Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3144 in DVD
• Released on: 2000-10-30
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 98 minutes

Special Features
16:9 Wide Screen
English
Region 2
Dolby Digital 5.1 English
Dolby Digital 5.1
Deleted Scenes
On Set Interviews
Trailer

Synopsis
Based on the popular novel by Bret Easton Ellis, Mary Harron's cinematic adaptation retains the over-the-top humor that made Ellis' book such a cult favorite. Christian Bale is hysterical as Patrick Bateman, the successful commodities broker whose disgust for everyone he encounters leads him to committing heinous murders. The film tackles all things 80s, including pop music, fashion, and the world of big business, all to hilarious effect. Graphic and brutal, AMERICAN PSYCHO is an unflinching satire, but one that should keep enlightened audiences laughing throughout.

Customer Reviews

"Psycho" meets "Wall Street". Brilliant.

An adaptaion of a novel of the same name, American Psycho stars an excellent Christian Bale as the strutting, Narcissistic corporate high-flyer Patrick Bateman (a nod to Norman Bates?), in a mind-numbingly artficial and greed-obsessed mid '80's. His colleagues and acquaintances (and, indeed, Patrick himself, as he admits in the beginning) are completely hollow, devoid of any emotion and concerned only with prestige enhancing finery like business cards and restaurant reservations.

Patrick is different, however, in that he occasionally breaks free of this drudgery by committing deranged and brutal murders (in an almost whimsical fashion). The balance between Patrick's smooth facade and his psychopathic cravings begins to collapse, and this is where we join the movie.

Bale's performance is outstanding. He shows all the characteristics of a serial killer (obsessive neatness, ridiculous over-articulation and a pedantic hyperanalysis of everything from business cards to Phil Collins albums) but in an incredibly subtle and underplayed way, as befits someone who is trying to keep this in check. Interestingly, the one person he can't bring himself to kill might well be the only genuine human being in the film: his secretary (Chloe Sevigny).

As with many films made in the early noughties, there is a twist towards the end which only reinforces Patrick's overwhelming normalness and is completely believable having listened to his opening speech.

A very intelligent and stylish film.

Feed Me A Stray Cat
This movie was rather misinterpreted by the adverts for it when it was released; it is technically a horror film but in truth, it is much more comical than the creepy adverts made out. The story follows successful, nigh-on-perfect Patrick Bateman, a handsome business man who by day lives a tedious life in constant competition with his colleagues over ridiculous things such as who has the best business card and who can get the best reservations. Yet behind this montonous but normal life, Patrick is losing his mind and spends his nights succumbing to an ever-growing bloodlust and paranoia. Christian Bale couldn't have been a more perfect choice for this role; he delivers every line brilliantly, the mannerisms he uses and even his facial expressions, are all wonderful. The supporting cast is also spectacular; Jared Leto plays an arrogant, ultimately doomed colleague, Chloe Sevigny is Bateman's shy secretary and the one person who seems to 'get' him. Reese Witherspoon makes brief but brilliant appearances as his fiance. Bateman's murder sprees are much more amusing than they are disturbing (watch out for him running around naked wielding a chainsaw) and provide a few good laughs, as does his obsession with looking good. Any movie that can have the killer taking time to exfoliate and make it work is a winner in my book! The story is highly original; I won't deny that I was completely lost in the last 15 minutes of the film but it's so entertaining I didn't even mind. This is a top quality film made even better by superb acting and directing. Buy it.

"I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"
Mary Harron's film is a depiction of the Bret Easton Ellis (Rules of Attraction, Less Than Zero) controversial novel of the same name. It's only significant difference is that it leaves out some of the more gruesome scenarios in Ellis's book. I'm not sure whether that's a drawback or not but there was some rage missing in our killer's actions. The film operates as a first person narrative and contains the same kind of oddball combinations of extreme violence and dark humor. This kind of humor is exactly my kind of humor, so I laughed at American Psycho throughout. Mary Harron also seemed to recognize that the novel was old enough that she should approach the film as a period piece and she executes this well. Everything about this movie feels like the late 1980s. She creates a virtual remake of the novel as I pictured it in my head years ago. From what I understand Harron also fought hard to keep the role of Patrick Bateman (the title character and the story's protagonist) in the capable hands of Christian Bale. Bale is outstanding here and Harron really seems to be a directorial force with her actors.

Patrick Bateman is a 27 year-old wealthy and successful investor. He is clearly a product of a privileged and ultra-competitive background. We follow him around and listen to all of his observations of the world he lives in. This is of course the yuppie culture of the 1980s. Perhaps Bateman is the extreme yuppie and a harbinger to the ills of this socially produced subgroup and the culture they exist in. As it turns out his world features the substantiality that he is indeed a murderer. Unfortunately no one seems to notice this, despite his blatant and at times hilariously dry claims that he is a psycho. Evidence of his murders also seemed to disappear quite easily. American Psycho, like the novel, is a great satire that might leave viewers with some frustrating questions in the end. What was real and what was imaginary?

The rest of the cast includes Wilem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Chloë Sevigny, and Reese Witherspoon. All are fairly effective within their roles but the film weighed heavily on Bale's performance. He understands Patrick Bateman and makes the character the mind-blowingly shallow and overly competitive monster he is.

The thing that surprises most is that a great female director like Harron decided to take on a story so pervasively accused of misogyny. Harron's other films are about a radical feminist (Valerie Salanas in I Shot Andy Warhol) and an icon of women's liberation (Bettie Page in The Notorious Bettie Page). I almost think she intentionally went against the grain here to break out of the mold Hollywood can often create for women and minority directors. Good for her. Her movies are interesting and American Psycho is a stand-out.