Rating of
3.5/4
American Psycho is a Smart Serial Killer Flick
Looneymanthegreat - wrote on 03/27/13
Hidden beneath the horrific murder scenes and graphic sex there is a clever poignant comedy in American Psycho.
“Hidden” may be the wrong term here, because I’m honestly not sure how anyone could miss the perverse dark comedy in the performances and scenarios. Christian Bales performance alone is both humorous and kind of intimidating, he isn’t a real serial killer, and he’s a parody of a serial killer. He is also a parody of 80’s businessmen and just masculinity in general. There are also some silly scenarios like the scene were Bateman (Christian Bales character) is nearly thrown in to a murderous rage over business cards. All in all this is, at its core, a very silly movie.
Of course all that silliness is on purpose. The movie isn’t picking part a deranged psych; it’s using a cartoon caricature of one as a metaphor for ambitious men who are obsessed with sex and violence. Just look at the men in the movie, there isn’t a redeemable one among them (except possibly Defoe’s character, but we don’t know too much about him.) Almost every character in this movie is an awful reprehensive human being, and the women are all their witless victims; I wasn’t at all surprised to find out a woman directed this film. It really is making fun of all its characters and a good portion of the audience.
American psycho is a surprisingly original film with a stellar cast, iconic images and a surprisingly thought provoking. I’ve never read the novel this was based on, but if it’s anything like the film it would be worth checking out.
