American Psycho (2000)★★★★☆

I have always had a soft spot for American Psycho, both the book and this film. I’m fairly confident I read the book before the movie came out (unlike Fight Club, where I didn’t even know the name Chuck Palahniuk before the movie came out, and then I read the book…and yeah, I realize this is essentially a non sequitur…).

I remember being glad that…that scene wasn’t displayed on screen. And also glad that they kept the Phil Collins/Genesis monologue in, for the most part.

And I think the movie did well at displaying the satire and social commentary of the story. It would have been easy to play this quite straight, but the impeccable camera angles and scene cuts, combined with the 80’s aesthetics and setting, somehow pull the focus to the humor in the whole thing.

Sure, this is still not an easy film to watch. But Christian Bale is fantastic, Willem Dafoe wonderful, and Chloe Sevigny(’s character Jean) a beautiful mess. I definitely have more rewatches than rereads in me for this one. Bret Easton Ellis is many things, but “quick and easy read” is not one of them, at least not for American Psycho.

Oh, and (Spoiler alert) once again, if you’re a major dog lover, or you can’t take a LOT of guts and gore, probably skip this one?