Mary Harmon (I Shot Andy Warhol) directs this adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis' sanguine yuppie classic with some flair. It's a tough adaptation to pull off, the "hero" is a emotionally vacant killer and the ironically superficial elements of the story simply don't translate to film well. Rich, successful, psychotic Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), without any humor, dissects the finer points of Huey Lewis and the News as if he's describing the artistic heights of Beethoven. On film, this delicious piece of irony fails to makes its point and is frittered away. Many of the elements of the story meet this fate. Harmon gets points for trying but the film overall feels disjointed. With the jarring violence, the movie is further set off pace. By the time the story's twist comes into play the film is fatigued and Harmon seems rushed to get to the final payoff. To be fair, Harmon does well dealing with the passive scenes where yuppies are shown in the natural habitat. In particular in a scene where Bateman and his colleagues have a quiet competition to see who has the most impressive business card. Each man explains the qualities of his business card and proudly slides one out on a table. Each one out-doing the next. Harmon does well tying their masculinity to the competition and properly showing their reactions when they win or lose as the cards are displayed. She doesn't fare as well with the more psychotic portions of the story, which is probably a compliment. The way she builds and then displays the violence is a bit clumsy. The violence is presented in an over-managed, deliberate way that keeps it from being thoughtful or titillating. It's just happens. There is one thing I know about on-screen violence - it should never ever just happen and then go away. It always needs context and emotional payoff. This movie offers neither with its killings.

Bale gives a good performance and handles his off-kilter character, never letting him get too overarching. But his good work is mired in a film that simply doesn't work.


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Labels: adaptation, Christian Bale, film, movie review, serial killer