Movie Review #2: American Psycho

American Psycho (2000)
Director: Mary Harron
Writer(s): Mary Harron, Guinevere Turner
Starring: Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Cara Seymour

There is a fine line between shock violence and cruelty, between intensity and gratuity. American Psycho toes this line so carefully that it seems to cross the line back and forth. It's either one of the most brilliant psychological horror films ever made or a malicious, accidentally misogynistic, gore fest. Whatever way one looks at it, American Psycho is certainly a well-made, well-edited film. The question is: do its strong elements actually amount to something of value?

Christian Bale plays the well-to-do businessman, Patrick Bateman. Bateman may be rich and surround himself with an elite circle of seemingly like-minded yuppies, but behind his finely maintained veneer is a psychopath. His daily meetings and excursions to 5-star restaurants seem to be but a front for his true lifestyle, that of a serial killer preying upon the poor, the suffering, and the helpless. Matters all change when Bateman kills one of his yuppie associates, Paul Allen, over his fancy business card. What ensues is a deepening of Bateman's insanity and a startling disconnect between Bateman, his upperclass world, the world below, and the world of the viewer.

Bale/Bateman is brilliant. I put the two together because I honestly could not identify the actor; Christian Bale just seems born to play this part. It is alleged that Edward Norton was also offered this role, but Bale blows any other actor out of the park here. This role defined Bale as one of Hollywood's top tier method actors. His physique fits Bateman's perfectly. (Kudos to the costume designers, too: his suits are impeccable.) He offers pure confidence, no arrogance: quite a contrast between his cocky, shallow "friends." At the same time, he slips right into a genuinely disturbing mania whenever he kills someone. He pulls us right into his paranoia, and we gradually begin to sympathize with a homicidal maniac.

Of course, all the acting in the world couldn't save American Psycho if its script and cinematography were bad. That's not the case. Most of the dialogue and inner-Bateman monologue is lifted directly from Bret Easton Ellis's book. The script offers a subtlety lacking in many other films, with the dialogue itself suggesting the malice hiding within Bateman. There is also a compelling contrast between the verbal banality of the 80s pop Bateman adores and the visceral visuals of Bateman murdering his victims. In addition, many of the angles featured in American Psycho really highlight the insanity. At one point, Bateman enters what appears to be the same building twice in a row; this is all due to well-executed camera work.

But it's the editing that gives American Psycho "a big boost." The most intense scenes of the movie are Bateman's murders of two prostitutes and his over-the-phone confession. The former lets us follow a prostitute, Christie, as she tries to flee from a chainsaw wielding Bateman. Along the way, she stumbles upon the bodies of the various women Bateman has murdered. The jump cuts here are dizzying; the viewer becomes nearly as nauseous as the victim. When Bateman finally reveals himself and kills his victim, it is truly disturbing. The confession scene is also one of the best uses of sound editing I've seen in a while. Every background sound cuts out. There is no music. We can hear every breath, every crinkle of fabric as Bateman blurts out all his crimes in a twisted attempt at catharsis. The desperation sinks in fabulously.

So, without a doubt, the film is well-made. But I do have my issues. For American Psycho is one of the most brutally violent films towards women in cinema history. Some critics, such as Roger Ebert, have considered American Psycho from a feminist perspective, and the results are quite fascinating. The vast majority of Bateman's actions, psychotic or otherwise, can be seen as little more than him extolling the virtues of his phallus. Since the film ends ambiguously, his greatest crime ends up being his sexism. This is a keen interpretation, but I think American Psycho goes a bit too far. We do not sympathize with Bateman, but some of the imagery in American Psycho is brutal beyond necessity. The murder of the prostitutes is one of the more disgusting movie scenes I've seen, even if it was appropriately scary. Even worse is the last scene, in which we see the horribly graphic drawings Bateman makes during his downtime. Some of this violence to women is extreme to the point of being offensive.

Perhaps my aversion to this violence is my being a man; when I see such brutality to women, I must therefore feel some responsibility for perpetuating a patriarchal system in which such violence is possible. My response: maybe? That certainly was not my tone when I watched the film. My simple thought at the moment was, "Wow, that's a bit over the top. Do I really need to see a woman's eye punctured through with a needle?" Certainly, I can retroactively place patriarchal guilt into my viewing of the film, but that would be inconsistent with my feelings as I watched the movie. And even if my feelings are my patriarchal tendencies rearing their ugly head, I still believe American Psycho is simply too cruel in its treatment of women. We do not necessarily need to see the violence to extract the message; indeed, sometimes the suggestion of violence against women, as in Psycho or Alien, is more compelling than actually showing the violence.

I am but one critic, and a male critic at that. Many others more experienced than I find American Psycho unimpeachable in both its intentions and its pay-off. They are entitled to that viewpoint, as am I entitled to mine. As is, American Psycho is a great, disturbing motion picture. I just think it treads a fine line, a line it occasionally crosses.

Recommendation: If you are squeamish in any way, American Psycho is not the film for you. The sheer quantities of blood alone would be worth the R-rating, putting aside the profanities and sexual content. Also, while the sexual content of American Psycho does not involve full frontal nudity, its portrayals of prostitution and <speaking for what it truly is> rape are far more disturbing. This is not a film to be watched lightly. While not entirely scary, per se, it is certainly unsettling. This is a film that must be approached with the right frame of mind. One is supposed to be challenged, one is supposed to be disturbed, and one is supposed to be disgusted. If one is prepared, though, it is worth the viewing.

I give American Psycho 7.6 stars out of 10.