American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition)

Buy This Item American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition)  List Price: $14.98  Available from Amazon  $4.99  on 11-28-2008     Features Actors: Christian Bale, Justi Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny Directors: Mary Harron Format: Closed-captioned, Collector's Edition, Color, DVD-Video, Special Edition, Widescreen, Surround Sound, NTSC Language: English, Spanish Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.) Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Number of discs: 1 Rating: Studio: Lions Gate DVD Release Date: June 21, 2005 Run Time: 102 minutes Average Customer Review:   524 Reviews 5 star:  (223) 4 star:  (131) 3 star:  (63) 2 star:  (40) 1 star:  (67) See all 524 customer reviews...   (524 customer reviews) Reader Reviews This review is from: American Psycho (DVD) No doubt about it, Mary Harrion's "American Psycho" is definitely not for every taste and audience demographic. The good news is, perhaps, that the film is nowhere near as gruesome and gory as both its subject matter and its controversial nature would lead one to believe. In fact, its tone of ironic comic detachment helps to de-emphasize the more sordid aspects of the material and to instead highlight the film's bitingly satiric message. Set in the mid-1980's, "American Psycho" casts a scathing eye on the then-brand new, up-and-coming group of 20-something executives known as "yuppies." Patrick Bateman, the psycho of the title, is a man who literally seems to have everything - stunning good looks, a fantastic physique, a beautiful fiancé, a diploma from Harvard and a successful career as a Wall Street executive. Yet, alone of the young men with whom he consorts, Patrick flatly admits to us in voice-over narration that he is literally an empty-suit - that his perfectly maintained outer appearance, seemingly well-ordered social routine and empty, superficial personal relationships merely mask the moral emptiness that lurks at the core of his soul. Much of the complexity of Patrick's character comes from the fact that he seems, paradoxically, to be both obsessed with the idea of conforming to the values of the world he lives in, and, at the same time, being strangely conscious of their unreality and meaninglessness. Thus, we see him becoming almost emotionally unglued because he fears he will not be able to reserve the proper table at a posh upscale restaurant or because he feels that one of his corporate buddies has a more impressive looking business card than he does. Much of Patrick's madness has its roots in the kind of obsessive-compulsive paranoia that arises from the modern insistence that life should and, indeed, can be converted into a perfect, problem-free existence if one just has enough money and a sufficient amount of the right "stuff" to make it that way. Frankly admitting that he feels no emotional attachment to any other human beings, Patrick is thereby free to channel his madness into its ultimate anti-social, taboo-shattering shape and form: serial killing. Thus, as days turn to nights, Patrick begins to rack up his victims and potential victims - a homeless man, assorted prostitutes, an ex-girlfriend, an unctuous business associate, even some policemen who get wise to his activities later in the film. Luckily for the squeamish among us, far more of the film's running time is devoted to a comic rather than thriller mode. The brittle, dryly humorous Mary Harrion/Guinevere Turner screenplay mines the corporate world milieu and the twisted rantings of a values-free mind for all their black comedy potential. Christian Bale brings a remarkable subtlety to a touchy role, managing to seem coolly alluring, chillingly detached, touchingly pathetic and wryly amusing all at the same time. Special credit should go to the stark, almost antiseptic look the filmmakers achieve through the art direction and set design, a look that matches in visual terms the moral and emotional emptiness of the characters and their world. Much was made of the anti-woman tone of the novel at the time of its initial release. Perhaps because the writers and the director are themselves women, the movie seems to have toned down that aspect quite a bit. Indeed, as in a movie like "In the Company of Men," we find ourselves not so much appalled as sadly bemused by the vehemently anti-women comments uttered by Patrick and his cronies because we see what shallow losers these men really are. Harrion and Turner obviously know whereof they speak. To reiterate, "American Psycho" may not be everyone's cup of cinematic tea, but those looking for a sharp little satire of modern American life will find some definite rewards.  Comment | Permalink |  function showYesNoCommunityResponse(uId,result,value) { var msgLayer = getElement("thanks" + uId); if ( result == "SUCCESS" ) { msgLayer.innerHTML = "Thanks for the valuable feedback you provided to other Amazon.com readers and reviewers. Your vote will be counted and will appear on the product page within 24 hours."; } else { showVoteErrorResponse(msgLayer,result,value); } } (Report this)

American Psycho (Uncut Killer Collector's Edition) List Price: $14.98 Available from Amazon Price: $4.99 Updated on 11-28-2008.

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