your mother would enjoy but i really urge everyone to see this movie. The supporting cast all do their jobs well (look out for a young reese witherspoon) but Bale well and truly steals the show and is so effortlessly ingaging as Bateman i have found myself watching films purely if he is in them. Check out the memorable quotes to see some of the great one liners to be found in this truly spectacular film. The film is thought provoking and to a degree quite scary as it makes you really think about the normal looking guy at work that little bit different. A must see. Patrick Bateman: A 25 years old, 6'2", Christian Bale.
Rating: Summary: Best movie of all time! Review: Hello, I wanted to buy a movie for me and my husband to watch just for scares, so we did. We got three. The first one wasn't really entertaining nor was the second, but this one was. "Americian Psycho" was repeatedly rewinded over and over again, it was basically the best movie out there. A rich man Patrick Baitman, in New York is a psycho killer because of these pills tat he takes, noone suspects that it's him because he has such a great reputation so he kills prostitutes, coworkers and some homeless people. His rich friends include, Timothy Bryce ( Justin Theroux ) and other co workers. Him and his fiance are both having an affair with other people and they thik that the other doesn't know about it. Patrick never really proposed but his fiance has bought an engagment ring and is planning the weddin.g Patrick doesn't want to get married but doesn't leave his fiance until the end of the movie. Patrick and his friends go clubbing, do drugs such as cocaine and steriods, but keeping in mind this movie is taking place in the 80's so they don't know about all the bad stuff yet. I recommend this movie to everyone over the age of 21. Because this movie can be offensive to the younger viewers.
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