Okay, here's the deal. I've been getting e-mail about all sorts of things since I started this little venture, but, more than any other subject, I get e-mail asking me, "Doc, what do you think about them making a movie based on American Psycho?" If I'd saved them all, there'd be no room for my patient's files. And, I answered each one of them the same way, "I'm just as curious as you are, but I can tell you this -- it's going to take one impressive casting move, and a director with a clear frame of mind."
Meaning, quite simply, that, in the hands of some brand-name director and/or star, American Psycho could've been one of the most horrifying failures of all time. And, think about it a second. How many people have you heard mentioned in conjunction with Bret Easton Ellis' book? Just off the top of my head, I can think of Keanu Reeves, Leonardo DiCaprio, Sean Penn, and to my extreme horror, Corey Feldman, all named to play the main character. Directors? Try Oliver Stone, Robert Zemeckis, and Wes Craven. I'm not making these up! At one time, all of these names have flown through my e-mail file as the "hottest rumor" coming from "Psycho Camp." Just let that formula spin out for a sec.... Oliver Stone directing Corey Feldman in American Psycho. Fran Drescher would be better suited for Scarlett O'Hara than that casting, and Stone directing it would make it a three-and-a-half hour testosterone flood. Sweet Fancy Moses, has there been a more horrifying nightmare?
Well, when it finally came out, I thought for sure there was no way that it was ever going to make it to a theatre near Carver Point, simply because of the subject matter. It took a great deal of arguing with the Carver Point dodecaplex to get The Last Temptation of Christ in for a week, and by the time they finally agreed to do so, it had been on Cinemax for three weeks. What chance did I have of seeing American Psycho without going all the way up to Atlanta? Nada. As in, no way, no how.
But I lucked out, folks. I dropped a few timely hints that American Psycho was another remake of Hitchcock's Psycho, and they booked it. Hey, I never said I was completely honest.
Anyway, I got to see American Psycho, and much to my surprise, it's a very entertaining film. And, folks, I think I know why it finally got made, and why it turned out so well.
Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is a hot and successful businessman hip-deep in the '80s greedfest. This fella is obsessed with his image. Perfection is the only goal, and nobody is allowed to surpass another without everyone else immediately catching up, no matter what it takes. You look perfect, you dress perfect, and you live perfect. And, if you're really not that important, it is even more a requisite that nobody else discovers that secret, so you have to maintain the look, the dress, and the style. Patrick is driven by image, ego and greed, and -- oh yeah -- did I also mention that he knows how to slaughter people better than anyone around? And I mean, slaughter, like in Texas Chainsaw Massacre...!
I'll leave most of the details of Patrick's expertise to your own viewing. Safe to say, though, as one who has read Ellis' book, the movie is WAY tamer than what Ellis allows Patrick to do.
Back to my original premise for a minute: you want to know why this movie turned out so well? It took a double-dose of female thinking, plain and simple. After all the hoorah was over, Mary Harron (I Shot Andy Warhol) ended up in the director's chair, and she, along with Guinevere Turner, wrote the screenplay based on Ellis' book. With these very capable ladies in charge, the movie becomes something more than the book. The book is geared wholly to the inner workings of Patrick's mind. The movie, however, shows more. It ties Patrick's behavior into the absolute murderous mentality of a yuppie businessman in the '80s. It spins the story into a dark satire of the same mentality as the greed-driven films Wall Street and Glengarry Glen Ross. How could Harron know this world so well? Easy answer -- she works in Hollywood. She's up close with the same dog-eat-dog attitude, and as a woman in a "man's world," she's probably felt its bite.
In Patrick's gruesome murders, there's an atmosphere that makes you stop and wonder -- is this an occurrence, or is it a fantasy of Patrick's warped mind? Each death is a result of a wrong against Patrick, whether it be direct or indirect, and in every case, there's a moment just before that could easily be that flash of "reality waves," as Wayne and Garth like to use in Wayne's World. I mean, folks, come on, we're living in a world where people are shot for cutting someone off in traffic and men can be beaten to death on a golf course for talking while another man is putting. If reality is that skewed, who's to know what is real anymore? Harron uses the film to push the same ideas that Neil LaBute used as the genesis for In the Company of Men. Men, by nature, are competitive, and they rarely care who gets hurt, as long as it suits their needs.
And, no, do not send me hate mail because I am bashing men. I am a man, remember? But I readily admit that men have a HUGE thing about power. Some are cool about it, some are not. And some, when they get that first taste of it, go wild, like a legendary lion that tastes blood and becomes a man-eater.
Thankfully, Bale plays Bateman in much the same way LaBute allowed Aaron Eckhart to play his character in Company. Bale plays it for all its worth, and makes Patrick almost giddy in his evil mindset. It is this giddiness that separates him from everyone else, and in actuality, that's what his character is all about. Patrick is a corporate drone, so much so that he's constantly mistaken for his co-worker Paul (Jared Leto), even though they look nothing alike. They are carbon copies of the same figure, blending into the same dull pattern of existence. What makes each individual is how they handle themselves. Some compare business cards for thickness, texture, engraving quality, paper, and finish. I'll let you read your own symbolic undertones into this "contest", but it's as basic as it seems. If that gets you into a higher level than the others, so be it. Patrick is ahead of everyone else because, in his mind, he is pure evil. That's his motivation.
Folks, I'm not going to sugarcoat it here. American Psycho is not pretty. It is a violent movie, and full of sexuality, drug use, and profanity. But, in the same breath, I can tell you it is also fascinating to watch. As I said with Company a year or so ago, you can't keep your eyes off the screen, but you'll need to scrub with soap after you watch it.
I can promise you that this thing will not get any sort of award for anything. The Academy pushed it about as far as they'll ever do in awarding Oscars to The Silence of the Lambs. And, truthfully, Psycho is not in that same league. But Bale deserves credit for hanging it all out on the line for this film. This character could've easily ruined his career in the hands of another, more narcissistic director. Congrats to Mary Harron for making this story into something other than a splatterfest with no sense of itself.
If you feel a bit daring, do try to go see American Psycho. You may have to hunt a bit to find it, as I'm sure not many theatres will want it pasted on their marquee. But it is worth the hunt, and believe me, you'll talk about it for a while after. You won't be able to help yourself.
Image copyright Lions Gate Films.
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in for observation