“I have all the characteristics of a human being: blood, flesh, skin, hair; but not a single, clear, identifiable emotion, except for greed and disgust. Something horrible is happening inside of me and I don’t know why. My nightly bloodlust has overflown into my days. I feel lethal, on the verge of frenzy. I think my mask of sanity is about to slip.” – Patrick Bateman
Number of Times Seen – 1 (15 Jul 2014)
Brief Synopsis – A yuppie in the mid 80’s becomes a serial killer as a way to climb the social scale.
My Take on it – Christian Bale has always been an extraordinary actor and this movie is further proof of that.
The problem with this movie tho is that the plot and script are so full of holes that the movie seems choppy at certain points. The plot gets so ambiguous towards the end that it becomes very incoherent.
It takes place during the mid 80’s and deals primarily with the business, personal and social drive of yuppies that caused them to constantly try to outmaneuver one another in every way possible.
One of the things that I liked about this movie was how it touched upon the theme of identity\lack of identity.
Bottom Line – Not the most coherent script and plot that leaves the viewer scratching their heads as to the ambiguity of it all. Liked the way this movie presented the idea of identity / lack of identity. Bale is amazing as usual.
Rating – BAFTA Worthy
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MovieRob 
Great review Rob.
First time? Nice! I must say that I really enjoyed this one. I tried to read the book, and read a whole chunk of it but couldn’t get into it. Told Eric I would try again after his review stating he was not really a fan of this, I’d like to get to the core of it all.
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PS: Bale was fantastic as always.
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Yes he was
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Dearest JB,
And I’m still waiting by the phone for your thoughts.
Love,
SSC
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My Dearest SSC,
You are going to have to give me a while, I have such a stack that I am currently working on. When I am through them and get to this, your phone will start ringing incessantly.
Love,
JB
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Dearest JB,
Sounds good – let me get one of those new “mobile” phones so I don’t have to sit in the living room 24 hours a day!
Love,
Patient SC
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Patient PSC,
Ah, the wonders of technology. You can get one of those new fandangled thingies, it may actually come in useful!
Love,
JB
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I enjoyed it too. The book was tough but hated the ending. And yes, is there anything Bale can’t do?
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Can’t imagine even trying to read this book
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Sheesh, so it isn’t just me battling to get through it? I will try at some stage again though.
I don’t think so.
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I can understand that. As much as I love Bale this wasn’t an easy one to watch
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No, definitely not. He was such a terrible person. That scene with the homeless man? Makes my blood boil every time. What a twat.
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goes to show that even a great actor like Bale can also play a twat 🙂
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🙂 Absolutely!
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I really enjoy this film mostly because of my love for Bale. I agree that it loses a grip on coherence towards the end. As much as I enjoy the ambiguity the film can be confusing and isn’t interesting enough for me to want to dig deep to understand all the elements.
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Total agreement!
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This movie’s nuts, but in all the right ways. Which is mostly due to the fact that Bale is so killer in this role. Pun intended. Good review Rob.
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Tnx Dan. Dont think that I’m gonna rush to rewatch this though
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I really liked this crazy film, but you’re right about the awkwardly incoherent final third. The book is way better than the film in this case, even though it’s so graphically violent to the point of being disgusting. Bret Easton Ellis is a strange chap!
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I can understand that. What else has he written?
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He’s written a whole bunch of books but his most famous are probably American Psycho and Less Than Zero, which was also made into a film some time in the 90s. He also wrote The Rules of Attraction which was made into a film with James Van Der Beek in it. He’s a pretty great writer but he’s better known for his insane Twitter rants nowadays!
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Good review, Rob! This is one I’ve been meaning to rewatch because I’ve only seen it once and I don’t remember much. I think I pretty much reacted like you did though: Bale is great, but the story itself…meh. We’ll see how I feel after giving it another shot.
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Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on this after you rewatch it. Tnx
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I absolutely adore this film.
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adore isnt a word i’d use to describe this film. Glad u liked it so much tho
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Nice review! In my opinion, Bale has never topped this performance.
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Hmm that’s debatable. I think he wss better in the prestige. Appreciate the comment
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