|
Directed by: Mary Harron Starring: Christian Bale Patrick Bateman (Bale) stars as self-centered, materialistic Yuppie, who also has a passion for killing people. Yea, that's basically the gist of the movie. I know quite a few horror fans enjoy it, but after 3 viewings I still couldn't find any value in this film. The novel is very clever and well written, but it just didn't traslate very well into film. It deserves a 1.5 at the most. Do yourself a favor and read the book instead. 1.5/5 PROS: funny at times, some decent kills CONS: takes a great book and ruins it. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144084/
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:07
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 10:56 |
|
|
As I've never read the book, I have no basis for comparison. That being said I loved the movie. It was funny and when he killed the first guy it was probably one of the coolest buildups to a kill I've ever seen. 3.5/5
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:12
|
|
|
I gave this film a 3. It's more of a dark comedy than a horror film, but I found myself laughing quite hard when he talked about his music tastes.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:13
|
|
|
It's a good movie that could have been great, but tons of little things and the lack of a satisfying conclusion mar it. It felt like I was just watching a bunch of scenes from a book strung together with little attempt to tie it all together, and the ending seemed out of place, like it was the end of a narration that they didn't bother to include. Christian Bale is excellent in it, and some of the scenes were great, but overall it was a little disappointing. Edit: Watched it again, changing my vote from 3.5 to 4.
Montez fucked around with this message at 12:41 on Jun 7, 2004 |
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:28
|
|
|
yea, I do have to agree that Christian Bale is excellent. It's a shame he was wasted in this movie though.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:30
|
|
|
quote:ClumsyThief came out of the closet to say: I think that's the way it's meant to be taken, more of a dark comedy and a bizarre look at 80s yuppie culture. The book does a much better job of making it seem like a more serious, twisted obsession. The movie makes it a little laughable. This was where I first noticed Christian Bale though, and he's one of my favorite actors now.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:47
|
|
|
I thought this movie was absolutely hysterical, and as a whole it really gave me an appreciation for Christian Bale, but I was particularly impressed by his breakdown over the phone towards the end of the movie. I'm sure the book is great too, but the way it's always described to me it seems like they're really of two different genres even though the subject matter is essentially the same. I'll be sure to check it out. Giving it a 4.5 just because there were a couple flaws, but none that I can remember in detail offhand.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 01:55
|
|
|
I'd give it a 4 easily. Christian Bale was fantastic as Bateman and there are some jaw dropping sequences and awesome dialogue. The business card sequence was probably one of the most surreal and insane scenes in a movie ever.
|
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 02:00
|
|
|
I thought American Psycho was a great adaptation of the book. Not only that, but a lot of the scenes are funny in a dark and surreal kind of way. 4.5/5
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 02:11
|
|
|
I loved the perspective on life this movie holds. Dark comedy abound, business card micromanagement, the psychology of a killer; I thought it all came together to make a good movie. There was virtually no memorable conclusion, however.
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 02:54
|
|
|
A great acting performance by Bale as Bateman. The ending isn't much of a payoff but the over-the-topness of the fantasy in his mind makes for some good laughs at least. Interesting and worth watching if you don't have anything else to do and want to relax, I guess. 3/5
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 10:32
|
|
|
I absolutely loved this movie, the dark atmosphere with the great (and subtle) 80s sets was fabulous. 4/5
|
|
#
?
May 4, 2004 10:44
|
|
|
I put off watching this one for ages, someone had given me the DVD as a birthday present. Eventually my bro forced me to watch it and we laughed pretty hard. Some very funny scenes are funny because they are so over-the-top. He's in the living room doing ab crunches in the morning, while talking on the phone, while a lesbian porn video is on the tv in the background. And at 8pm+ at night he breaks off a dinner to take back videos. Hilarious. Voted 5.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2004 15:23
|
|
|
I notice a lot of people are complaining about the ending of the movie, but the thing is, the book itself really never had a conclusion so to speak. In fact, Bateman's character is used in another book by the author of American Psycho. He's married to the secretary. Which makes American Psycho 2 impossible. My favorite movie. Too bad the majority of Bale's roles since then haven't fit him as well.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2004 16:17
|
|
|
I felt horrible, but I couldn't help laughing my rear end off when he ran through the city killing everyone. The movie's so loving crazy, it becomes a pure comedy after a while. When Opie and Anthony were on the radio, they'd play the sound clip of Bateman telling the hooker "Don't stare at it, eat it" all the drat time. Still makes me laugh everytime I hear it.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2004 17:57
|
|
|
4 because I'm gay for Willem Dafoe, oh yeah and it was a good movie.
|
|
#
?
May 5, 2004 20:57
|
|
|
American Psycho is a dark, violent and demented character study of Patrick Bateman, a sociopathic 80s yuppie. While it is very funny, it's also very intelligent and Bateman's psychosis is explored to the point that I just have to be in awe of. Bateman is handsome, highly educated, rich and classy. He is also a pretty sick guy, but that's alright, too, because that's the kind of person the world wants him to be. Excess and greed are the only things that matter, and it's measured in business cards, coke, reservations at expensive restaraunts. If you like, your sacrifice to the gods of the 80s can be measured in gallons of blood and semen too. During the course of the film you see the world that created and encourages Bateman is starting to kill him, and he starts lashing out in the extremes of sex, violence and fashion to both estinguish his anger and strike back at a society that wants him to remain anonymous. He cuts hookers heads off, stabs hobos, rapes prostitutes with wire hangars, throws a lot of axes and tries to feed stray kittens to ATMs. Anytime his personal demons erupt into the sight of others they are brushed off just as quickly. His threats are unheard, his confessions mistaken for chit-chat. The blood he has spilled is cleaned up, the murders he commited are hidden. In the end, Bateman can't win and is forced into a state of psychotic enlightenment, surpassing every barrier he previously thought to be the limit. His disgust and rage have reached an unbelievable new level underneath his cool exterior, and no one around him will ever punish or even recognize his writhing hatred and evil, no matter how he lashes out or how viciously. Patrick Bateman is not a person, but a creation of sick society that will be content slowly killing it and feeding it with his excesses, forever. Amazing performances from Christian Bale and Willem Dafoe. The cinematography was excellent, and the soundtrack was as carefully chosen as the casting. The director's take on the book is much more humorous and different in an important way. While in the book Patrick was clearly imagining these things, numerous parts of the movie are added or subtracted to show that he clearly has killed these people and he gets away with them by luck or just denial from the people around him, which changes the theme. I rated Brazil a 5 before the 5.5 rating was available, so I'll have to give it to American Psycho. Edit - Aha, ratings changes are available now, so back to 5. Knight fucked around with this message at 02:06 on May 30, 2004 |
|
#
?
May 5, 2004 21:45
|
|
|
quote:CovetousCreatur came out of the closet to say: Wasted in this movie? None of his other roles compare to Bateman. His dialogue is just FANTASTIC.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2004 21:19
|
|
|
extremely good movie. Bale's best role, he's just perfect for it. moments like in the business card scene where he breaks a sweat are just astonishing. love the acting and story, although i haven't read the book. 5.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2004 21:38
|
|
|
I thought this movie was very good as a satire, actually. Very funny, good mocking of Wall Street and the characters it creates.
|
|
#
?
May 7, 2004 21:54
|
|
|
quote:[i] Patrick was clearly imagining these things, numerous parts of the movie are added or subtracted to show that he clearly has killed these people and he gets away with them by luck or just denial from the people around him, which changes the theme.[/B] I just watched this movie yesterday, and i gotta say, its one of the best adaptions ive seen. Bale is PERFECT in the role of patrick, the dialouge is right on, some scenes from the book (most notably the Buisness cards) work even better on screen. Wether or not patrick actually kills the people isnt important. The themes of the story (isolation, search for identity, seeking acceptance, the souless 80s, etc) stay relatively intact no matter what side you take (i happen to go against the grain and say patrick did commit the murders). Although its widely agreed that patrick didnt murder anybody, the book/movie can be taken either way, and remains a effective peice of literature.
|
|
#
?
May 29, 2004 20:21
|
|
|
4.5, rented this a few years back without knowing anything and wasnt disappointed. I actually mightve rented it cause it had nudity...lol
|
|
#
?
May 30, 2004 03:47
|
|
|
quote:Mr_Companie came out of the closet to say: I just finished the book the other night and I agree completely: In the movie, they kinda forced the idea of him not actually having done it down your throat, and although I loved the movie, I loved the open endedness of the book more. The "this is not an exit" line pointed out to me that he was someone who had seen a glint of human decency but because of his completely deranged nature, had ignored it, had fallen back into his pattern, and one day he was going to have to either stop doing what he was doing, or be caught (the line with the taxi driver where he thinks to himself that he "doesn't want the game to end" comes to mind) ... he could marry his secretary and maybe he'll eventually crack his shell and adapt and become real, or he can continue his monsterhood and eventually be caught by the police. The surreal aspects of him admitting his crimes to his colleagues and being ignored reminded me somewhat of the Gattaca effect: you mold yourself to be a certain kind of person and everyone just accepts you, they forget your name, they ignore your idiosyncracies, your face, everything, you just become another clone and although you are making tons of money, you are no more important than a janitor somewhere, perhaps less important: at least we know what a janitor does... we never know what patrick really does. This is a run on paragraph now and I should not review movies/books while inebriated but ... eh, someone might get something out of this. edit: also I don't like the idea that he didn't do any of it just because it feels like too much of a cop out cliche and it makes too many things easy to dismiss, and simply dismissing such a descriptive scene as him ripping out the guts of a girl and loving her mouth and nailing her fingers to a board, that's a crime in and of itself. It's meant to be terrible and gut wrenching, and to say he just fantasized it somehow belittles it, to me at least. caldrax fucked around with this message at 09:13 on May 30, 2004 |
|
#
?
May 30, 2004 09:10
|
|
|
I am reminded of a quote by the late great Bill Hicks. "No no no, you're just confused, you've lost the ability to observe... take a deep breath, take a step back... oh yeah, it's a PIECE OF poo poo!"
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2004 04:07
|
|
|
Never read the book, so can't comment on the faithfulness of the adapation. That said, I love this movie. Dark, funny and sadistic. Christian Bale as Patrick Batemen is a career defining role with Bale nailing every last bit of disgusted contempt Batemen holds against the world. How can you not love a movie starring a naked Christian Bale chasing women with a chainsaw or stabbing a bum to death simply because the hobo has zero ambition? Patrick Batemen does what we all wish we could do and looks like how we all wish we can look. Superb acting, hilariously awful treatment of mankind, and oh, the great dialogue. "DON'T JUST STARE AT IT, EAT IT!" 5/5
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2004 08:58
|
|
|
Jesus loving christ, if you file this under HORROR you are a goddamn retard. Free 2 cents. To me, the movie is more about bateman's completely and utter inability to completely assimilate into the banal and inane world of his colleagues, no matter how hard he tries. Out of that comes MURDEROUS INTENT and CONTEMPT, spawning from his incredible insecurity and self-loathing. If nothing else, this movie has tons of good one liners you can use in your everyday life: "THAT'S A VERY FINE CHERRY COKE YOU'RE NOT DRINKING.", etc, etc.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2004 12:30
|
|
|
To paraphrase Huey Lewis and the News:quote:I want a new The movie's not horror. It's a great social satire of the late 80s; and the thread starter rates it "1.5 at most" but watched it 3 times, but then doesn't describe one scene or even use a tagline; there's just a few adjectives to describe Bale's role. That's not a movie review!  Knight and caldrax managed to salvage the thread with their movie reviews. ============================================================= -lots of great one-liners and memorable scenes. -Christian Bale is perfect as Bateman. (Studio wanted diCaprio, director insisted on Bale.) -Chloë Sevigny  -soundtrack choices are excellent; so are the little details, like the new-wave dance styles; the guy in a suit doing the 'Blue Peter' arm-swing, head-thrust dance cracks me up every time. - Mary Harron was the perfect choice to adapt the novel for the screen, and I'm not just saying that because she's from Toronto and shot it here. -DVD lacks commentary track; there's a too-short "Making Of" feature, interview with Bale...and not much else. 4.5. Binary Logic fucked around with this message at 13:33 on Jun 7, 2004 |
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2004 15:47
|
|
|
I think this movie was a clever translation from the book, the crew that made the film understood that it was Bateman who could disguise himself in the world he surrounded himself but as he killed his ability to keep his urges hidden got harder and harder. Obviously changes between book and film are made although if we must compare them I think the film still does fine. Great horror/drama/thriller movie with some fine acting.
|
|
#
?
Jun 6, 2004 21:04
|
|
|
I saw the movie, then read the book. I have to say that despite what everyone says, the movie does very GOOD justice to the book. It manages to keep all of the best and most important scenes(well, minus a few really disgusting ones), plays them up at times (for instance, the buisness card scene), and generally gets the point of the book across really well, without being overly repetitive (unlike the book. Batemans pop culture rant gets boring after youve heard it for the third time). The casting is great. Christian Bale defines the psychopathic attitude, plus he is then backed up by William Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, and Jared Leto. His group of friends work perfectly, they visually get the slightly more "radical" views and style of Bryce and the over all fruityness of Luis perfectly Id give it a 4.
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2004 05:18
|
|
|
nvm
Apolis fucked around with this message at 14:24 on Feb 1, 2010 |
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2004 12:44
|
|
|
One of the most confusing and simply jarring movies I've ever seen yet still one of my all time favorites. It gets a 5 from me even though I can't quite figure it all out for sure. Andy
|
|
#
?
Jun 7, 2004 14:07
|
|
|
I just thought I'd mention that I rewatched this tonight and to be honest, I have to lower my opinion of it just a little. It left me feeling really hollow this time compared to the book... or maybe I wasn't in the mindset to view it, but I found myself just thinking "these aspects should have been included, and these, and these." Basically, it's like a really good accent to the book... on it's own, it's wonderful, but once you've read the book it serves almost just as a snapshot to look at so you can put specific faces to characters and backdrops to locations, not so much as a good retelling.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2004 08:06
|
|
|
I love this movie. I've seen it something like 40 times. That said, it's not the most perfect movie - it's just one I enjoy. The humor is sophisticated and professional. The violence is beautiful. Christian Bale is utterly perfect as Patrick Bateman. The musci is good, in a pop-80's kind of way. Awesome.
|
|
#
?
Jun 16, 2004 21:53
|
|
|
5/5 Loved The kitten scene. Probably would have loved the book more because I hear I'm missing a lot, but it was put together well. Could have used a little more coherency between scenes, but I assume that's the nature of the main character.
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2004 00:22
|
|
|
Good movie, with Christian Bale practically defining the role of Patrick Bateman. However, the book simply outpaces the movie in everything. Also, they didn't put one of my favorite scenes (Them talking about mineral water while Bateman thinks about how he just killed Bethany)
|
|
#
?
Jun 17, 2004 03:58
|
|
|
Excellent film! This is the sort of movie that requires a person to have a very sick sense of humour. Patrick Bateman's character was one of the most utterly contemptful characters I have ever seen portrayed, and I must regretfully admit that I identified with him. This movie is funny as hell. 4.5
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2004 19:41
|
|
|
The highlight(s) are certainly the times when he speaks of his musical tastes. Phil Collins, Huey Lewis, etc. You can't argue with that. This is one that I own and watch fairly often because it is very entertaining to me, regardless of the lack of a real ending.
|
|
#
?
Jun 28, 2004 20:19
|
|
|
A near-perfect adaptation of the novel, this is one of my all-time favorite movies. This film is a great look at one of the social elite of the period, as well as all of the shallow materialism that permeated the 1980's. 4.5/5.5
|
|
#
?
Jun 29, 2004 00:29
|
|
|
I vote 5, just because of this. http://paintedover.com/uploads/4/batemandance.gif Hilarious. I only have one question about the movie: Who drove the limo when he went to pick up the hooker?
|
|
#
?
Jul 6, 2004 04:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? Apr 25, 2024 10:56 |
|
|
I just saw this movie for the first time and I loved it. Christian Bale is the perfect cast for Pat Bateman and I will go out and buy the DVD tomorrow. 5/5.
|
|
#
?
Oct 10, 2004 23:45
|
|
