I Have to Return Some Videotapes with an American Psycho (2000)

Today I went over to a friend's place so I was pretty sure I was going to see some really random movie. Turns out no one had brought any strange foriegn films or anything, so I got to search through Netflix on my own to pick a movie. Eventually I stumbled across American Psycho, and I got some of those "you haven't seen that" exclamations and expressions. I took that as a good sign, and seeing that one of my favorite actors, Christian Bale, was in the lead role, I figured I was in for a good time. It also didn't hurt that I was familiar with the name as being a very big movie and very popular. Anyways, I don't want to keep you, I'm sure you have some videotapes you want to return. My thoughts can be found on the other side of the jump!


I know this is a very famous movie, so I'll just give a quick recap on the story. Basically Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is getting very bored with his life, and increasingly frustrated and angry. I don't think it's much of a spoiler to say that he starts lashing out and commiting murders. The real story of the film is how he keeps getting increasingly out of control, and how much his craving for blood starts seeping into his nice life as a vice manager at his Wall Street job. Can he keep it together, and possibly more important, will he get away with it all?

No joke, this movie was pretty great! There were so many things I liked about it, I'm really not sure where to start. But being a child of the 80s, I think I have to bring up the music first! This movie is jammed full of fun 80s songs. I don't think I'll ever think of Huey Lewis and the News' "Hip to be Square" quite the same way again! That's not all though, there were great tracks like "Simiply Irresistible" by Robert Palmer, "Walking on Sunshine", "Lady in Red", and even "In Too Deep" and "Sussudio" both by Phil Collins! And these songs weren't even just a soundtrack. They're songs that the characters in the movie usually can hear because they are being played by Patrick Bateman on his walkman or stereo. Maybe this dates me, but I don't care, I love the 80s!

Did I mention he's also totally obsessed with his own appearance, even in this scene when he watches himself posing in the mirror during sex! Totally hilarious!

Of course I have to bring up Christian Bale's performance as the charming, friendly, unintentionally hilarious, yet hollow, terrifying and totally inhuman Patrick Bateman. I have never seen a character quite like this guy, and I found myself laughing one moment and cringing the next. There just seems to be so much to this person, yet he seems completely empty of basic human traits, faking almost all his interaction with the people around him in an effort to fit in. It really reminded me of that TV show Dexter. However, where that character has a sort of twisted morality, Patrick Bateman instead is just has an unusually high level of information on almost all the music he's almost ever listened to. Bah! Who needs morals when you have Huey Lewis and the News?

I couldn't help but find large portions of this movie really funny. The scene when he is having sex with a pair of women is particularly funny. Also there is his nearly endless stream of consciousness when it comes to talking about music, as he starts playing the very band he's talking about. I can't forget about his obsession with business cards. His outburst towards the end of the film was pretty priceless too.

After all he's done, can he hold himself back anymore?

For those who don't like gore, I don't think you have to worry about American Psycho. Unless you're turned by even the sight of blood that it. There's certainly a lot of blood in the movie, but they tastefully avoid showing anything too graphic explicitely, which I really liked. Any violence that happens is often off screen, although it's usually not a secret as to what he's going. 

Possibly my only complaint is that I really didn't like how it ended. I won't spoil anything, but at this point in time, I've seen that type of ending far too much to be interested in it. It's hard to give the film a full strike against it though because the ending is still well done, and there is just so much great stuff filling this film to the gills!

If you haven't seen American Psycho I highly recommend it; especially if you have a fondess for old 80s music! This is a really smart fun movie and I had a blast watching it with my friends! In fact, even if you've seen it before, revisit it, it holds up great, even though their phones are gigantic. And with that, I really have to go. I have to return some videotapes!