"American Psycho" the film is a completely different beast from the novel and the two mediums should never be compared. They both have something unique to offer and the book has aspects that couldn't be transferred to a movie. The film does take some aspects from the novel and finds a clever way of inserting them into the movie, such as having the main character Patrick Bateman talk about his views on the different musical performers from the 1980's to his soon-to-be victims. Christian Bale gives an amazing performance as Patrick Bateman, killing his victims with such a detached zeal that comes across so strongly in the novel. The character of Patrick Bateman is perfect as a possible serial killer because he is often described as the boy-next-door throughout the novel and the film. He kills because it's another form of consumption, referring to one of his victims as a piece of meat; Patrick is living at the height of the 1980's consumerism boom, consuming drugs, sex, high profile dinning spots, business cards, and killings as if they were all the same thing.
Patrick Bateman is a successful 27 year old yuppie who works on Wall Street, is obessessed with his looks and moisturizing creams, is engaged to a beautiful young woman who he is cheating on, and who has a compulsion to kill. It might be all in his mind because he thinks about it all the time, even threatening people with death right to their face. He starts off small (to him) by killing a homeless man and his dog. Then he kills his assumed rival Paul Allan. As Patrick becomes more and more bored of his real life, his alter life becomes filled with murders and sex. Even when he believes that everything is spiraling out of control, that he's gone to far over the edge, he's rudely reminded that "Patrick Bateman is too much of a wuss to ever kill anyone". So he's left brooding to himself while his "friends" and co-workers decide where to go for dinner next.
No comments:
Post a Comment