Celebrating its 20th anniversary, American Psycho is considered one of the greatest crime thrillers of all time. But is this opinion upheld 20 years later?
Starring Christian Bale, American Psycho tells the story of New York big shot businessman, Patrick Bateman. In the public eye, he is “classy” and “sophisticated”, yet behind closed doors he is the obsessive psychopath who will do anything to get his way.
From the onset, it’s obvious Patrick Bateman (a name similar to America’s most famous movie psycho) is mentally unstable. Although he may be a serial killer, a manipulative and dominant sociopath, we still somehow are obsessed with him ourselves with his strange yet comedic approach.
Not only is there a first-rate soundtrack that we can appreciate all these years later including Genesis, David Bowie and Katrina and the Waves. But, exceptional acting by Batman himself, Christian Bale. His role is in the title itself, “Psycho”. Bale plays this role to such a high standard; it leaves you questioning whether he may be a psycho himself…(not to worry, he is just a very good actor!)
He consistently exposes his psychopathic traits to us, whether that’s in the form of his voice over of inner thoughts or his constant personality change from poised businessman to murderous psychopath. Director Mary Harron produced a thriller masterpiece that successfully does what a film should do and that is convince the audience this is real (again, this is not real, just fiction).
Bale’s voice over in particular is the true insight for audiences to gain access into the mixed-up mind of Patrick Bateman. Not only are we able to find out exactly what he is thinking, but through the short sentences, the use of certain words, we get an exact experience of the exact thinking of a true psycho.
To someone who was only born when this film first came out, the only pitfall of this film is the overuse of insults and treatment towards women. Bateman is expert to this. Not only does he insult women for no reason, he treats them with no respect which is an issue that has been raised more, especially in the media within recent years. It simply shows in a short time period of 20 years how societal views have changed. Perhaps this was a creative decision done by the director to exemplify the psychopathic protagonist. However, if these issues were to be featured in a film produced today, they would be highly criticised. It just shows how the cinematic world is always changing…
Ultimately, American Psycho is a must-watch thriller for audiences of today. From Christian Bale’s convincing role to startling scenes suitable for the genre, celebrate it’s 20th anniversary by watching it yourself.
By Katie Green
Feature image: Rokit Vintage