American Psycho (2000)

American Psycho * * *1/2 out of * * * * Starring: Christian Bale, Reese Witherspoon, Chloe Sevingy, Willem Defoe, Jarod Leto, Samantha Mathis. Directed by: Mary Harron Rated R: some graphic violence and gore, strong sexuality, nudity, language and drug use. Running Time: 101 Minutes

Controversy is one of my favorite words in the dictionary, because when controversy and movies are mentioned in the same sentence, its a good bet that the movie will either be a huge hit, or a huge flop. "American Psycho" opened to great critical acceptation, but failed to make it big at the box office, after a few months it had faded away, but those lucky people who saw the movie were shocked, offended, and amazed by this movie.

Patrick Batemen is not your typical business man, he is a handsome, well built man who keeps his body in shape, and takes care of his body. In the opening five minutes we learn how Patrick does this, by applying exfoliating lotions, soaps, etc. But Patrick has a downside to him, he is a psychotic killer, who likes to slice and dice women and kill men.

Of course Patrick's colleagues and friends don't know this, and neither does his fiance played by Reese Witherspoon. After an acquaintance of Patrick's ends up dead Patrick is questioned in the murder of this man, of course we know Patrick did it...why? Because we see Patrick chop this man up with an Ax. From here on, the movie is a study of Patrick's life, as he finds out who he really is...

Christian Bale takes over the difficult role of Patrick Bateman, and let me be the first one to say this may be the best male leading role I've seen in the year 2000. His dialogue comes out of his mouth with such greatness, and I think Christian started to really get into the role. With the scenes of graphic violence, he seems to use them in a skillful way, and Mary Harron's direction doesn't make it as gratuitous as one might think.

Next to Christian Bales the performances from Reese Witherspoon as Patrick's annoying yet lovable fiance is quite funny, and she seems to be enjoying herself on screen, and the audience is enjoying themselves watching her. Willem Defoe as Detective Kimbell is good, but his character seems to me to be underdeveloped. The standout of the supporting cast is Chloe Sevingy who last year gave a fantastic performance in Boys Don't Cry, one of my picks for best picture last year.

"American Psycho's" biggest flaw is the last 15 minutes, in which it makes little sense, and starts to take itself seriously, with talks of a sequel in the works, I will definitely be first in line to see it, as long as the original cast returns. "American Psycho" is a great film that I recommend to anyone who enjoys watching messed up movies that are brilliant.

Reviewed by Brandon Herring 1/2/01.

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