American Psycho (film)

For other uses, see American Psycho (disambiguation).

American Psycho
File:Americanpsychoposter.jpg
Directed by	Mary Harron
Written by	Novel: Bret Easton Ellis Screenplay: Mary Harron Guinevere Turner
Starring	Christian Bale Chloe Sevigny Willem Dafoe Josh Lucas Jared Leto Justin Theroux Reese Witherspoon
Music by	John Cale Eve Egoyan
Distributed by	Lions Gate Films
Release dates	April 14, 2000
Running time	101 min.
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$8,000,000
Box office	$34,266,564

American Psycho is a 2000 film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' controversial novel American Psycho which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival on April 14, 2000. The film stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, with Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Justin Theroux, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe and Samantha Mathis.

Adaptation from novel

Mary Harron, who had previously directed I Shot Andy Warhol based on the story of Valerie Solanas, directed the film and co-wrote its screenplay with Guinevere Turner. This screenplay was selected over three others, including one by Ellis himself. Turner claims Ellis' only complaint with the movie was Bateman's moonwalk before killing Paul Allen. Although the movie doesn't fully depict all of Bateman's goings on that occurred in the novel, the film accurately depicts the atmosphere of the book: gruesome and dark, yet also humorous. Virtually every line in the film, including voice-overs, are taken verbatim from Ellis' novel. One of the few discrepancies is that several names from the book were changed for the film; for instance Paul Owen became Paul Allen and Tim Price became Tim Bryce.

Many people in the film industry have said that the novel was "unfilmable" because of its story, extreme violence, and sexual content. During the early stage of preproduction, many actors, directors, and crew members were considered to take on the movie adaptation. Director Mary Harron and actor Christian Bale originally set to make the movie, but Leonardo DiCaprio expressed interest in playing the lead. Production company Lions Gate issued a press release that DiCaprio would star in the movie, Mary Harron walked off the project, and Oliver Stone expressed interest in directing the film. When both DiCaprio (whose interest in this project had been greatly overstated) and Stone dropped the project, Harron and Bale returned to the movie.

To clean up the unedited DVD version of the movie and achieve a relatively mild R rating, the producers excised approximately eighteen seconds of footage from a ménage à trois scene featuring an emotionally detached Patrick Bateman and two prostitutes. A bit of dialogue was also edited — Bateman orders a prostitute (Christy) to bend over so that another (Sabrina) can "see your asshole". The edited version cuts the last syllable, changing the line to "see your ass." The unedited version also shows Patrick getting oral sex from Christy.

The Debate of Patrick Bateman's Reality

There has been much debate amongst fans over whether the violent acts in the movie really happened or if they had only taken place in Patrick Bateman's mind. It may have been Bret Easton Ellis's intention to leave this unclear.

Arguments in favor of Bateman committing the murders depicted

The question of Bateman' reality is best understood by reading the novel, since the film adaptation abbreviates the novel and was not written by Ellis himself (his screenplay lost out to Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner's adaptation). The movie leaves out important clues vital to understanding Bateman's anomaly.

• On a number of occasions, Bateman is being mistaken for someone else and people constantly are calling others by someone else's name. It could be that Ellis was trying to comment on the indistinguishability of Wall Street yuppies in the 1980's. It is a hard theme to ignore in the novel, and arguably it is a cue for one to believe that Bateman's lawyer had mistaken someone else for Paul Owen/Allen while in London. As Bateman narrates: "The Chandelier Room is packed and everyone looks familiar, everyone looks the same"¹
  • Paul Allen mistook Bateman for Marcus Halberstam
    • Detective Kimball (William Dafoe) tells Bateman that Marcus Halberstam reported to have been at Atlantis with Craig McDermott, Frederick Dibble, Harry Newman, George Butner and Patrick Bateman. Possibly Paul Allen and Marucs Halberstam both confused Bateman for someone else?
• Evidence had to have been found in Paul Allen's apartment, given the way the real estate, Mrs. Wolfe (Patricia Gage), reacts when Patrick Bateman returns to Paul Allen's apartment: MRS. WOLFE "Are you my two o'clock?" BATEMAN "No." MRS. WOLFE "Can I help you?" BATEMAN "I'm looking for...Paul Allen's...place.Doesn't he live here?" MRS. WOLFE "No, he doesn't." BATEMAN "Are you sure?" MRS. WOLFE "You saw the ad in the Times?" BATEMAN "No. Yes. I mean yes, I did. In the Times. But...doesn't Paul Owen still live here?" MRS. WOLFE "There was no ad in the Times...I think you should go now." BATEMAN "But I think...I want to know what happened here." MRS. WOLFE "Don't make any trouble. Please. I suggest you go. Don't come back."
• Bateman collects trophies such as the lock of hair he was sniffing in his office before being interrupted by his secretary.
  • In addition to trophies from his victims, Bateman takes what appears to be blood-stained sheets to the cleaners. In the novel he fantasizes about killing people, especially women, all the time but restrains for fear of ruing his suit from having their blood spray on it.
• It hardly a sound argument to say that Patrick Bateman is not a killer. He is delusional, but does not create false realities in order to satisfy his "urge" to kill. Early in the novel, Bateman attempts to distract himself from killing his date Patricia by running through thoughts of dogs, cars, women, cellular phones, another drink, and two valium. It is hard to believe that this narration is only for show, or that Bateman is not sincerely trying to convince himself not to kill her. Proof Bateman believes he is a killer himself.
• Bateman speaks candidly a number of times in the movie. They either do not hear him due to outside noise (i.e. bar) or they simply aren't completely listening or believe to hear somethings else. This combination could account for when his fiancee Evelyn (Reese Witherspoon) could hear Bateman perfectly but was so distressed from getting dumped she misheard him. There are many possibilities to what Evelyn perceived Bateman's comment, "I need to engage in homicidal behavior on a massive scale. It cannot be corrected but I have no other way to fulfill my needs" into.
• Jokes and goofs from the movie should be taken as they are and not read into. Disappearing blood trail in the lobby after Bateman drags Paul Allen's body through is simply the product of a lazy set crewman. The blood splatter appears on Bateman's face before the axe hit Paul Allen and from the different angle his head should be at, but these are what they call "goofs" in the industry- they're not supposed happen and someone missed them in production or else these goofs would have been corrected.
• Luis Carruthers is in love with Patrick Bateman. He wouldn't know where to begin to suspect that Bateman is a serial killer, yet alone pass up the opportunity to complement Patrick on his overnight bag. Another commentary on materialism and everyday superficial conversations of yuppies or the 1980s in general.

Argument for Bateman's false reality

Some argue Bateman never commits any acts of violence. This could be possible given that: one, Patrick is always alone with his victim(s) when he commits a crime; two, the evidence of his crimes disappears mysteriously; and, three, the characters never acknowledge Patrick's obvious claims of psychosis.

Disappearance of Evidence

• After Patrick kills Paul Allen and drags his body through the lobby a blood trail is clearly visible. Later, after Patrick talks to Luis Carruthers, the blood trail is gone.
• When Patrick kills Paul Allen, his violent axe blows do not appear in the floor, and newspaper would not prevent the large amount of blood from penetrating the floor cracks and surrounding furniture.

Ignorance of Other Characters

• After Patrick murders Paul Allen, no one seems to notice that Patrick is dragging Paul's body to a taxi cab outside his apartment. Both the lobby security guard and Luis Carruthers see the body-bag, but neither seem to notice or care.
• No one on the floor answers their doors in Paul Allen's building when the prostitute is screaming for help and beating on them, and apparently no one is curious about hearing a chain saw or seeing blood on the floor in the hallway or stairway, such that they would call the police soon enough to question the floor residents and find the murder evidence before Patrick can thoroughly clean Paul Allen's apartment.
• Patrick takes a limo driver to pick up a prostitute he has previously abused and has a lengthy and incriminating discussion in his presence.
• There is a notable lack of any publicity or police investigation of the more public crimes. This may be explained by the anonymity and randomness of the crimes, though Patrick was rarely concerned with fingerprints, blood or fiber evidence.
• There are several occasions when Bateman speaks candidly about his nature in front of others and is completely ignored, however there is scope for the others to not have heard him, in a noisy bar, for instance, or when the other character is inebriated. Even when Patrick plainly makes claims of his on-goings, these statements are completely ignored.
  • Examples of Patrick's ignored claims/suggestions of psychosis:
    • When talking to an inebriated Paul Allen: "I like to dissect girls. Did you know I'm utterly insane?"
    • The bartender at a night club: "You're a fucking ugly bitch. I want to stab you to death, and then play around with your blood."
    • To a dry-cleaner: "If you don't shut your fucking mouth, I will kill you." However she does look scared after the comment.
    • Daisy: "What do you do?" Patrick: "I'm into... well murders and executions mostly." Daisy: "Do you like it?" (mishearing it as mergers and acquisitions).
    • To Evelyn Williams at a restaurant: "I need to engage in homicidal behavior on a massive scale. It cannot be corrected but I have no other way to fulfill my needs."

Instances where the reality of the events is called into question

• When Bateman confronts his lawyer, Harold, he is told that Harold had dinner with Paul Allen in London just ten days prior, presumably when he was supposed to be dead.
• The detective ultimately tells Patrick that all of his friends place him at dinner with them at the time Paul Allen was killed.
• The message from the ATM which reads, "Feed me a stray cat."
• Patrick's gunfight with a police squad which causes the cruisers to explode. Afterwards, Patrick stares at his gun in obvious disbelief; he was also able to evade the scene without any further police action being taken.
• There is conflicting commentary on the DVD from Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner as to whether or not the crimes actually occurred.

Other cast and crew considerations

• Johnny Depp was informally attached to the project, first with Stuart Gordon in talks and then with David Cronenberg attached.
• Brad Pitt was once attached to star, with David Cronenberg directing and Bret Easton Ellis himself writing the script.
• Edward Norton was offered the part of Bateman but turned it down.
• Leonardo DiCaprio as Patrick Bateman, James Woods as Donald Kimball and Cameron Diaz as Evelyn Williams with Oliver Stone set to direct from a script written by Matthew Markwalder.
• Playwright Jeff Smeenge worked on earlier adaptions of the script prior to new direction by eventual screenwriter Mary Harron
• DiCaprio was going to be paid $20 million for the film but the role went to Christian Bale when director Mary Harron returned to the project.
• Reese Witherspoon had been the second choice for the role of Evelyn Williams. Cameron Diaz was the first, but she dropped out because of scheduling conflicts. In an earlier script, the character had a larger role than seen in the film. When the script was going to be changed, Witherspoon met with the director without having any knowledge of the background of the story. After reading the script, she still agreed to do the movie on the condition that her character didn't have much screentime in the movie, and whatever screen time that she did have, she wanted it not to be involved in any of the violence that the title character was to get involved in. She also wanted there to be no sexual scenes between her character and Patrick Bateman stating that the script disturbed her as it was. (In the novel, her character had a few sexual scenes.)

Reception

American Psycho debuted at the Sundance Film Festival to pleased audiences. The film received mostly positive to excellent reviews, with the New York Times calling it a "mean and lean horror comedy classic." Christian Bale is renowned for his strong performance in the movie. The film is considered by many as a cult classic with Patrick Bateman emerging as a cult icon in the subsequent years of American Psycho's release. The movie is notorious for its graphic content, dark humor, and its depiction of the yuppie lifestyle.

Marketing

As a promotion for the movie, one could sign up to receive e-mails "from" Patrick Bateman, supposedly to his therapist. The e-mails follow Bateman's life since the events of the film. In the e-mails, he discusses such developments as his marriage to (and impending divorce settlement with) his former secretary, Jean, his complete adoration of his son, Patrick Jr., and his efforts to triumph over his business rivals. The e-mails also mention or detail interactions with other characters from the novel, including Timothy Price (Bryce in the film version), Evelyn Williams, Luis Carruthers, and Marcus Halberstam.

Soundtrack

Main article: American Psycho: Music from the Controversial Motion Picture

The soundtrack for the film was scored by John Cale, with artists such as David Bowie, The Cure and New Order.

Associations with other media

• The song "Walking on Sunshine" by Katrina and the Waves, which runs during the establishing shots of New York City and Wall Street, makes an ironic reference to Michael J. Fox's The Secret of My Success, which also features the song. Similarly, the presence of New Order's hit "True Faith" also makes reference to the film adaptation of Ellis' friend Jay McInerney's book Bright Lights, Big City, which also features the song.
• While working out, Patrick Bateman watches Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (although in the actual film, there is no screaming heard when Leatherface performs his infamous "dance"). Several scenes later he pursues Christie with a chainsaw.

Trivia

• In the movie, Patrick claims he lives "in the American Gardens building on West 81st." Tom Cruise once lived there. The makers of the film originally envisioned Cruise playing the role of Patrick. In the novel, Patrick has a brief encounter with Cruise, who reacts negatively to Bateman (who has a nosebleed induced by cocaine abuse).
• After meeting the detective for the first time, Patrick Bateman excuses himself saying he is having lunch with Cliff Huxtable, the patriarch of the family from "The Cosby Show". Prior to this, he also makes a flippant reference to oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens.
• Some events that Bateman mentions in the phone message to his lawyer are events that transpired in the book, but not in the film.
• All of Willem Dafoe's scenes were shot in three different ways. The first way was for Dafoe to act as though Detective Kimball, his character, knew that Bateman had committed the murder; the second where he had no idea that Bateman had done anything; and finally one in which he was unsure about Bateman's guilt or innocence. This gave the director more freedom during editing to emphasize certain parts.
• In the movie Rules of Attraction (based on another Ellis novel), the main character Sean Bateman receives a phone call from Paul. He initially does not recognize the caller and asks "Who is this? Patrick?" (In the novel, Patrick is Sean's brother. Although filmed, his scenes were cut from the film.)
• When Bateman concludes his confession in the final scene at Harry's Bar, a wooden door in the background bears a sign reading "This Is Not An Exit." These are the famous last words of the novel, possibly representing the endless cycle that Bateman, and to a greater extent America, must continuously endure. They are also reminiscent of Jean-Paul Sartre's existentialist play No Exit.
• In 2005, the National Entertainment Collectibles Association released an action figure based on Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman in the film, as part of its first series of "Cult Classics" action figures.
• In the Showtime original series Dexter, serial killer Dexter Morgan uses "Patrick Bateman" as an alias.
• Christian Bale spent several months working out by himself, and then three hours a day with a trainer during pre-production, in order to achieve the proper physique for the obsessed, narcissistic Bateman. Guenevere Turner states that Bale had told her that he was "...fucking sick of eating chicken breasts".
• In the novel, Patrick Bateman's favorite band is Talking Heads, who, despite having an aptly named track entitled "Psycho Killer", were not mentioned in the film version.

American Psycho 2

A direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho 2: All American Girl followed, directed by Morgan J. Freeman. This sequel was not based on the novel and cannot be reconciled with subsequent novels by Bret Easton Ellis, as its only connection with the original is the death, in a flashback scene utilizing a different actor (Michael Kremko) wearing a face mask, of Patrick Bateman himself. The movie bears no real resemblance to the original in plot, character, theme, or setting, and most fans of the original novel and film adaptation do not acknowledge the sequel as a valid part of the character's continuity. It has been dismissed by fans of the original as an attempt to cash in on the title of the book and the film adaptation.

Notes

Ellis, Bret E. American Psycho. New York: Vintage, 1991. 61.

External links

• Official website
• American Psycho at IMDb
• American Psycho script at the Internet Movie Script Database
• "AmPsycho2000" E-mails
• Movie stills