I think when most people watch this movie, they’re surprised to see that there’s actually no gore. People watching this expecting a slasher are going to be let down. Everything is implied. The movie isn’t really about the violence. It’s about making fun of ‘80s yuppie culture, and it definitely succeeds at that. Patrick Bateman is essentially a caricature of everything that is wrong with this culture. It sort of feels like you’re watching a movie about a parallel dystopian universe where everyone bases their self worth on the most superficial things you could possibly imagine and are so self focused that they’re oblivious to the world around them. So kind of like our universe but dialed up 100x. All of Bateman’s colleagues (he works at a financial firm) wear similar clothes and have similar haircuts to the point where they can’t tell each other apart. On top of that, they all share the same job title: Vice President. He even admits that they all do the exact same thing. Five people can’t all be doing the same job so realistically only one actually does work. They obsess over who can get a reservation at the nicest restaurant or who has the nicest business card. Bateman even flat out states multiple times the crimes that he’s committed and no one bats an eye because they’re so self absorbed or maybe just too dumb to process what he’s saying. What I find very funny about this movie is that there are a number of scenes in which Bateman is in his office or at a business lunch with his colleagues, or just talking about how much work he has to do, yet not one time is he seen actually working in his office or discussing business with his colleagues.
This probably isn’t Christian Bale’s best performance as it was relatively early in his career, but it’s by far my favorite. My only complaint would be that his American accent sounds a little too American. It’s very artificial, but then again Patrick Bateman is very artificial, so maybe it works. He nails the mannerisms and smallest nuances of Bateman that ultimately turn this movie into a great dark comedy.
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May Featured Movie QuoteBarry B. Benson: Yellow-black, yellow-black, yellow-black, yellow-black... Oh, black and yellow. Yeah, let's shake it up a little.
Yeah, I have letterboxd now
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