American Psycho (DVD)

Long considered unfilmable, the unsettling dialogue, stream of consciousness commentary and lack of coherent narrative were seen as major stumbling blocks to any successful transference of Bret Easton Ellis' tale to the big. It tells the tale of Patrick Bateman, an 80s Yuppie Wall Street Banker whose apparently idyllic life hides a darker, psychotic side which compels him to murder. American Psycho was always going to be difficult to transfer to film - the book is little more than the rambling thoughts of Bateman collected together and set down on paper. There is no real "story", as such, just a sequence of events. Yet, the writers do a surprisingly ...  Read the complete review

When the novel American Psycho was published a few years ago, there was an awful lot of publicity surrounding the release of the book, condemning the writing as disturbing, and socially irresponsible. Certainly, a colleague of mine was reading the novel and described some very horrific scenes. It came as a something of a surprise to me therefore when a film version was made and released to cinema audiences. The film certainly does not contain anywhere near the level of graphic violence and horror contained in the book, but you should be aware that American Psycho is an unsettling and often disturbing film. Christian Bale plays the lead role Patrick Bateman. ...  Read the complete review

** Summary ** (Contains some spoilers!) Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a young, handsome, rich man working on Wall Street in the fabulous 80s. He is engaged to a lovely young socialite played by Reece Witherspoon and everything seems perfect. However Patrick has a dark secret... he likes to kill people. His work colleagues, prostitutes, his friends... anyone and everyone. The film progresses as Patrick's mind unravels and he descends into a deep dark madness that has taken control of him until he feels that he is sure to be found out by a policeman, who has been asking him very awkward questions about a colleague who disappeared ...  Read the complete review

note: appears in part on Flixster and The Student Room American Psycho is an adaptation of Brett Easton Ellis' highly controversial book, set in 1980s New York, depicting the life and fantasies of businessman Patrick Bateman, a man who seemingly has it all, but has also lost his mind, channelling his misanthropy into murderous psychopathy. This is a firm satire, although strangely, the amount of people that miss this is quite astounding - it picks apart the passive-aggressive nature behind greedy businessmen, and nails the very real, rarely spoken about area of the "human condition". Christian Bale plays Bateman, and makes a real mark here ...  Read the complete review

American Psycho is a film from 2000 based on the novel of the same name from 1991 by Bret Easton Ellis. Christian Bale is Patrick Bateman a Wall Street Trader living the high life in the late 80's. However at night, Bateman becomes a man obsessed with violence and commits extreme acts upon the individuals he comes across. He comes to the attention of investigator Donald Kimball, played by Willem Dafoe, amid suspicions of a missing person. Bateman's obsession with fitness, cleanliness, order and appearance are very apparent and he is only interested in himself. A very materialistic man, he also has an encyclopaedic knowledge of music from the 80's including ...  Read the complete review