American Psycho (2000) Cert 18. Director - Mary Harron. Writer - Mary Harron & Guinevere Turner. Starring - Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe & Chloe Sevigny.

Premise - Set in the late 1980's. American Psycho tells the tale of yuppie Patrick Bateman and his unquenchable bloodlust. Anyone that has read Bret Easton Ellis will tell you it's a hard slog. Not only because of the stomach churningly graphic descriptions of violence, but also because of the meticulous detail that is used to describe what everyone is wearing, what music is playing and how locations are decorated. It's through these descriptions that we learn about Bateman. Bateman is a character who has it all. We are never told his background, except that he graduated from Harvard. Bateman wants for nothing. He has a stunning, rich girlfriend, a state of the art hi-fi system in his art-decor apartment, a stunning mistress, an extremely well paying job and a perfect body. Yet he is not fulfilled in life, his peers mock him for being boring and often mistake him for other workmates. Even with all his money, girls and possessions he still does not stand out from the crowd. So, he tries to give himself an identity by committing acts of violence. Bateman is the very living embodiment of the 80's. All material and no substance. Christian Bale is a revelation as Bateman. His performance is magnificent and the screen is alive everytime he occupies it. Even his monologues are not boring (although they should be) as you find yourself being drawn into the world of Bateman through Bale's mesmerising performance. It's to the credit of the support that you notice them at all. Dafoe, Sevigny etc all do a terrific job, but given the source material and their quality this is not surprising. Indeed the script is excellent. Taking the meat and bones of the book and working it into a 90-minute movie must have been a mean feat, but they have managed it. Also, whilst the book was lambasted for being overly graphic in it's description of violence, very little of the violence actually makes it to the screen. Instead we are shown only the build up and the aftermath. Which in my opinion makes it all the more effective, as you are forced to use your imagination to fill in the gaps. Direction by Harron is good, if not stunning. Although the performance of Bale would have practically filmed itself. I have not seen Harron's other film (I Shot Andy Warhol), but from what I have read it was a film in a similar vein. American Psycho is a film that demands to be seen. Put aside your reservations about the graphic violent content and let yourself be taken on the tour of the mind of a man who has everything, but is nothing.

9/10 for American Psycho. Poster Quote - You'll never want to return this videotape.