American Psycho Movie Review 1999

Trimmed-down and (slightly) cleaned-up version of Bret Easton Ellis's widely hated 1991 novel has Bale as '80s hotshot Wall Street exec and apparent serial-killer Patrick Bateman. Bateman is the poster child for Reagan-era excess and preference for style over substance, a theme with which the film, while shooting for satire, beats you over the head. Like the decade it portrays, "Psycho" is far from subtle, and the characters barely register as two-dimensional, let alone three. They got the look right, but then, that's the point, isn't it? The production drew protests in Toronto, where some scenes were shot, and Leo DiCaprio was rumored to be in line to play the lead for a time.

Distribution

Universal Studios Home Video, 100 Universal City Plz., Universal City, CA 91608-9955, Phone: (818)777-1000, Fax: (818)866-1483, URL: http://www.universalstudios.com, Remarks: Does not handle retail queries from consumers; contact your local video distributor.

Available on VHS, DVD
Running time 103 minutes.

Cast and Crew

Genres

Satire & Parody, Period Piece: 1980s, Serial Killers, Sanity Check, Oldest Profession, New York, New York, Books to Film: Bret Easton Ellis

Screenplay

Mary Harron, Guinevere Turner

Cast

Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Chloe Sevigny, Justin Theroux, Josh(ua) Lucas, Guinevere Turner, Matt Ross, William Sage, Cara Seymour

Cinematography

Andrzej Sekula

Director

Mary Harron

Music

John Cale