Saturday 13 March 2010

That's A Very Fine Chardonnay You're Not Drinking.

Meh, I've got very little to say about American Psycho. Based on the (far superior, in my humble opinion) novel by the terrifying Bret Easton Ellis (does anyone else think the man should be committed? Well, only if he's still allowed to write), the movie focuses on Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), high up at a (law?) firm, young, very upwardly mobile with a whole lot of friends in exactly the same position. What makes Bateman different? He's a psychopath with a penchant for killing prostitutes and people he doesn't like in gruesome ways. And being very meticulous about it.


Yeah, I'd still probably go there.


He kills some people, including a 'friend' of his Paul Allen (Jared Leto) before Detective Kimble (Willem Dafoe) begins to sniff around. The paranoia induced leads him to kill more and more people, perhaps inspired by the fact that he also seems to be constantly mistaken for various other people - he is not memorable, so he is trying to make a name for himself. His friends pay him no attention, not picking up on his distress signals (played by the likes of Justin Theroux and Josh Lucas), his secretary has a big fat crush on him (played by Chloƫ Sevigny) and his fiance is oblivious (played by Reese Witherspoon.) And then there's a nice little twist at the end.


The film is so, so cold. The book is scary and twisted and disturbing, but that doesn't come across in the film. It probably has something to do with the fact that Christian Bale has about as much charisma as a dying fern. I swear to god I've never liked him in anything. Yes, he's filthy hot in this film, but I still feel like I'm watching a lump of wood walking around. I'd believe that was the character he is playing in the film if I didn't think the same in every film he does. And then, even the terrific supports don't seem to be doing much more. Dafoe seems confused, Sevigny seems to be playing with her eyes closed. And there is no emotion anywhere in the film. At no point did I have any feelings of empathy towards a single character, except maybe a moment when I felt sorry for Sevigny due to her infatuation with someone who is quite obviously an enormous knob. I guess money and hot abs have worked for me in the past, but still.


Blah blah boring. I was truly bored watching the film. It must just be me, though, because all through my Bale hating years everyone keeps saying 'yeah, but watch American Psycho, it's so good.' Well, now I've watched it, and I'm stopping just short of asking for my money back. 1.5 stars. (What's the half star for? Bale's body and great casting, even if they didn't live up to their full potential.)

1 comment:

  1. watch "american psycho",it's so goood! it's one of my fav movies:it's so funny!

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