Dennis Heller

I haven't seen the movie and don't plan to, and I know it's always a mistake to compare movies to the books on which they're based, but I'm going to anyway.

In the book American Psycho, Bateman is always bringing his suits to a dry cleaner who notices blood stains but doesn't say anything. Also, in Ellis's book Glamorama, Patrick Bateman has a cameo, and a character unrelated to Am. Psycho notices and wonders what the strange stain is on Bateman's suit. I don't remember the line, but it's clear that it's a blood stain.

This comparison is cheating, I know; I'm sure the movie is very different from the book, and maybe the point in the movie is that he didn't really do it, but I never got that from the book. Of course, I'm not the world's most sophisticated reader, either.

\"I was wandering the woods, thinking about Christ. If He was a carpenter, I wondered what he charged for bookshelves.\"

Linda Thompson

Read this:

http://www.ew.com/ew/article/review/..._21_0_,00.html

Keeping the discussion centered strictly on the movie, it has been stated many times by the creative team that, in their view, the murders were indeed real, but, in retrospect, they feel that they failed to convey that properly.

This EW article (and the DVD commentary) are simply the latest instances of this declaration on the part of the creative team...a Google search will turn up much older interviews in which they express their original intent and vision.

JonZ

IMHO yes he did.

He even confessed and it did no good, becuase his laywer didnt belive he did anything.

The bullet that blew up the police car was a lucky shot(again Patrick can get away and his luck keeps him from getting caught. He is after all - priviledged) and the laywer not believing him was a running theme through out the film. The laywer had lunch with someone he "thought" was Paul Alan (Since they all wear the same suits, haircuts, glasses, etc.)(This is further backed up when the detective "reminds" Patrick he had dinner with so and so(forget the name), when Patrick wasnt even there. It was someone the guy thought was Patrick).

It goes with one theme of the film which is how self absorbed these people are.

I think Bret Ellis has hates the rich. There seem to be common themes through his books (and films).

JohnMor

Wow, I can't believe that twist never occurred to me. Adds a whole new level to the film for me, which I'll have to rewatch now.

My DVD Collection

Inspector Hammer!

See, it's things like the "Feed me a stray cat" ATM machine that throws me off. Also his oft-uttered line in the film "I have to return some video tapes." just seems really strange to me.

However some things in the film do support the 'real' theory, like , it was shown so that we the audience could see it.

I have to agree that it was real, but not handled well by the filmmakers. It's cool though, they inadvertantly added another layer of delerium to the film which reflects Bateman's spiraling madness and makes it all the more interesting.

"There was that time I wanted to be an astronaut.
I wanted to be the first one to kill somebody on the moon."

Jefferson Morris

Some have speculated that when Bateman returns to Paul Allen's apartment to find no trace of his killings, this may have been because the owners of the property cleaned it up themselves clandestinely to ensure that the value of the property could remain stratospheric.

I've never found myself compelled to really try to answer definitively the question of did-he-or-didn't-he. The raising of the question itself provides the only real comeuppance that can mean anything to Bateman - the horrifying realization that he may still just be another anonymous asshole in a suit, without even murders to distinguish him from anyone else.

--Jefferson Morris

"If fakes, they were masterpieces."

--The New York Times commenting on Willis O'Brien's dinosaurs in The Lost World (1925).

"From the two trailers I've seen, the movie looks like AIDS."

--Recent thread post on AICN

Christopher Jay

Along the lines of the EW article: Guinivere Turner, co-screenwriter of (and actress in) American Psycho, in an interview with Ron Hogan published in Bitch: Feminist Response to Pop Culture said this:

I think it ends up becoming a "Lady or the Tiger" sort of question for many people, regardless of the filmmakers' intentions. After seeing the film I was of the opinion, like some have alluded to, that
But I think how you view it depends on what notions you bring to the table, which always makes for interesting discussion when the movie is brought up.

It\'s not a cold sore! I bumped my lip on a biscuit!

Adam Sanchez

American Psycho

How is this film? I've been curious about it since Bale is in it... but that is literally all I know about the film.

"There will come a moment when you have a chance to do the right thing."

"I love those moments. I like to wave at them as they pass by."

Steve_Knutzen

It's based on a the novel by Bret Easton Ellis (author of Less Than Zero and Rules of Attraction as well) and is a satire of yuppies and 80's pop culture. Also, the main character happens to cut people up. It's really a love it or hate it movie. I am definitely a fan. Bale's excellent as Patrick Bateman (which is eerily close to Batman) and essentially plays him as a cold Bruce Wayne who's alter-ego is a bit more maniacal. When I first heard Bale would be playing Batman, I knew he'd be perfect since I'd seen American Psycho. It's disturbing, funny and a good way to spend two hours. Highly recommended by me.

"Oh I can hold my breath for a long, long time!"

http://www.dvdprofiler.com/mycollect...s=TromaFiend02

JonZ

Me too.

Nathan Hamstra

The movie's a laugh riot. Buy it.