‘American Psycho’ is based on a novel by Bret Easton Ellis and directed by Mary Harron. Set in the Reagan days of 1980s, this is a cynical, raw and satirical look at the high life and perversions of a New York yuppie, Jason Bateman, played by Christian Bale.

In a review of this Movie, in my old blog, dated March 30th 2005, I had said:

“Christian Bale is one of Hollywood’s greatest talents. Hollywood seems to have realized only now. Chirstian will play Batman in the upcoming ‘Batman, the Beginning’.”

Bale has since won two Golden Globes and an Oscar.

This is one movie that got mixed reviews from critics but is one of my favorites. This post is in many ways, a continuation of my previous post where I discuss toxic masculinity.

Jason Bateman(Bale) is living the good life. He is a young investment banker who works on Wall Street. He lives in a luxury apartment in New York, frequents the city’s hot spots and has all one can aspire towards at his age.

However, there is a deep seated resentment towards all those around him, his colleagues, the waitresses who serve him, the homeless that inhabit New York’s alleys and almost everyone else. There is an innate ennui that plagues him, that he fantasizes about hurting them. He is incapable of affection or even being able to appreciate the small things in life.

Jason is self absorbed to the point of narcissism, rude and ruthless, and does not have any real friends, only acquaintances and colleagues from work, whom he meets in bars. He has a girlfriend(Reese Witherspoon) ,he only sees every few days. He knows that she is not faithful to him, but he is also cheating on her, with one of her friends.

One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Bateman and his friends indulge in the game of “who has the best business card”. This scene gives the viewer an insight into the wall street yuppie’s psyche. They seems confident and centered, but deep down feels underappreciated, is jealous and resentful and take offense for the pettiest of reasons.

Bateman is incapable of emotion. He is the definition of a psychopath, who has two drives that he cannot seem to control. One is his appetite for sex. He sometimes orders escorts to be sent to his apartment. At other times, he picks up hookers from the street. Sometimes he combines both activities. While the sex scenes are explicit, they do not have a pornographic tone, and in some ways are actually humorous.

For Bateman, the whole act seems to be about appreciating himself, as he strikes poses in the mirror and flexes his muscles, rather than show any feelings of intimacy for his partners.

His other drive, which is even more sinister pushes him toward homicide and soon, Jason works his elaborate plan to kill Paul Allen (Jarred Leto), one of his colleagues, he despises. Soon he receives a visit from an investigator(Willem Dafoe) who is looking at the disappearance of Allen.

Can Bateman cover his tracks or will his deeds catch up with him? The rest of the plot will tell us the answer and lead to a shocking offbeat end, that few can predict.

This was another statement I lifted from my prior review:
“With his vampire-like canines, Bale was made to play this role. We will see much more of Bale in the coming years.”

While the other stars like Dafoe and Leto play their part well, it is Bale who steals the show with his scintillating performance.

There are other aspects to this movie. Barring all the sex and violence, this movie is a visual treat, that offers a glimpse of the New York high life with fancy restaurants and dance clubs, in the 80s. The soundtrack is a whose-who of pop music of this period. It is blended into the movie in many scenes. There is one awesome scene where Bateman goes into a spiel about Phil Collins and Genesis before he has sex with a prostitute.

Many fashion influencers on Youtube tout this movie, and Bateman’s outfits as an inspiration for the fashion conscious male, though they are quick to point out that this is the only thing that one should emulate from him.

While this movie was a disappointment at the box office, it acquired a cult following when the DVD was released in 2005, and has subsequently had a revival for all the reasons I mentioned in 2020.

I personally do think of this movie as an important landmark, as it gives us a snapshot of New York’s elite culture of the 80s. It also forces us to look at the evils of unchecked materialism and the glorification of a high-end career. I would definitely recommend it for anyone, who can handle it’s dark theme, gratuitous sex and violence.