Throwback: American Psycho

Hey Everyone!

I'm back after a long lay off, and here with you for the first post of my new section: Throwbacks. I have not seen every movie ever, and while I try to keep up on new things I also attempt to go back and see some older stuff.

This week I finally managed to get a hold of American Psycho (2000), starring Batman himself, Christian Bale. It's a film directed (and written for the screen) by Mary Harron, who has almost worked entirely on TV, except for this and The Notorious Betty Page.

Overall I think that this movie is something special.

Bale did a very nice job with a person who is not even really a person. He can sound extremely menacing and does a great job with these weird switches in personality. His monologues are very good. None of the other actors are anything to write home about. William Dafoe has a small role as an investigator, but the character isn't important really.

The quality of the film is good. Can't say that I noticed anything super special in the way it was filmed. There are some good locations as a large portion of the movie takes place in a myriad of swanky New York restaurants and apartments.

Where the true greatness of the movie lay is in the story itself. It's based on a book by Bret Easton Ellis, who has quite the successful career. I haven't read the book but I feel that the screenplay was well done as well, especially with some nicely done voice over narration by Bale's character. It is not for the faint of heart, as the movie is about a serial killer and sociopath.

Interesting note: For those of you who have seen the hit TV show "Dexter" you will see a lot of similarities. The main character describes himself as not a real person, who has to fake emotion, and Bale says he feels as if his mask is slipping, a statement also used by Dexter (I think in the 3rd season...).

So all in all, see this movie if you have the stomach for it. It is not a horror film. And it isn't really a slasher. It's a drama, in which there is a lot of murders... Very unique, a good actor, well written. I give it 3 of 4 stars, as I found the ending somewhat confusing, as well as some parts of the movie seemed lacking.