The scenes with Dafoe were filmed 3 times; as if he was oblivious to Patrick's guilt, suspicious of him and finally as if he knew with certainty. Then portions of each take were spliced together so you never really know how much the detective knows, and how much is real and how much is Patrick's imagination. It's absolutely masterful.
In the novel, the detective was pretty much the only character that Bateman respected. The satire was more obvious in the book but it got tedious to read. For example, every time a character entered a scene, he would describe every article of clothing they wore. He liked the way the detective dressed
There are multiple occasions where a lot of the yuppies (George had the correct term) are mistaken for someone else. I think it's a jab at the culture where everyone is trying so hard to fit in that they are essentially carbon copies of each other. I think the lawyer was actually Patrick's lawyer, he just didn't recognice Patrick and thought he was Davis. The fact that the lawyer said he had dinner with paul Allen twice too; did he really? Or did he have dinner with someone he thought was Paul but got him confused?
I always saw it as Patrick killed the wrong Paul, they all look alike and If Paul thinks Patrick is Halberstrand, then maybe Patrick thinks someone else is Paul, if the guy had dinner with Paul who's to say it actually was Paul, Patrick is in his own world most of the time, he probably thinks he's better than everyone but still confuses each person with each other.
Multiple interpretations of the film, I prefer the one that says it’s all real and the culture was so toxic at the time that no one noticed or even cared. The realtor lady cleaned it up herself so she wouldn’t lose a listing.
Glad you have the same opinion that this movie/story is up for interpretation. Personally I don't think any of it happened and was all in his head but I think yours and any take in-between is valid.
The book is obviously a different entity, but I always interpreted it as someone with such a meaningless life of empty privilege that he fantasizes about extreme violence just as a way to feel something. Obviously there is more than one way to view it though.
The reason for the monologues about the albums is that Patrick doesn't really have an opinion on the music itself. He simply copies what everyone else says about the particular artist or album. He doesn't have any opinions and he doesn't come to any conclusions himself. Luv the reactions
Exactly! In the book, each artist fills a whole chapter. Huey Lewis,Genesis/ Collins, and Whitney Houston. He gets LL his opinions, from the leading men's magazines.
The music reviews were also a critique of the shallowness of Yuppie culture. These albums were as mainstream as pop got in the 80's and Patrick taking them so seriously was to show how vapid he actually was. They even highlight that fact during the Phil Collins commentary when he says he never got into early Genesis music (which, lead by Peter Gabriel was considered high concept artistic prog rock) and thinks Invisible Touch (lead by Phil Collins, and undeniably their most commercially accessible work) is their best album. He loves music with no actual depth to it and eschews stuff with more artistic value because if its more popular it must be better.
"He pulled off that rehearsed speech thing really well. Like he doesn't believe any of that, he's just saying it, like he said earlier, to fit in." Just like everyone on Twitter.
One of my favorite stories about the making of a movie of all time comes from this movie. Mary Harron directed Willem Dafoe to play every scene three different ways: certain that Patrick did it, unsure if Patrick did it, and completely unaware that Patrick did it. Then she used pieces of all three in the scenes so the audience never knew for sure whether or not Detective Kimball was onto him. My interpretation of the movie is that even if he does break from reality a couple of times, like with the cop cars blowing up, he does kill a bunch of people for real, and the world is just so glib and superficial that nobody picks up on it. The keys for me are the the realtor (who tells him to leave not because he doesn't have an appointment but because the apartment complex is burying the crime for the real estate value), and his secretary finding the drawings.
Also, fun fact: George Clooney had a pet pig, and he apparently broke up with a couple of girlfriends because they didn't understand some of the little measures he had to take to make sure the pig was healthy and happy.
"he does kill a bunch of people for real, and the world is just so glib and superficial that nobody picks up on it" you forgot to mention this works only for rich ass ppl aka for powerfull ppl and those who are protected by them. everybody else gets ass fucked by piece of shit cops and the cruel system that only protects capital.
@@erikjohnson3859 Because people frequently interpret works of art independently, without regard for what the the author/director/etc might have to say about their intent? Authorial intent stopped being the be-all and end-all of critical analysis a long time ago.
Lol. It was filmed in downtown Toronto, and there were attempts to shut it down in part because 'Canadian Psycho' Paul Bernardo reportedly possessed a copy of the novel and was a fan.
I've always interpreted this film as all of the killings did actually happen, but Bateman's lawyer covers for him, implying that this is not the first, second, third, or even last time a psychopathic finance bro went on a killing spree. The realtor is clearly in on it, unwilling to let such prime real estate be tarnished by such a grisly crime.
Or his lawyer really does believe he saw Paul Allen in London. Everyone looks the same in this clique of 80s Wall Street bros, and people confuse Patrick for other people, so other "witnesses" likely confuse others' faces. I do agree wholeheartedly with the interpretation of the realtor's reaction, she knows that Patrick knows there were bodies in that closet without saying a word. Imagine what a crime scene like that would do to all prices in that building and any neighboring buildings.
i dont think its real. what he goes through in the movie are all things very consistent with psychosis. there are also a bunch of little details that make way more sense if you assume the movie is mostly through the eyes of bateman and that he's experiencing psychosis, like the concierge not reacting at all before bateman pulls the gun and "shoots" him
Two fun facts about this film. 1. Christian Bale based his performance of Patrick Bateman off of an interview of Tom Cruise on David Letterman, where Bale saw “this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes.” 2. The Willem Dafoe scenes were shot multiple times with Dafoe playing the scenes three different ways. 1. Dafoe fully knows Bateman is the killer, 2. Dafoe suspects Bateman as the killer, 3. Dafoe doesn’t suspect Bateman is the killer. Then they edited all those different takes together so you never tell what the Dafoe is actually thinking.
His father is mentioned more frequently in the book, to the point where a possible interpretation is that its all real, but his father is cleaning up his mess behind him
I've read the book also, and I think it all happened except for a few things that were part of his break with reality. I think it's a commentary on how nobody notices when you are at a certain level. 80s consumerism and the decade of Decadence. Brilliant film
@@winstonmarlowe5254 something can be serious and deep but still have mostly satire elements to it, American psycho is a satire, but it still has meaning to it and a critique on 80s corporate greed and other stuff
This movie put Christian Bale on the map, and for such good reason. He'd been around for some time, but this was big turning point. The other actors supposedly thought his performance was way too over the top and wouldn't really work, but it played like gangbusters with audiences.
He's a fascinating actor to watch, he showed talent as early as the 80's in Empire of the Sun where he had to showcase a range of emotions and almost lose his mind.
One of the other actors (Josh Lucas) told Bale that the other actors in the cast thought Bale was 'the worst actor they had ever seen'. They just didn't get his insane focus on staying 'in character' throughout the entire shoot, on and off-camera. Chloe Sevigny (Bateman's secretary) said she had never seen an actor commit to a role like he did. I think he's known for that.
In an interview, when asked about any inspirations for playing Patrick Bateman, Christian Bale replied Tom Cruise. He said there was nothing behind those eyes....
More specifically from an interview where Tom Cruise recounts the time where he lowered the passenger's oxygen while flying, so they can get faster. Cruise laughing while describing how the passenger was knocked down unconscious. Tom Cruise: The people's hero. 🙄
@@letmadora28 what, really?! I mean, that sounds like a totally Tom Cruise thing to do, and he's always seemed like a psychopath to me, but it's wild that he admitted to doing that.
I think this is the type of movie a lot of people don't get everything on the first watch. I know the more I watched it, the more I picked up on things said and the funnier the movie becomes. Bale delivers his lines in a way I can't imagine anyone else doing. He nailed it, no pun intended.
8:50 “I’m going to make business cards and send one to you” ☠️💀 The way you made that sound creepy would make Toni Collette proud. No one had ever used that sentence and gave me chills before. I had to stop what I was doing 😅
26:12 - “people in his world don’t give a shit or pay attention to anything” as he totally talks over the excellent FEES ME A KITTEN moment from the ATM
I think the correlation between music / musical dialogue and Patrick is that music usually has big emotional connections with the listener. They can connect individually or with social groups ( friends, family, coworkers, etc). So Patrick sees this as a way to have the appearance of fitting in / being normal with others even though he is empty inside. His assessments are cerebral or even academic sounding, but say nothing of feelings or connections with music. Plus the music he discusses was seen as mainstream pop, radio friendly music from the 80's. He associates this with what, "normal" people listen to. So he learns about this in order to fit in or belong. He even says "I want to belong" earlier in movie when discussing his peers.Patrick knows music, the musicians, their catalog and techniques, but truely feels nothing. So music is a mask/ disguise for him, while also showing how empty, cold, unempathic he really is emotionally.
Yeah, to me his music monologues always seemed like memorized professional album reviews that he recited just before a kill, because what you said is what people would normally associate with someone telling them about their favourite music. He lulls them into a false sense of security by doing that.
Everything Patrick says about the music, is quoted from reviews in leading magazines. Like his views on political issues, and his fashion "sense." Nothing is his own opinions, everything is about fitting in, with the other yuppies.
Or music analysis is the only avenue he feels comfortable actually trying to use his intellect and sharing it with others. He doesn't try to discuss anything else at all seriously...even when he talks about relationships he doesn't have the courage to apply his true self and feelings. He's basically scared and feels overwhelmed, unable to handle any other part of his life (well, he does express what he wants when dealing with clearly compromised, weak people) but when it comes to analysing music he feels he knows his stuff and he can come out of his shell to make genuine commentary. Note too that he only talks about music when he feels he has totally set the stage to be as he wants it, with a long lead-up as he wished, he's totally on "home court", has people in front of him in a vulnerable position/state, and only then does he feel comfortable enough to begin. In an alternate life he really should've become a music critic. He might've lived a fulfilling life writing reviews on albums for some small rags.
8:34 Exactly! Patrick himself is a direct jab at the Wall Street men of the 80’s, both in the novel & this film 😂👔 Christian Bale nailed the characters macabre humor!
This is a fascinating adaptation. The filmmakers took a very dense novel where literally nothing happens for almost 200 pages and which essentially has no plot or structure, Cherry-picked certain scenes and strung them together, and somehow created a film that’s more coherent than the novel. I enjoyed the novel but this is one of the rare cases where I think the film is more successful.
I think the novel is an interesting piece of literature, but it's also one of the most unpleasant things I've read. When you say 'nothing happens' you're glossing over pages and pages of excruciatingly graphic descriptions of rape and torture. I don't think I've ever met someone who said the _enjoyed_ it, even if they thought it was good.
@@Jacob_Junge the “nothing happens” was referring to the first half, because it’s literally nothing but descriptions of dinners, outfits, and 80’s music. The first murder doesn’t happen until almost exactly halfway through the book. What makes the graphic content disturbing is that he describes it in the same flat tone that he describes what people are wearing in the first half.
@@matthewganong1730 I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it more if he had described it with enthusiasm and passion. I mean, the things he does with rats... and power tools. Some of the details have stayed with me for more than 30 years.
Its really really tedious to read certain parts of the book, I kept flying over the page long descriptions of what they all wear.... The killings and general atrocities are much more horrifying then in the movie, though.
One thing that's mentioned in the movie but even more in the book is that all the people are constantly mistaking each other for someone else. I think his lawyer might have mistaken Paul Allen or even Patrick killed someone other than Paul Allen
The music monologues are alot more fleshed out in the book. Along with the food and the fashion and the business cards, its all part of his complete obsessiveness with the vapid empty meaningless things that he thinks humans are supposed to care about.
What I love most about so many people reacting to this movie is the total lack of self-awareness they have, with them making TOTALLY condemning judgments about those guys just because they are slightly superficial in their dinner plan talk or because they decide to spend about a minute comparing business cards. I mean yeah, aren't those guys TOTAL losers and horrible people for not living up the absolute saintly purity and intellectual genius levels of these people judging them...even though spending one minute comparing business cards or a few slightly cringe comments about high-end restaurants is NOTHING compared to like 99.99% of their lives of achieving absolutely nothing on their couches or grimy coffee shops, talking _hours and hours_ about Marvel movies, Star Wars or other just as consumerist and far more time-wasting and totally childish pursuits like video games. Business cards? These judgmental people themselves spend more time figuring out what level of slobbiness of their newest t-shirt is _just right_ to signal whatever sanctimonious hipster/commie/emo/douche vibe they feel they need to signal to their social circles...which tattoo will cause jealousy in their friends...and they'll debate which salmonella-infested back-alley food truck is the 'coolest' to go eat at. (Not to mention business cards are in fact part of marketing, and pursuing betterment, I might even think having an artful slant in life, seeking to beautify even the smallest detail sure doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world...) I'll bet the 'yuppies' are far less superficial, waste less time on frivolity, etc. than these judgmental grungy millenials any day of the week. And if those yuppies do "waste time" on business cards or art, at least those are artful and _advancing_ pursuits which elevate humanity instead of these judgemental dudes competing over the opposite: who can be as slobby or show that they live in as derelict world as possible, who looks most like a criminal/in poverty. And critiquing what they assume those 'yuppies' do for work?? Ha, coming from modern day slobs who, if they even have a job, work for a tech company whose business is stealing data; or for some other tech company scamming the tech-illiterate by over-charging and purposefully sabotaging their systems so they get perpetually repeated income from needing to manage and maintain the system which they now have entrapped their client into...or even worse: they work as game/app developers whose goal is to make as addictive stuff as possible to get children hooked on them and spend their parents' money as digital junkies.
"Paul Norman" is another deep 80s reference. That's the name of the programmer and composer for an iconic early Commodore 64 game called Forbidden Forest. I grew up in the 80s with a Commodore so when I first heard that joke I did the Leo DiCaprio points at tv meme for real.
Patrick Bateman has an overprotective, super powerful, rich parent. That's why everything was cleaned up, and the real estate agent also lawyer was so cryptic.
My interpretation is that the real estate agent at the end had found all the bodies and blood in that apartment - and promptly had all of it cleaned up in order to protect the property value, so she could still sell it at maximum profit. So when Patrick showed up looking in the closets in a very suspicious manner, she realized that he was the one responsible and told him to "leave" and "not make any trouble." The implication being: Patrick is FARRR from the only psychopath in 1980s New York "Rich People Society". The whole film, he's assuming that he's the only one with this blasé disregard for life and morality, when in fact he's merely one of hundreds - but the culture and world he lives in is so shallow, so selfish, and so materialistic that psychopaths can walk around in the sunlight and no one even notices or cares.
The Willem Dafoe scenes were genius. They filmed them three ways, 1) He doesn't suspect, 2) He suspects, 3) He knows. They then spliced them together to make the end result absolutely impossible to read!
The comments Patrick makes about music are taken almost verbatim from the novel. Also the novel suggests that everyone looks the same, dresses the same, talk the same and people only view the surface, which is why he’s able to get away with his crimes.
Just realized that, in the movie poster, Patrick's reflection is in the side of the knife blade facing away from him, which hints at the movie's theme about uncertainty of identity.
I read this book when it came out. I was getting so bored over the endless listing of brand names and one-up-manship. Then the murders would happen. It's all meant to show how shallow these sad, sick individuals are. The contest over their business cards is a riot.
Idk if theres any recommendation system, but another BRILLIANT movie like this is Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal. Its less ambiguous and more slow burn. Its like if Patrick Bateman were a grifting opportunist rather than a high ranked business man
Another fun fact: The escort he ordered over the phone and called her "Sabrina" is from a small town in Saskatchewan (I believe) and was ostracized by her town for playing this part.
I think the idea is that they are so interchangeable, that they themselves confuse each other. The dude who thinks he dined with Paul Allen, probably had an entire dinner with a completely different person.
In the business card scene Patrick says "Let's see Paul Allen's card." The guy that shows his card in response to that isn't the same person as the Paul Allen of later.
@Eidlones The person we (and Patrick) assume to be Paul Allen, played by Jared Leto, gave his business card to that guy a bit earlier in the scene before leaving. That’s why Patrick asks him to show it to them.
You should definitely watch one of his very earliest works one day, "Empire of the Sun" about a young British boy during the Japanese occupation of China during WW2, with John Malkovich, Ben Stiller and Amanda Richardson. It's based on the autobiography of J. G. Ballard and Christian Bale was lauded for his performance at such a young age. It is directed by Steven Spielberg as well...
When I played City of Heroes, my main character was a Tank with a Battle Axe. One of his battle cry binds was the "Most people don't listen to the lyrics" monologue.
You wondered at one point why you were laughing at what is ostensibly a horror movie, and it's because you really start seeing it as a black, *black* comedy. The central joke being that he can get away with literally anything on account of being 1) a wealthy handsome cishetero white man, and 2) being surrounded mostly by Identikit w.h.c.w.m's who keep being mistaken and mistaking each other for other people. Everyone around Patrick is too self-absorbed (or it's too much in their own interests, like the estate agent) to know or care what he's doing, and this remains true whether he killed just one or two people, the dozens he mentioned in his phonecall, or nobody at all. Great reaction, particularly getting to know Simone's fine taste in music (and I knew *exactly* how she'd react to the dog and kitten scenes) - I discovered Huey Lewis through this film, and have cosplayed as Bateman several times, complete with carrying a "Fore!" CD around with me. It might interest you to compare and contrast this with Fight Club, and the way they both handle masculinity, materialism, and questionable identities.
As far as the way Bateman speaks about music. He does not speak about music the way a normal person would, he speaks about music the way a music critique would write about it in an article. In an attempt to "fit in" he reads magazines to learn how normal people act, he at least knows that most normal people like music. In conversation he just regurgitates what he reads in magazines, if you remember when he killed Paul Allen he had a bunch magazines in his apartment he used to cover the floor. At least that is my interpretation.
They confuse each other for each other all the time. For example, in the business card scene, Patrick says "Let's see Paul Allen's card", and a completely different person than the Paul Allen we see later shows his card. The director has said that she regrets how the whole "fantasy" part ultimately worked out, because it implies it was all in his mind. It wasn't. People just simply do no care/notice/cover it up for their own profit (like with the apartment, that's why she's so insanely suspicious of him for seemingly no reason), cause they're all just so involved in themselves and their own social status/success They got Dafoe to play it 3 ways. He knows Patrick did it, he suspects, and he thinks he's innocent. They then spliced in all his different takes together so you never quite know what he's thinking.
Hey George, you were absolutely correct. During the business card scenes, they added the sounds of Japanese dueling swords when they took the cards out of the card holders (to emphasize the competitive nature of these men).
Fun reaction. He did kill most of the people. It's more clear in the book imo. Great movie and a nice jab at the yuppie culture. Nobody keeps track of who is who, and the ish gets cleaned up behind them. As with the apartment, it's more important for the owner to clean it up and make more money.
You should watch Rules Of Attraction. It’s a movie that is focused on what’s supposed to be Patrick Bateman’s brother. It is so freaking hilarious and dark in a funny way.
Smart observation with the reflection comment at the beginning, Simone! I'm impressed 😉 This is one of my favorite films. I've read the book by Brett Easton Ellis (who also wrote Less Than Zero, which was also turned into a movie, starring a very Young and cute Robert Downey Jr), I own a throw with one of the main movie poster images printed on it, an 18 inch talking Patrick Bateman figurine, a t-shirt from Hot Topic and the special edition DVD. I even had a Patrick Bateman roleplaying account on LiveJournal for awhile, he's such a fascinating and charismatic character and I was pretty good at writing with his voice. All that....and I never noticed that simple yet insightful metaphor, albeit it's significant for reasons other than what you speculated about at the time, with the possibility of a split personality situation. I mean in a way he is 2 completely different people but the only one anyone acknowledges is the image he presents to everyone around him...and half the time they cant even get his name correct 😅 So at the end of his soliloquy during the whole self care routine and he says 'I am simply not there', you understand why by the film's end. Its really meant to be left up to the reader how much is real and how much is just delusion/psychosis. Glad you guys did this one. It's more graphic, but if you don't mind that sort of thing and wish to delve deeper into the madness inside our friend, Mr American Psycho, I would definitely recommend it. It's a worthwhile read even if you aren't familiar with the film...or so I'd imagine anyway. And George's 'Ethiopian Psycho' quip during the intro was hilarious 😅👏
Di Caprio actually was cast, and the director was fired for refusing to work with anyone but Bale. She was brought back after DiCaprio quit. Just about every better-known actor was pushed by the studio, but she (Harron) insisted on only Bale (DiCaprio, Ed Norton, Ewan Macgregor, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, etc, etc)
Reportedly, author Bret Easton Ellis, in doing research for the novel, spent time with Wall Street bankers to understand their lifestyle. He never once saw them do any actual work or spend time in their office. All they did was take him out to lunch and dinner and to clubs. He also got the idea for the incessant one-upmanship from them.
Look up "American Psycho with Cats (OwlKitty parody)". When I was 19, I read this book and thought that I was really smart and had it all figured out. But I can't help but interpret this movie through that lens. It starts with three quotes, one of which is Talking Heads: "And as things fell apart / Nobody paid much attention". (BTW, the movie is -- and I can't stress this word enough -- EXTREMELY tame compared to the novel. The violent sequences are only a small part of a thick book, but they're intensely, incredibly, disgustingly detailed and violent.) IIRC the book is even clearer about how these yuppies see products, not people. Others have talked a lot about that (on Patreon at least) and I agree: Paul Allen (if that's his real name) isn't the only one who had trouble recognizing others, and Patrick Bateman probably wasn't the only one pretending to be someone else. He probably killed a man, but was he Paul Allen? I think the author of the book said that the point of the music monologues was to portray Bateman as thinking that vapid and commercial sentimentalism were the high point of culture and human expression. Or something like that. But in the book, they're monologues to the reader, not to his victims, which probably alters the interpretation. I like what both of you said about it. Finally, if you watch the movie again, pay attention to the sex scene. It's shot very deliberately as not objectifying the women the same way that Bateman does. You don't often see a sex scene that isn't a cheap excuse to show as much of nekkid wimmin as possible.
Bale almost got fired from this job because the studio and the people working in the film thought he was a crap actor, but the director thought no one else could play the role. Turns out the “crap acting” was done on purpose, it’s meant to show how emotionless he is.
Personally I think the ending is a critique of how media pathologizes "psychopaths", like our pop culture obsession with "silence of the lambs" type films, and crime podcasts, etc. It satirizes the temptations to give meaning to some deeper essence or explanation behind psychopathy and violence in media. For example even in this video, the way George kept trying to put Patrick Bateman into some psychopath/sociopath checklist, but the unrealiable perspective of Bateman threw him at every opportunity lol 😂 At the end, Patrick Bateman doesn't really even matter as a subject. We don't get some tragic backstory about a childhood trauma Patrick experienced which shaped him into a murderer and explained his psychopathy, or whatever... Infact throughout the film multiple characters misname Patrick Bateman as if he's continuously strippped off any subjectivity by the story, until what's left was some kind of empty embodiment of the greedy, consumerist, and materialist Reagan era american yuppie stereotype.
I've always thought the joke about "murders and executions/mergers and acquisitions" was way more than a throwaway joke. I think it's actually the heart of the film. When Patrick kills Paul Allen, he's committing a murder, but also a "merger" of sorts. He essentially becomes Paul Allen. I also think the question of "is it real or is it all in his head?" is kind of beside the point. You could read the murders as psychological manifestations of a man who hates himself, or you could take it more literally, to the extent that the world surrounding Patrick simply DOESN'T CARE as long as he serves his purpose and makes money (Yay, Reagan 80s!). For me, the true moment of horror is at the very end when he looks around the room and realizes that, even after all that has happened, real or imagined, he's the ONLY person in the room with something resembling a conscience.
plus patrick also hates the 'trendy' or popular thing that ppl associate with like the restaurant Dorcia, he hates it and is soon realising that he's the only one in touch with reality or the way you put it
George you are right ( incase no one said it yet) the sound of the business card holder is actually a sword being unsheathed. The director I believe requested that
In the book the entire story is told from Patrick's point of view and there are chapters where he goes in length about music and clothing. It's because he wants to control every aspect of his life like a true psychopath. The only way he can try to "be normal" is to know every detail about everything. This is set during the 80s and yuppie culture was a thing, for sure. It is a blistering parody of that - selfishness is everywhere, they all look the same, they obsess over stupid things like the business cards.
I always saw the monologues he gives about music to be his true thoughts, or atleast his passion his true feelings about music and how it's probably the only thing in his life that makes him "feel" or understand any sort of human emotion, he's being vulnerable to his victim before killing them cause he knows they're never going to tell anyone after.
I don't think so. It's clearly something he's read and is reciting because it doesn't sound like the way people talk but the way a Roling Stone writer would write.
@@russellward4624 that's true, if it was his true thoughts the girl ridiculing his taste in music would've been taken out right away, maybe patrick is so interesting that I just scene those moments as emotion, maybe I fall for his tricks too, that's what makes him so interesting. I do agree with you it's probably something he's read and is just repeating it.
@@TheMrsmartass13 I see the music the same as the Shrilanka thing. He clearly doesn't care about Shrilanka, the homeless, etc... and gives a similar speech that he's clearly read in a magazine.
This is one of the most disturbing thumbnails I’ve seen in a while. Perfect for this movie. You guys are a riot. “If only I could find a partner who looks at me the way George looks at the camera…”
Fantastic. I read the book in the 90's and heard it was shooting in Toronto so I had to go. Masterful storytelling here. A brutal depiction of a brutal time.
Great reaction Cinebinge. From what I've gathered through various reactions, the producer, & TH-cam channel entitled, Dead Meat( a show that reviews horror films) Patrick Bateman, did commit all of the crimes he did. The scene where he tried to put the cat, into the machine through me off guard at first. It leaves viewers with the perception, that the heinous acts Patrick did, were all in his mind. However, he did commit those crimes & due to his status in society, nobody cares. Also, the ending in which Patrick Bateman's attorney, gets him confused with Paul Allen is, due to Patrick being part of an upper-echelon society that perceives them all as the same. That's why in the film Paul Allen, referred to him as Marcus, instead of Patrick. Once again great reaction! Keep em coming Cinebinge!
A lot of people believe that when Patrick was telling his assistant that he might hurt her that he was showing a bit of pity or remorse towards her cause it would have been nothing to just kill her right there it was perfect for him but he just stood there and decided to let her go almost as if deep in his mind something was telling him that he shouldn't do it
What would a Canadian Psycho do?
Ask that question
Pretend to like Tim Hortons in order to climb the social ladder
Use the price of person's house as a measure of their personal worth.
Try eating their brains with maple syrup
Become Prime Minister
The scenes with Dafoe were filmed 3 times; as if he was oblivious to Patrick's guilt, suspicious of him and finally as if he knew with certainty. Then portions of each take were spliced together so you never really know how much the detective knows, and how much is real and how much is Patrick's imagination. It's absolutely masterful.
Yep, absolutely incredible filmmaking with that scene
They don't care. They're onto the next movie. No time to actually read the comments
In the novel, the detective was pretty much the only character that Bateman respected.
The satire was more obvious in the book but it got tedious to read. For example, every time a character entered a scene, he would describe every article of clothing they wore. He liked the way the detective dressed
@@thickerconstrictor9037 No new knowledge can be gained
There are multiple occasions where a lot of the yuppies (George had the correct term) are mistaken for someone else. I think it's a jab at the culture where everyone is trying so hard to fit in that they are essentially carbon copies of each other.
I think the lawyer was actually Patrick's lawyer, he just didn't recognice Patrick and thought he was Davis. The fact that the lawyer said he had dinner with paul Allen twice too; did he really? Or did he have dinner with someone he thought was Paul but got him confused?
I always saw it as Patrick killed the wrong Paul, they all look alike and If Paul thinks Patrick is Halberstrand, then maybe Patrick thinks someone else is Paul, if the guy had dinner with Paul who's to say it actually was Paul, Patrick is in his own world most of the time, he probably thinks he's better than everyone but still confuses each person with each other.
I think in addition to everyone in that world trying hard to fit in they're also completely self-obsessed.
They are so similar to each other they resort to the minute details of their business cards to try to distinguish themselves
@Waste of Bass but he's definitely missing because his family hired a detective to find him. It would be w hell of a coincidence.
@@russellward4624 maybe the "missing" was him in actually in London? Or wherever that guy said he had lunch with him.
Multiple interpretations of the film, I prefer the one that says it’s all real and the culture was so toxic at the time that no one noticed or even cared. The realtor lady cleaned it up herself so she wouldn’t lose a listing.
I forget where I read this, so take with a grain of salt, but the director's own interpretation was that it all did indeed happen.
@@ryanheilman3807 I also read that
I would say somethings were real. And others were just his imagination.
Glad you have the same opinion that this movie/story is up for interpretation. Personally I don't think any of it happened and was all in his head but I think yours and any take in-between is valid.
The book is obviously a different entity, but I always interpreted it as someone with such a meaningless life of empty privilege that he fantasizes about extreme violence just as a way to feel something. Obviously there is more than one way to view it though.
"Don't just stare at it. Eat it." Best. Motivational Poster. Ever.
Or from another film "don't lick it if it's hairy"
@@TheTerribleGamer1 what movie?
"Kids, don't just stare at it. Eat it".
"Okay, Dad".
I guess that's why Americans are fat.
1:37
Simone: “Did you know shut the f**k up?”
That comeback was brilliant. No notes.
Harsh but necessary.
LMAO I think that was payback for what he said earlier? He said it was like she just discovered facebook.
The reason for the monologues about the albums is that Patrick doesn't really have an opinion on the music itself.
He simply copies what everyone else says about the particular artist or album. He doesn't have any opinions and he doesn't come to any conclusions himself.
Luv the reactions
And/or he makes up shit as he goes along stating obvious things trying his hardest to sound like a connoisseur.
Exactly like a psychopath.
Exactly! In the book, each artist fills a whole chapter. Huey Lewis,Genesis/ Collins, and Whitney Houston. He gets LL his opinions, from the leading men's magazines.
The music reviews were also a critique of the shallowness of Yuppie culture. These albums were as mainstream as pop got in the 80's and Patrick taking them so seriously was to show how vapid he actually was. They even highlight that fact during the Phil Collins commentary when he says he never got into early Genesis music (which, lead by Peter Gabriel was considered high concept artistic prog rock) and thinks Invisible Touch (lead by Phil Collins, and undeniably their most commercially accessible work) is their best album. He loves music with no actual depth to it and eschews stuff with more artistic value because if its more popular it must be better.
@@scottpoyer5678 I suspect Huey Lewis became more widely popular because his song was in "Back to the Future."
"He pulled off that rehearsed speech thing really well. Like he doesn't believe any of that, he's just saying it, like he said earlier, to fit in."
Just like everyone on Twitter.
Fun fact : in the book noone is described other than by what haircut they have or what clothing brand they wear
One of my favorite stories about the making of a movie of all time comes from this movie. Mary Harron directed Willem Dafoe to play every scene three different ways: certain that Patrick did it, unsure if Patrick did it, and completely unaware that Patrick did it. Then she used pieces of all three in the scenes so the audience never knew for sure whether or not Detective Kimball was onto him.
My interpretation of the movie is that even if he does break from reality a couple of times, like with the cop cars blowing up, he does kill a bunch of people for real, and the world is just so glib and superficial that nobody picks up on it. The keys for me are the the realtor (who tells him to leave not because he doesn't have an appointment but because the apartment complex is burying the crime for the real estate value), and his secretary finding the drawings.
And it really worked, it’s unsettling.
Also, fun fact: George Clooney had a pet pig, and he apparently broke up with a couple of girlfriends because they didn't understand some of the little measures he had to take to make sure the pig was healthy and happy.
"he does kill a bunch of people for real, and the world is just so glib and superficial that nobody picks up on it"
you forgot to mention this works only for rich ass ppl aka for powerfull ppl and those who are protected by them. everybody else gets ass fucked by piece of shit cops and the cruel system that only protects capital.
Why does everyone say 'interpret' when the director confirms the events?
@@erikjohnson3859 Because people frequently interpret works of art independently, without regard for what the the author/director/etc might have to say about their intent? Authorial intent stopped being the be-all and end-all of critical analysis a long time ago.
"Try getting a reservation to Dorsia now you fucking stupid bastard" is one of my favorite lines in any movie.
Canadian Psycho… just a man who doesn’t apologize after bumping into someone.
Lol. It was filmed in downtown Toronto, and there were attempts to shut it down in part because 'Canadian Psycho' Paul Bernardo reportedly possessed a copy of the novel and was a fan.
I've always interpreted this film as all of the killings did actually happen, but Bateman's lawyer covers for him, implying that this is not the first, second, third, or even last time a psychopathic finance bro went on a killing spree. The realtor is clearly in on it, unwilling to let such prime real estate be tarnished by such a grisly crime.
Or his lawyer really does believe he saw Paul Allen in London. Everyone looks the same in this clique of 80s Wall Street bros, and people confuse Patrick for other people, so other "witnesses" likely confuse others' faces. I do agree wholeheartedly with the interpretation of the realtor's reaction, she knows that Patrick knows there were bodies in that closet without saying a word. Imagine what a crime scene like that would do to all prices in that building and any neighboring buildings.
i dont think its real. what he goes through in the movie are all things very consistent with psychosis. there are also a bunch of little details that make way more sense if you assume the movie is mostly through the eyes of bateman and that he's experiencing psychosis, like the concierge not reacting at all before bateman pulls the gun and "shoots" him
You dont need to interpret anything, the director said everything happened and that it was a failure on her part to convey that.
@@jojivlogs_4255 The director said it's all real
I recall it was about that time and culture of no one giving a damn, that they basically ignored it all.
Two fun facts about this film.
1. Christian Bale based his performance of Patrick Bateman off of an interview of Tom Cruise on David Letterman, where Bale saw “this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes.”
2. The Willem Dafoe scenes were shot multiple times with Dafoe playing the scenes three different ways. 1. Dafoe fully knows Bateman is the killer, 2. Dafoe suspects Bateman as the killer, 3. Dafoe doesn’t suspect Bateman is the killer. Then they edited all those different takes together so you never tell what the Dafoe is actually thinking.
His father is mentioned more frequently in the book, to the point where a possible interpretation is that its all real, but his father is cleaning up his mess behind him
I've read the book also, and I think it all happened except for a few things that were part of his break with reality. I think it's a commentary on how nobody notices when you are at a certain level. 80s consumerism and the decade of Decadence. Brilliant film
Spot on!
It's a satire, but for some reason people try to interpret it logically like it's a mystery thriller or something. Bizarre.
@@winstonmarlowe5254 something can be serious and deep but still have mostly satire elements to it, American psycho is a satire, but it still has meaning to it and a critique on 80s corporate greed and other stuff
This movie put Christian Bale on the map, and for such good reason. He'd been around for some time, but this was big turning point. The other actors supposedly thought his performance was way too over the top and wouldn't really work, but it played like gangbusters with audiences.
Bale can also sweat on cue. This was demonstrated in the business card scene.
He's a fascinating actor to watch, he showed talent as early as the 80's in Empire of the Sun where he had to showcase a range of emotions and almost lose his mind.
One of the other actors (Josh Lucas) told Bale that the other actors in the cast thought Bale was 'the worst actor they had ever seen'.
They just didn't get his insane focus on staying 'in character' throughout the entire shoot, on and off-camera.
Chloe Sevigny (Bateman's secretary) said she had never seen an actor commit to a role like he did.
I think he's known for that.
@@GK-yi4xv Yes, in "The Machinist" he starved himself to a dangerous level for the character.
@@treetopjones737 [nod] And then gorged to put weight back on at a dangerous rate to be ready to start filming Batman right after.
In an interview, when asked about any inspirations for playing Patrick Bateman, Christian Bale replied Tom Cruise. He said there was nothing behind those eyes....
More specifically from an interview where Tom Cruise recounts the time where he lowered the passenger's oxygen while flying, so they can get faster. Cruise laughing while describing how the passenger was knocked down unconscious.
Tom Cruise: The people's hero. 🙄
@@letmadora28 what, really?! I mean, that sounds like a totally Tom Cruise thing to do, and he's always seemed like a psychopath to me, but it's wild that he admitted to doing that.
@@veggiesarefruits search the Letterman Interview. There's a yt video called "Tom Cruise (cruel laugh)"
"... Did you know, shut the fuck up." - Simone - 2023.
[1:37]
I think this is the type of movie a lot of people don't get everything on the first watch. I know the more I watched it, the more I picked up on things said and the funnier the movie becomes. Bale delivers his lines in a way I can't imagine anyone else doing. He nailed it, no pun intended.
8:50 “I’m going to make business cards and send one to you” ☠️💀
The way you made that sound creepy would make Toni Collette proud. No one had ever used that sentence and gave me chills before. I had to stop what I was doing 😅
26:12 - “people in his world don’t give a shit or pay attention to anything” as he totally talks over the excellent FEES ME A KITTEN moment from the ATM
I think the correlation between music / musical dialogue and Patrick is that music usually has big emotional connections with the listener. They can connect individually or with social groups ( friends, family, coworkers, etc). So Patrick sees this as a way to have the appearance of fitting in / being normal with others even though he is empty inside. His assessments are cerebral or even academic sounding, but say nothing of feelings or connections with music. Plus the music he discusses was seen as mainstream pop, radio friendly music from the 80's. He associates this with what, "normal" people listen to. So he learns about this in order to fit in or belong. He even says "I want to belong" earlier in movie when discussing his peers.Patrick knows music, the musicians, their catalog and techniques, but truely feels nothing. So music is a mask/ disguise for him, while also showing how empty, cold, unempathic he really is emotionally.
Yeah, to me his music monologues always seemed like memorized professional album reviews that he recited just before a kill, because what you said is what people would normally associate with someone telling them about their favourite music. He lulls them into a false sense of security by doing that.
Everything Patrick says about the music, is quoted from reviews in leading magazines.
Like his views on political issues, and his fashion "sense." Nothing is his own opinions, everything is about fitting in, with the other yuppies.
Or music analysis is the only avenue he feels comfortable actually trying to use his intellect and sharing it with others. He doesn't try to discuss anything else at all seriously...even when he talks about relationships he doesn't have the courage to apply his true self and feelings. He's basically scared and feels overwhelmed, unable to handle any other part of his life (well, he does express what he wants when dealing with clearly compromised, weak people) but when it comes to analysing music he feels he knows his stuff and he can come out of his shell to make genuine commentary.
Note too that he only talks about music when he feels he has totally set the stage to be as he wants it, with a long lead-up as he wished, he's totally on "home court", has people in front of him in a vulnerable position/state, and only then does he feel comfortable enough to begin.
In an alternate life he really should've become a music critic. He might've lived a fulfilling life writing reviews on albums for some small rags.
8:34 Exactly! Patrick himself is a direct jab at the Wall Street men of the 80’s, both in the novel & this film 😂👔 Christian Bale nailed the characters macabre humor!
This is a fascinating adaptation. The filmmakers took a very dense novel where literally nothing happens for almost 200 pages and which essentially has no plot or structure, Cherry-picked certain scenes and strung them together, and somehow created a film that’s more coherent than the novel. I enjoyed the novel but this is one of the rare cases where I think the film is more successful.
I think the novel is an interesting piece of literature, but it's also one of the most unpleasant things I've read. When you say 'nothing happens' you're glossing over pages and pages of excruciatingly graphic descriptions of rape and torture.
I don't think I've ever met someone who said the _enjoyed_ it, even if they thought it was good.
@@Jacob_Junge the “nothing happens” was referring to the first half, because it’s literally nothing but descriptions of dinners, outfits, and 80’s music. The first murder doesn’t happen until almost exactly halfway through the book. What makes the graphic content disturbing is that he describes it in the same flat tone that he describes what people are wearing in the first half.
@@matthewganong1730 I'm not sure I would have enjoyed it more if he had described it with enthusiasm and passion.
I mean, the things he does with rats... and power tools. Some of the details have stayed with me for more than 30 years.
The novel's black humour is only incidentally captured in the film. The meditations on pop culture and fashion are hilarious
Its really really tedious to read certain parts of the book, I kept flying over the page long descriptions of what they all wear....
The killings and general atrocities are much more horrifying then in the movie, though.
I'm going to watch this, but first I have to return some video tapes.
One thing that's mentioned in the movie but even more in the book is that all the people are constantly mistaking each other for someone else. I think his lawyer might have mistaken Paul Allen or even Patrick killed someone other than Paul Allen
14:20 I love this because if you've seen Chainsaw Massacre you know that there's no screaming in the scene shown.
Yesss
He's just having a lil hissy fit. :3
"Patrick, it's you! You're the American Psycho!" - Paul Allen
I love this movie. IMDB categorized it as a detective thriller, but it's a dark comedy. It's hilarious
I love how open for interpretation this film is, literally everyone Ive seen react to it or talk about it draws different conclusions
The music monologues are alot more fleshed out in the book. Along with the food and the fashion and the business cards, its all part of his complete obsessiveness with the vapid empty meaningless things that he thinks humans are supposed to care about.
One of my all time favorite movies, no question. Brilliant parody of 80s yuppie culture.
@@madisynissaquah243 It wasn't just uploaded. Or spooky time travel, but I'm leaning towards the former.
@@madisynissaquah243 It will have been up for early access for Patreon folks for longer.
I can't tonight, I have to return some videotapes.
@@madisynissaquah243 I'm magic
What I love most about so many people reacting to this movie is the total lack of self-awareness they have, with them making TOTALLY condemning judgments about those guys just because they are slightly superficial in their dinner plan talk or because they decide to spend about a minute comparing business cards.
I mean yeah, aren't those guys TOTAL losers and horrible people for not living up the absolute saintly purity and intellectual genius levels of these people judging them...even though spending one minute comparing business cards or a few slightly cringe comments about high-end restaurants is NOTHING compared to like 99.99% of their lives of achieving absolutely nothing on their couches or grimy coffee shops, talking _hours and hours_ about Marvel movies, Star Wars or other just as consumerist and far more time-wasting and totally childish pursuits like video games.
Business cards? These judgmental people themselves spend more time figuring out what level of slobbiness of their newest t-shirt is _just right_ to signal whatever sanctimonious hipster/commie/emo/douche vibe they feel they need to signal to their social circles...which tattoo will cause jealousy in their friends...and they'll debate which salmonella-infested back-alley food truck is the 'coolest' to go eat at. (Not to mention business cards are in fact part of marketing, and pursuing betterment, I might even think having an artful slant in life, seeking to beautify even the smallest detail sure doesn't sound like the worst thing in the world...)
I'll bet the 'yuppies' are far less superficial, waste less time on frivolity, etc. than these judgmental grungy millenials any day of the week. And if those yuppies do "waste time" on business cards or art, at least those are artful and _advancing_ pursuits which elevate humanity instead of these judgemental dudes competing over the opposite: who can be as slobby or show that they live in as derelict world as possible, who looks most like a criminal/in poverty.
And critiquing what they assume those 'yuppies' do for work?? Ha, coming from modern day slobs who, if they even have a job, work for a tech company whose business is stealing data; or for some other tech company scamming the tech-illiterate by over-charging and purposefully sabotaging their systems so they get perpetually repeated income from needing to manage and maintain the system which they now have entrapped their client into...or even worse: they work as game/app developers whose goal is to make as addictive stuff as possible to get children hooked on them and spend their parents' money as digital junkies.
@@pistonburner6448 Oh my.
"Paul Norman" is another deep 80s reference. That's the name of the programmer and composer for an iconic early Commodore 64 game called Forbidden Forest. I grew up in the 80s with a Commodore so when I first heard that joke I did the Leo DiCaprio points at tv meme for real.
George: "You're like a mom that just discovered Facebook memes"
Simone: "F### you George"
Well, that disproved that fairly quickly
Very nice. Now let’s see Paul Allen’s reaction video.
Check the sign behind Patrick's head as he's nearly losing it at the table with his buddies at the end, @33:56. Excellent, intricate filmmaking.
Couldn't agree more, Genesis is a pretty great band, especially the early days, Supper's Ready is my famous song
I saw Steve Hackett live a couple months ago, lots of the early stuff, really great night.
Patrick Bateman has an overprotective, super powerful, rich parent. That's why everything was cleaned up, and the real estate agent also lawyer was so cryptic.
My interpretation is that the real estate agent at the end had found all the bodies and blood in that apartment - and promptly had all of it cleaned up in order to protect the property value, so she could still sell it at maximum profit. So when Patrick showed up looking in the closets in a very suspicious manner, she realized that he was the one responsible and told him to "leave" and "not make any trouble." The implication being: Patrick is FARRR from the only psychopath in 1980s New York "Rich People Society". The whole film, he's assuming that he's the only one with this blasé disregard for life and morality, when in fact he's merely one of hundreds - but the culture and world he lives in is so shallow, so selfish, and so materialistic that psychopaths can walk around in the sunlight and no one even notices or cares.
"that psychopaths can walk around in the sunlight "
Well, it's not like they'd burst into flames otherwise. That's vampires you're thinking about. =P
that psychopaths can walk on sunshine, one might say?..
The Willem Dafoe scenes were genius. They filmed them three ways, 1) He doesn't suspect, 2) He suspects, 3) He knows. They then spliced them together to make the end result absolutely impossible to read!
Still one of my fav film editing moments it’s so hilarious to think about the idea of doing that
The way the Dafoe scenes were spliced together from different takes to mess with the audience just makes the "Dafoe/Dafriend" meme that much funnier
_"Like a mom who discovered Facebook just now"_
Maybe the funniest thing I have heard George say! 😆
26:26 Psycho. I think the word Simone is searching for is psycho. 🙂
The business cards are so detailed that 'acquisitions' is spelt wrong 🤣 my favorite detail.
My favourite scene, never noticed that. Fantastic
Notice every business card misspelled the word "acquisition" and none of them noticed because they too busy obsessing over font and coloring XD
George said, “Overpriced food”
And feels like you guys should do The Menu soon
Oh hell yes. That would rock :)
3:54 the face peel when he’s says that just so chilling
Huey Lewis and Weird Al did a parody of the "Huey Lewis" scene with Huey as the killer and Al as the victim. Hilarious!
The comments Patrick makes about music are taken almost verbatim from the novel. Also the novel suggests that everyone looks the same, dresses the same, talk the same and people only view the surface, which is why he’s able to get away with his crimes.
The Green Goblin interviewing Batman about Killing the Joker
Just realized that, in the movie poster, Patrick's reflection is in the side of the knife blade facing away from him, which hints at the movie's theme about uncertainty of identity.
I read this book when it came out. I was getting so bored over the endless listing of brand names and one-up-manship. Then the murders would happen. It's all meant to show how shallow these sad, sick individuals are. The contest over their business cards is a riot.
I think Bateman talking about music was the only genuine part of him that he allowed others to see.
Idk if theres any recommendation system, but another BRILLIANT movie like this is Nightcrawler with Jake Gyllenhaal. Its less ambiguous and more slow burn. Its like if Patrick Bateman were a grifting opportunist rather than a high ranked business man
Another fun fact:
The escort he ordered over the phone and called her "Sabrina" is from a small town in Saskatchewan (I believe) and was ostracized by her town for playing this part.
I think the idea is that they are so interchangeable, that they themselves confuse each other. The dude who thinks he dined with Paul Allen, probably had an entire dinner with a completely different person.
In the business card scene Patrick says "Let's see Paul Allen's card." The guy that shows his card in response to that isn't the same person as the Paul Allen of later.
@Eidlones The person we (and Patrick) assume to be Paul Allen, played by Jared Leto, gave his business card to that guy a bit earlier in the scene before leaving. That’s why Patrick asks him to show it to them.
@@allyin15 Oh did he? Didn't notice that
@Eidlones Yeah around 7:40 in this video
That movie is complicated, nuanced but simple at the same time.
lol Simone came out swinging 😅
You should definitely watch one of his very earliest works one day, "Empire of the Sun" about a young British boy during the Japanese occupation of China during WW2, with John Malkovich, Ben Stiller and Amanda Richardson. It's based on the autobiography of J. G. Ballard and Christian Bale was lauded for his performance at such a young age. It is directed by Steven Spielberg as well...
I read somewhere that the director of this movie was very impressed with Bale, she said he can even sweat at will. Amazing actor.
When I played City of Heroes, my main character was a Tank with a Battle Axe. One of his battle cry binds was the "Most people don't listen to the lyrics" monologue.
"You're like a mom who just discovered Facebook memes"
"F**k you George."
I *love* watching you two.😂
You wondered at one point why you were laughing at what is ostensibly a horror movie, and it's because you really start seeing it as a black, *black* comedy. The central joke being that he can get away with literally anything on account of being 1) a wealthy handsome cishetero white man, and 2) being surrounded mostly by Identikit w.h.c.w.m's who keep being mistaken and mistaking each other for other people. Everyone around Patrick is too self-absorbed (or it's too much in their own interests, like the estate agent) to know or care what he's doing, and this remains true whether he killed just one or two people, the dozens he mentioned in his phonecall, or nobody at all.
Great reaction, particularly getting to know Simone's fine taste in music (and I knew *exactly* how she'd react to the dog and kitten scenes) - I discovered Huey Lewis through this film, and have cosplayed as Bateman several times, complete with carrying a "Fore!" CD around with me. It might interest you to compare and contrast this with Fight Club, and the way they both handle masculinity, materialism, and questionable identities.
Cmon, Simone. We all know why you REALLY need to watch this again. It might have something to do with his morning routine. 😉
She made a comment about scrubbing during that.
As far as the way Bateman speaks about music. He does not speak about music the way a normal person would, he speaks about music the way a music critique would write about it in an article. In an attempt to "fit in" he reads magazines to learn how normal people act, he at least knows that most normal people like music. In conversation he just regurgitates what he reads in magazines, if you remember when he killed Paul Allen he had a bunch magazines in his apartment he used to cover the floor. At least that is my interpretation.
I love how Simone only turned against Bateman after he threatened the Kitten....
The Funny or Die skit of American Psycho with Huey Lewis and Weird Al is perfect!!!!
They confuse each other for each other all the time. For example, in the business card scene, Patrick says "Let's see Paul Allen's card", and a completely different person than the Paul Allen we see later shows his card.
The director has said that she regrets how the whole "fantasy" part ultimately worked out, because it implies it was all in his mind. It wasn't. People just simply do no care/notice/cover it up for their own profit (like with the apartment, that's why she's so insanely suspicious of him for seemingly no reason), cause they're all just so involved in themselves and their own social status/success
They got Dafoe to play it 3 ways. He knows Patrick did it, he suspects, and he thinks he's innocent. They then spliced in all his different takes together so you never quite know what he's thinking.
Hey George, you were absolutely correct. During the business card scenes, they added the sounds of Japanese dueling swords when they took the cards out of the card holders (to emphasize the competitive nature of these men).
Fun reaction. He did kill most of the people. It's more clear in the book imo. Great movie and a nice jab at the yuppie culture. Nobody keeps track of who is who, and the ish gets cleaned up behind them. As with the apartment, it's more important for the owner to clean it up and make more money.
When Simone was wiggling side to side at the end, I heard Huey Lewis playing in my head. 😉
You should watch Rules Of Attraction. It’s a movie that is focused on what’s supposed to be Patrick Bateman’s brother. It is so freaking hilarious and dark in a funny way.
Yup, two for two with BEE adaptations, another great book and great film. e
I love the Weird Al and Huey Lewis parody of the scene where Patrick is extolling the virtues of Huey Lewis.
[insert obligatory comment straight from the IMDb trivia section]
Smart observation with the reflection comment at the beginning, Simone! I'm impressed 😉 This is one of my favorite films. I've read the book by Brett Easton Ellis (who also wrote Less Than Zero, which was also turned into a movie, starring a very Young and cute Robert Downey Jr), I own a throw with one of the main movie poster images printed on it, an 18 inch talking Patrick Bateman figurine, a t-shirt from Hot Topic and the special edition DVD. I even had a Patrick Bateman roleplaying account on LiveJournal for awhile, he's such a fascinating and charismatic character and I was pretty good at writing with his voice. All that....and I never noticed that simple yet insightful metaphor, albeit it's significant for reasons other than what you speculated about at the time, with the possibility of a split personality situation. I mean in a way he is 2 completely different people but the only one anyone acknowledges is the image he presents to everyone around him...and half the time they cant even get his name correct 😅 So at the end of his soliloquy during the whole self care routine and he says 'I am simply not there', you understand why by the film's end. Its really meant to be left up to the reader how much is real and how much is just delusion/psychosis. Glad you guys did this one. It's more graphic, but if you don't mind that sort of thing and wish to delve deeper into the madness inside our friend, Mr American Psycho, I would definitely recommend it. It's a worthwhile read even if you aren't familiar with the film...or so I'd imagine anyway.
And George's 'Ethiopian Psycho' quip during the intro was hilarious 😅👏
The studio put a lot of pressure on Mary Harron to cast Leonardo DiCaprio but she held fast and I think it worked out for the better.
Di Caprio actually was cast, and the director was fired for refusing to work with anyone but Bale.
She was brought back after DiCaprio quit.
Just about every better-known actor was pushed by the studio, but she (Harron) insisted on only Bale (DiCaprio, Ed Norton, Ewan Macgregor, Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, etc, etc)
Reportedly, author Bret Easton Ellis, in doing research for the novel, spent time with Wall Street bankers to understand their lifestyle. He never once saw them do any actual work or spend time in their office. All they did was take him out to lunch and dinner and to clubs. He also got the idea for the incessant one-upmanship from them.
Look up "American Psycho with Cats (OwlKitty parody)".
When I was 19, I read this book and thought that I was really smart and had it all figured out. But I can't help but interpret this movie through that lens. It starts with three quotes, one of which is Talking Heads: "And as things fell apart / Nobody paid much attention". (BTW, the movie is -- and I can't stress this word enough -- EXTREMELY tame compared to the novel. The violent sequences are only a small part of a thick book, but they're intensely, incredibly, disgustingly detailed and violent.)
IIRC the book is even clearer about how these yuppies see products, not people. Others have talked a lot about that (on Patreon at least) and I agree: Paul Allen (if that's his real name) isn't the only one who had trouble recognizing others, and Patrick Bateman probably wasn't the only one pretending to be someone else. He probably killed a man, but was he Paul Allen?
I think the author of the book said that the point of the music monologues was to portray Bateman as thinking that vapid and commercial sentimentalism were the high point of culture and human expression. Or something like that. But in the book, they're monologues to the reader, not to his victims, which probably alters the interpretation. I like what both of you said about it.
Finally, if you watch the movie again, pay attention to the sex scene. It's shot very deliberately as not objectifying the women the same way that Bateman does. You don't often see a sex scene that isn't a cheap excuse to show as much of nekkid wimmin as possible.
Bale almost got fired from this job because the studio and the people working in the film thought he was a crap actor, but the director thought no one else could play the role.
Turns out the “crap acting” was done on purpose, it’s meant to show how emotionless he is.
If you liked this one, I recommend watching Vampire's Kiss (1988), they have a lot in common.
They forgot to talk about the poster and it's such a good one too!
Personally I think the ending is a critique of how media pathologizes "psychopaths", like our pop culture obsession with "silence of the lambs" type films, and crime podcasts, etc. It satirizes the temptations to give meaning to some deeper essence or explanation behind psychopathy and violence in media. For example even in this video, the way George kept trying to put Patrick Bateman into some psychopath/sociopath checklist, but the unrealiable perspective of Bateman threw him at every opportunity lol 😂
At the end, Patrick Bateman doesn't really even matter as a subject. We don't get some tragic backstory about a childhood trauma Patrick experienced which shaped him into a murderer and explained his psychopathy, or whatever...
Infact throughout the film multiple characters misname Patrick Bateman as if he's continuously strippped off any subjectivity by the story, until what's left was some kind of empty embodiment of the greedy, consumerist, and materialist Reagan era american yuppie stereotype.
The difference between a friend and a good friend?
A friend will help you move; a good friend will help you move a body (Rich Hall).
George's faces at Simone's intros are timeless 😂
“F**k you, George”
😂🤣
4:36 how’d you immediately go to phsychopath most people go to narcissism first
I've always thought the joke about "murders and executions/mergers and acquisitions" was way more than a throwaway joke. I think it's actually the heart of the film. When Patrick kills Paul Allen, he's committing a murder, but also a "merger" of sorts. He essentially becomes Paul Allen. I also think the question of "is it real or is it all in his head?" is kind of beside the point. You could read the murders as psychological manifestations of a man who hates himself, or you could take it more literally, to the extent that the world surrounding Patrick simply DOESN'T CARE as long as he serves his purpose and makes money (Yay, Reagan 80s!). For me, the true moment of horror is at the very end when he looks around the room and realizes that, even after all that has happened, real or imagined, he's the ONLY person in the room with something resembling a conscience.
plus patrick also hates the 'trendy' or popular thing that ppl associate with like the restaurant Dorcia, he hates it and is soon realising that he's the only one in touch with reality or the way you put it
George you are right ( incase no one said it yet) the sound of the business card holder is actually a sword being unsheathed. The director I believe requested that
Such a great movie and love how it's still relevant these days with all the Patrick Bateman memes lol
Batman kills the joker then has lunch with the green goblin.
I love this type of movie nerd humour.
In the book the entire story is told from Patrick's point of view and there are chapters where he goes in length about music and clothing. It's because he wants to control every aspect of his life like a true psychopath. The only way he can try to "be normal" is to know every detail about everything. This is set during the 80s and yuppie culture was a thing, for sure. It is a blistering parody of that - selfishness is everywhere, they all look the same, they obsess over stupid things like the business cards.
I always saw the monologues he gives about music to be his true thoughts, or atleast his passion his true feelings about music and how it's probably the only thing in his life that makes him "feel" or understand any sort of human emotion, he's being vulnerable to his victim before killing them cause he knows they're never going to tell anyone after.
I don't think so. It's clearly something he's read and is reciting because it doesn't sound like the way people talk but the way a Roling Stone writer would write.
@@russellward4624 that's true, if it was his true thoughts the girl ridiculing his taste in music would've been taken out right away, maybe patrick is so interesting that I just scene those moments as emotion, maybe I fall for his tricks too, that's what makes him so interesting. I do agree with you it's probably something he's read and is just repeating it.
@@TheMrsmartass13 I see the music the same as the Shrilanka thing. He clearly doesn't care about Shrilanka, the homeless, etc... and gives a similar speech that he's clearly read in a magazine.
This is one of the most disturbing thumbnails I’ve seen in a while. Perfect for this movie. You guys are a riot. “If only I could find a partner who looks at me the way George looks at the camera…”
Fantastic. I read the book in the 90's and heard it was shooting in Toronto so I had to go. Masterful storytelling here. A brutal depiction of a brutal time.
Great reaction Cinebinge. From what I've gathered through various reactions, the producer, & TH-cam channel entitled, Dead Meat( a show that reviews horror films) Patrick Bateman, did commit all of the crimes he did. The scene where he tried to put the cat, into the machine through me off guard at first. It leaves viewers with the perception, that the heinous acts Patrick did, were all in his mind. However, he did commit those crimes & due to his status in society, nobody cares. Also, the ending in which Patrick Bateman's attorney, gets him confused with Paul Allen is, due to Patrick being part of an upper-echelon society that perceives them all as the same. That's why in the film Paul Allen, referred to him as Marcus, instead of Patrick. Once again great reaction! Keep em coming Cinebinge!
He most likely committed actual violent crimes but it's also hard to tell where the violent delusions end and the real violence begins
@@mediumvillain I understand for sure. I thought it was all in his mind the whole film.
Fun fact...Acquisitions is misspelled on their cards
It occurs to me, one or both of you may never have watched *The Graduate* . If this is the case, I suggest you watch that soon. I love your channel!
I liked this upon hearing Simone’s “Spoon” and “Foe” jokes - I, too, must be a mom discovering FB 😂
So, is George really on a holiday...
He's returning his video tapes
A lot of people believe that when Patrick was telling his assistant that he might hurt her that he was showing a bit of pity or remorse towards her cause it would have been nothing to just kill her right there it was perfect for him but he just stood there and decided to let her go almost as if deep in his mind something was telling him that he shouldn't do it