American Psycho, 2000

I was given the novel to read back in 1993 from my friend Angela. She handed me the book she was reading, said "Read this paragraph," and I read it.

Prior to reading this paragraph, I had picked up Piers Anthony's Anthonology. I was given this book from a friend who suggested I read the short story "On the Uses of Torture". I've always been a fan of Anthony's, his Adept series, Xanth series, Incarnations of Immortality series... they are all great. So, I gave this short story a read... and let me tell you, I have a cast iron stomach for horror, in books and movies. This short story brought me as close to throwing up as humanly possible.

Just after reading Torture, Angela handed me that paragraph to read... a paragraph about two hookers, a nailgun and a whole bunch of nastiness.

Suffice it to say, it took me seven years to buy the book to read. And the book is incredible. If you've read the book, you'll be of one of two minds about the movie. One, you'll say there wasn't enough violence. Two, you'll say they did as much as they could without turning in an X or NC-17 rating, both of which would have been a serious kiss-of-death for an already controversial film. I myself am of both minds.

Directed by Mary Harron (who also co-wrote the script), who's first film was an independant hit, I Shot Andy Warhol... I think she did more than a superb job on this film. It's well acted, well shot, well scripted... all around a very successful adaption to a violent novel. I'm anxious to see what comes next for Harron, who has nothing on her docket as of yet.

One thing I will mention is that there are eleven (11) producers on this film, from Line Producers to Executive Producers to Co-Producers to just plain ole' Producers. What in god's name does there need to be so many producers for? Were there that many people who wanted in on this movie? Edward R. Pressman is credited as the Producer of this film... but these other ten... well, I'm sure they got their two cents in, especially if one of them had a boyfriend or girlfriend who wanted "Just a small role... pleeeeeeeeeaaaase?"

Pressman has been producing films since the late 1960's, including Sisters, Badlands, Das Boot, Conan the Barbarian (and Destroyer), Wall Street, Talk Radio, Blue Steel, Homicide, Bad Lieutenant, The Crow (including City of Angels and Salvation), and Judge Dredd, among many many others. A good producer with solid hits under his belt... though I'm sure that the producers popularity is only as good as his last film... and he's had some real B movies under that belt, too.

British actor Christian Bale is phenominal. His work is flawless, throughout the entire movie. His schizophrenic back and forth between fantasy and reality is perfectly seamless. One of his first roles as an actor was for Spielberg in Empire of the Sun (1987). He went on to other great films such as Henry V, Newsies (shudder), Swing Kids, Little Women, The Portrait of a Lady, Velvet Goldmine, A Midsummer's Nights Dream, Shaft and two films coming out in 2001/02... Reign of Fire and Equilibrium... both of which I'm sure Bale will do a great job in.

I will say that his performance is such that the other actors in the film, even Willem Dafoe, are all pushed to the background where they stay for the duration of the film. Jared Leto, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon... one hardly notices them.

Cinematographer Andrzej Sekula has worked on a number of incredible films, his first being the ever popular Reservoir Dogs. From there he again worked with Tarantino in Pulp Fiction and Four Rooms. but his other films are less than stellar... and one has to wonder. This man, who shot two incredible films, films that have won very prestigious awards... one would suspect he would get the cream of the crop, picture wise. His shooting style is clean... it's obvious that directors trust him... what happened?

American Psycho was the lastest Sekula has worked on, and according to IMDB, he has nothing on his plate... a very strange occurence for someone as talented as him. Psycho is shot with lighting in mind... and it's shot brilliantly. There are no wasted angles, no wasted space... the camera work is flawless... another case of the director trusting his/her cinematographer.

This is a fantastic film. See the movie, then read the book. You'll become one of those two minds I was talking about... but regardless, you'll enjoy the movie. It's filled with such dark humor... it's almost impossible not to like.

The DVD offers only two additions. One is an interview with Bale and the other is a featurette. Both are too short.

It's still worth owning.

J.P.

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