So originally I thought it was all in his head as well. Apparently it’s the most common interpretation. What I learned a while ago, though, was the writer/director did an interview and expressed that this was actually not correct. She said it was all mostly real. The whole confusion about people swearing he was with them while killing women was part of the message that within this culture of upper class businessmen there’s a lack of identity because everyone is basically the same, hence the obsession over little things like subtle differences in business cards, everyone has similar haircuts and suits, etc. That’s why people confuse Bateman for Halberstran and so forth. The lawyer and realtor at Paul Allens were apparently covering up what they likely assumed were Pauls victims to save face and probably assumes he didn’t act alone, which would explain his behavior at the end when telling Bateman that he had lunch with Paul in London. They just want the mess to go away while Bateman wants to absolve himself. It also has to do with the lengths people in those circles will go and how easily they can blend in or get away with things due to their status, like dragging a bloody body through a lobby or into a taxi; no one notices because they so don’t get paid enough to care, and if they did, those they work for can afford to bankrupt them in court over “frivolous” claims, so they keep their head down. Same with their peers, they just see nice overnight bags rather than anything suspicious, because in their life, nothing like that ever happens. But that’s why the director said it was mostly real. The cat message at the ATM was obviously in his head, the police car blowing up was fake, hence his look of bafflement at the gun. And that’s what kept Bateman AND the audience guessing; am I crazy? Is this real? How much is real? And that’s the true struggle for a psychopath; discerning fantasy from reality. In Patrick’s case, he’s extra unfortunate to be in a life where his circle of people pretty much allow these kinds of things to happen unchecked, so he’ll probably never get help or stop. Pretty interesting stuff!
For the movie yes... But in the original novel, Bret Easton Ellis meant for Bateman to be an unreliable narrator so that the reader is left just as confused as he is about what is real and what isn't
@@michaeltabor4176 Definitely! Both are very well done and while the films director had some different ideas about the ending, I think it still landed appropriately and in line with the books, within reason.
@@vishalsorout That's the other thing about the movie that's so great. It's so dark and twisted but then you get moments like the atm asking to be fed a stray cat.
Remember there are several hints in the movie that people at this company keep mixing up who is who. Even Paul Allen thought Bateman was Halberstram. This is to let you know that relationships in these social circles are completely superficial (which Bateman is an extreme example of). So when someone told the detective that Bateman was at this party it doesn't mean it's necessarily true. Also Bateman's lawyer at the end calls Bateman Davies, even he can't tell the difference between his clients. So when he says he had dinner with Paul Allen in London how do you know it was really Paul Allen and he didn't just mix up the names? The point being, all these people are so self-absorbed and they know so little about each other that Bateman can become a raging serial murderer in front of their eyes and they still can't see it. Well, at least this is one interpretation of the story.
This is exactly what the movie is saying. Your interpretation is totally correct. I also think the title American Psycho is not necessarily about Bateman, but about that specific group of people. What an interesting character study and what an interesting satire
I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that Bale's costars thought he was a shitty actor when filming scenes. It wasn't until they saw the movie that they understood what it was he was doing with the character.
They must also not have understood the director because there are several characters who act strangely for the situation. Or maybe that rumor is not true.
Fun fact: the Willem Dafoe scenes were always shot 3 times, once he thinks Bateman did it, once he thinks hes innocent and once just chatty and no clue.
Forgot to mention that they then edited those three takes into the one take that you see on screen. That's why the whole scene feels so odd and kinda off.
Fun bit of trivia, Christian Bale modeled his performance on Tom Cruise, from an appearance on David Letterman. Mary Heron directed the film. She revealed that Bale was inspired by Cruise’s “energy.” According to /Film, she said: “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.” And they recorded Willem Dafoe's scenes 3 times, with him playing his part knowing Bateman was the killer, suspecting Bateman was the killer and not suspecting Bateman. Then during editing they used snippets of each performance to continue with the unreliable narrative of Bateman's guilt.
The book "American Psycho" was a dark comedy, hence the subtle comedic elements of this movie. When reading the book, they would go into so much detail of what brand clothes the characters were wearing I couldn't help but cackle.
The level of detail in the book is legitimately unsettling, not even just in the scenes of horrific violence, but when Patrick is just describing things in general. Him going on an on for several pages about his *home stereo set-up* is like the most psychotic shit to me lol
I remember seeing this with my (ex)wife in the theater when it came out. We were laughing out loud, but we were the only ones. That made it even better.
In the novel Bateman is intended to be an unreliable narrator so the reader is left not knowing what is real and what isn't... and in that way relates to the psycho. This is illustrated when the ATM tells him to feed it a stray cat. This was of course a hallucination. Also, right before he kills Paul you will notice he takes some sort of prescription. The prescription bottle is left intentionally blank, but I assume it is some sort of anti-psychotic. Finally, If you notice, when the police car explodes Bateman is taken off guard and surprised by that.
The book is way more messed up than the movie. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he gives his fiancée a used urinal cake that he covered in chocolate as a present and she eats it.
one of my favourite films. darkly hilarious - just the same as the book. love Bale's performance, god he's suuuuch a good actor. i'm of the opinion the murders did happen, but nobody gave a damn because they're so obsessed with their own self. in the book and movie, they're frequently calling each other by the wrong name, everyone looks the same. anyway the author wrote it to be real too. but at the end of the day you can take what you want from it!
if you enjoy scenes of white-knuckle, edge of your seat suspense scenes, you need to check out Boogie Nights. There is a drug deal sequence in that, it'll have you twisted up inside. The most gut-wrenching scene I've ever experienced in a film.
I've never heard anyone, ever, say they weren't a fan of Christian Bale, especially because of how he looks. I mean he's a phenomenal actor, the best Batman so far, and (no homo) he's a very good looking man.
I watched Empire of the Sun just recently and it starred Christian Bale as a child. I didn't know he started acting so young. It's so fascinating to see older movies and recognizing actors as their younger selves. I only ever knew him as Batman/Bruce Wayne and seeing him play a self-obsessed killer psychopath just made me realize of his wide range as an actor.
yup. i think the author of the book that this film was based on stated that none of this was solely in Patrick’s head, & that he’s just a subpar narcissistic psychopathic killer amongst many other self-absorbed killers.
The end sequence is intentionally ambiguous, so we both see his mental state and also reflect on the enabling/psychopathic nature of the society around him. It's a masterfully made film, and in another, better timeline, the director Mary Harron should be given all the money to do anything she wants.
You might want to check out Christian Bale in the film he did when he was 12, called Empire of the Sun. It's an extremely well made film about a boy being separated from his parents during WWII, and later being held in a civilian POW camp by the Japanese.
the reason he was telling the women that he was Paul Allen and taking them to Paul Allen's apartment was for an alibi. this way, in case they started talking they would be able to say "hey, we were at Paul Allen's apartment the other night" and that would make people believe he was still alive. it was a strategy to keep Patrick away from suspicion for murder since the police were sniffing around about his disappearance.
I think it's more about mistaken identity. There's the running theme that Bateman and the rest of the Wall Street guys keep mistaking each other, like Paul Allen keeps mistaking Bateman for Halberstram. There's the possibility that Carns thinks he had dinner with Paul Allen when really it could've actually been someone else.
@@thelivingjed9676 bateman is about to insist that he didnt have lunch with him but he pauses and the lawyer then lifts his eyebrow to which batemen looks horrified. as if he just realized that his confession, his breakdown was all for nothing. his "guilt" if you wanna call it that means nothing. and im not saying he cleaned the mess, hes just giving him an alibi.
Everyone looks the same in this movie, they get confused with other people all the time, that's why is brilliant. You can't really know what's real and what's not.
Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner produced a masterpiece with this movie this far transcends the (admittedly controversial and taboo) source novel. Great movie and excellent reaction.
Most likely a lot of it happened, some of it was just in his head. Realize that his circle of people is interchangeable. He was always confused as Halberstrand or Davis or someone other than himself. So he has a built in alibi. He could be spotted at a party he never attended because all of his friends could be mistaken for him and vice-versa. That's how Paul Allen could be both dead and had dinner with him in London. With the Paul Allen apartment, it seems that possibly the realtor covered up what was in there to be able to sell the apartment. Or it is possible that some of those events never happened. Also, as others have said, you can't fully trust the narration due to Bateman's metal instability. At least these are my thoughts and opinions on the events of the movie.
The entire movie is supposed to be ambiguous. You can either believe that he did kill all those people and he is so rich and powerful, that he could easily get away with it or cover it up. Or you could think that the entire movie and all murders were just a long hallucination. Clues being people have no idea what he is talking about, the book with all the fantasy murders and what have you. That is the brilliance of the movie .. There is no real answer.
I like when you and Curtis discuss the film afterwards. Your reactions are great, but I don't mind a little first view review after. I hope you guys spend at least 5 minutes discussing after. Shoot, I'd accept 10 minutes or more even. Good job as always, Chris.
Thank you, we really appreciate that and have been actually considering making full on reviews of the movies as a separate video after we re-watched it to go further in-depth about them; just didn't think people would be interested but maybe I'm wrong about that lol.
I worked in Investment Banking, on the trading floor in the 80's... Trust me, business cards were that important. Just as if you got your shirts from Brooks Bros. or tailor made, type of suspenders, shoes, your yacht, summer homes, etc.. And yes, loads of coke was done by million dollar traders.
I always interpreted it as his facade, success, social circles and wealth enabled his psycho lifestyle. The old lady in the apartment that was full of bodies is a clue. They found the mess, cleaned it up and put if on the market because they didn't want to lose property value. An apartment full of blood and guts isn't proper kind of thing. The end is a bit surreal overall.
I repeat, do some comedies for your mental health! You're lovely guys, you deserve some feel-good stuff! Okay, watching now because this is actually an amazing movie. And now that I think about it, it's kind of a comedy. Or it's a psychotic fever dream with some comedic elements? Edit: Of course he's running around naked with a chainsaw and shoes. You have to wear shoes, guys. Haven't you seen Die Hard? But yeah, I don't know what happened either.
“Sabrina don’t just stare at it, Eat It!” It’s seamless where you don’t know if it’s Patrick’s fantasy or if he’s in reality; Paul Allen just like Patrick looks just like every other Yuppie during that era so they were easily confused and replaceable and the business cards shows just how petty n shallow even the tiniest changes that seem better than your instantly wanna kill em lol
Have you guys seen "Candyman" from 1992? A new remake is coming soon this year and I thought it would be great if you could react to the original first. It's an awesome movie.
This movie is literally so fucking scary to think about because it’s the fact that these type of people exist in real life and they could be literally anybody
Dam, you fellas are pretty much seeing all the best movies of the last 35 years. If I can throw ya's some requests, can you please react to the Three Colors Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski? They're essential 90s movies. Also, I don't know how familiar you guys are with Stanley Kubrick, but I'll put 2001: A Space Odyssey up as a big request, and also the classic John Ford western The Searchers. You're on a roll, loving the reactions guys.
Such a great film! Between the intolerable superficial existence that plagued Bateman through societal expectations of his circle which lead to the cathartic acts of extreme violence and sedition crecendoing to the night of his confessions, he is left questioning whether it was imagination or truth. Regardless of which it is, we see the disinterested elite circle carrying on without a care, ever-focused on the surface game of social appearance. Bateman - and the audience - is left wondering what is real and what is not; a difficult yet sobering reflection of our existence in a world of capitalism and media influence.
After the lawyer says he had dinner with Paul Allen, you can see from behind that he's raised his brows and made a face suggesting hes like "got it?!".
Nice video, I absolutely love this film, one of my favorites of all time. Also, I know you guys prioritize Patreon suggestions but im still gonna put it out there, Climax 2018 is an amazing and absolutely INSANE drama/horror film.
I thnk what happened is a combination of big business suits reflexively covering for each other to avoid law suits and reputational damage to their corporations, including the real estate lady covering up the corpses in the apartment she was going to get to re-sell, and the suits being so alike and interchangeable that a couple could go missing and really not be missed, and for people to assume he's someone other than who he thinks he is, because the only real identity is the suit itself, and the business cards they carry. That he's protected by the entire dehumanised, sociopathic Wall Street or Wall Street-adjacent business executive culture.
Your reaction videos are fun to watch :) If you start to review movies - do you think you could maybe keep doing reaction, too? The reactions are what brought me here ... you two are entertaining :) Whatever you decide, good luck with your movie reviews! :)
Quick point of clarification: Patrick Bateman is not a psychopath as it's currently understood by the psychiatric community. He's flagrantly, aggressively psychotic, meaning that he's plagued by delusions and the occasional hallucination (FEED ME A STRAY CAT). He also has brief moments of fear and apparent remorse when he breaks down on the voicemail to his lawyer, even if that's only because he thinks he may get caught. He's more likely to diagnosed as schizophrenic due to his episodes of disassociation with reality. That's not a psychopath, meaning someone who has antisocial personality disorder. A real-life psychopath would be much closer to Anton Chigurh (loved your reaction to No Country for Old Men, by the way!). Emotionless, ice-cold under pressure and stress, remorseless and ruthless, and (most importantly for the purposes of comparison to Bateman) free of delusions and hallucinations. APD sufferers are much more likely to be zeroed in on the real world and to understand clearly how others behave because their perspective is not clouded by undue emotional attachment to other people, just how to best use them for their own gain. So a psychopath would most likely not be like"RARRRRRR IM A CRAZY MOFO DIE YUPPIE SCUM HAHA CHAINSAW GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!%$!" while killing someone. A psychopath would be much more likely to just shoot the guy next to you and then calmly apologize for getting blood on your carpet. Also, the ending is a total mindfreak for sure! There's enough ambiguity to argue for both interpretations, and to still ponder to what extent any of these events were imaginary. I personally think that Bateman got away with the majority of his crimes simply because everyone else around him (except Jean) is as self-absorbed and apathetic to the plight of others as he is. Bateman's co-workers were constantly mistaking Bateman for other people, which is the only reason the detective lost the scent on Bateman's murder of Paul Allen. The real estate lady simply got rid of the bodies and cleaned up the apartment so she could make a sale. The lawyer was even more cold and ruthless than Bateman was, simply playing off confession to mass murder as a great joke and subtly letting Bateman know that this will be the official story, simply in order to protect his client. Just my two cents!
If you look back to the first time Patrick met with Kimball, Kimball says that Paul Allen was spotted having dinner in London, but it turns out someone got him confused with someone else.
So it’s like this. The movie is social commentary. It’s suggesting that the Wall Street American psycho who gets away with “murder might as well be a serial killer getting away with murder.
This is one time I love when a movie is vague and ambiguous. Following Patrick's demented mind, you can't tell what's real and what isn't. It allows a lot of different great theories, loved hearing you guys debate it! lol I like to think it's a mix of both, that he did murder some homeless people, and the prostitutes, but the rest was in his head. The homeless people unfortunately wouldn't be very traceable or have many consequences of killing. The prostitutes in an empty apartment were legit dead but his lawyer covered them up in the end. So it creates this person who thinks he's crazy, but when he tries to make sure by checking the proof of the dead prostitute bodies.... someone moved them, which makes him think it was imagined when it was actually real. Which confuses himself with things that ARE imagined, lol. (like his shooting spree at the end) How can you figure out what is real or not if people keep making you think what is real, isn't?
I think that's the best part, you can't really figure out what could possibly be real or some sort of fantasy in his head; especially as you said everyone is trying to tell him it never happened. Truly one hell of a movie, I enjoyed this far more than I thought I was going to!
Fun fact. When Christian bale met the director of those movie before he had chosen who to be the lead character. Christian actually introduced himself as the main character and spent the whole dinner pretending to be him. That's how he got the part.
Hey guys check out 1.Sliver2.Basic Instinct3.Fatal Attraction4.Unlawful Entry5.Lakeview Terrace6.Flowers In The Attic7.The Hand That Rocks the cradle8.Fallen with Denzel Washington9.The Game with Michael Douglas10.Black Rain with Michael Douglas11.War Of The Roses with Michael Douglas12.Ricochet with Denzel Washington13.Natural Born Killers with Brad Pitt
You guys should watch "Hell or High Water" it's a good movie and you guys can argue over who would be who. As far as TV shows everyone does Breaking Bad and it's awesome, but I've yet to see anyone do The Shield, IMO it's up there with The Wire and The Sopranos, kick ass show.
Love the movie and the music especially love the ending. Was it all in his head? I just thought of did all this happen but this guy has identity issues so he don't know who himself or others are. Maybe he did kill that guy but his name wasn't Paul Allen even later he uses Paul Allen name as his own later. He thinks he's Patrick Bateman but others keep mistaking him for someone else. Earlier they mistook him for someone else but at end he's mistaken for someone else to but maybe he really is someone else. Maybe they're not mistaken him for someone else but he don't even know who he is so of he'll be mistaken for someone else to him.
I think this movie is kind of like the joke where people are so caught up in their own vices and lives that they are blind to true world around them. Thats pretty much why no one else cared about or even noticed Patrick’s crimes even when the dead corpses are right in front of their face they just go on about their daily business and clean up the mess Patrick made like usual. His lawyer was just giving him an alibi for his case even after he confessed to everything and tried to seek help but help never came and by the end of the film he’s just too far gone.
It would still be in tone with the movie and it’s portrayal of businessman and playing up that they’re all narcissistic and greedy and full of themselves by assuming all of that brutal violence was in his head. But I think the director and the writer of the novel the movie’s based on, did confirm that he did indeed do all the murders, he really is a psycho, but the world around him, the world of his work is just so monotonous and everyone is just so dumbed down by their roles, that they’re oblivious to the reality. And that because of their high class ambivalence, Bateman will continue to escape the punishment he deserves, no matter how many people he succeeds in killing. e.g. Patrick really did kill Paul Allen, but his lawyer has seen and done business with so many businessmen who are on the same level as Paul Allen that he doesn’t know the real Paul Allen if you get me.
It wasn't in his head . He did kill everyone . There Is an American Psycho analysis on RUclips that explains everything and it will make total sense It makes it much deeper and layered
"In what can arguably be seen as the biggest twist related to American Psycho's ending, writer/director Mary Harron and co-writer Guinevere Turner have actually gone on record saying that -- in retrospect -- they don't love how the film's ending came together. This is because they feel that the finale is actually too ambiguous, and they don't love the fact that people walk away from the story wondering if it's all just a dream. They want to make it very clear: Patrick Bateman is most definitely a serial killer."
Yes I think people always go for the “in his mind” answer because it’s easy. The real point of this movie is how he can’t get himself caught because everyone is so ignorant and indifferent, and self obsessed and materialistic, no one gives a damn to figure out what’s under their nose, and if they do, they ignore it.
This movie made me feel like a damn psychopath and I was like 12 cuz the ending blew me🤣🤣 yet as I watched it again as an adult therapist...it made perfect sense. It's mentally possible that it all happened except for a few components. If you lived in a world where everyone was trying to one up each other yet somehow became the same exact person within trying to do so the constant strain to be different and seen above all would basically make you a mfn psychopath yet imagine ppl in the same circle being on to your strange addiction afraid to confront you yet not wanting to get twisted up into it so they cover tracks. Now imagine a person viewing this from the outside with no knowledge of someone coming to cover up the exact massacre you saw with your own eyes...try explaining that to someone without a drop of evidence...who now becomes the psycho? Well that's what I got from it. 🤣 It was a movie to thrill us and make us psychologically feel insane.😵💫
You like Huey Lewis and the News? Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost. He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor In '87, Huey released this; Fore!, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip To Be Square". A song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends. It's also a personal statement about the band itself. Hey, Paul!
I saw ‘American Psycho’ so long ago. I need to see it again. Btw, I like the poster of this film. In it, Christian resembles Billy Drago. To be honest, judging from the poster, I initially believed it was Billy’s film.
So originally I thought it was all in his head as well. Apparently it’s the most common interpretation. What I learned a while ago, though, was the writer/director did an interview and expressed that this was actually not correct. She said it was all mostly real. The whole confusion about people swearing he was with them while killing women was part of the message that within this culture of upper class businessmen there’s a lack of identity because everyone is basically the same, hence the obsession over little things like subtle differences in business cards, everyone has similar haircuts and suits, etc. That’s why people confuse Bateman for Halberstran and so forth. The lawyer and realtor at Paul Allens were apparently covering up what they likely assumed were Pauls victims to save face and probably assumes he didn’t act alone, which would explain his behavior at the end when telling Bateman that he had lunch with Paul in London. They just want the mess to go away while Bateman wants to absolve himself. It also has to do with the lengths people in those circles will go and how easily they can blend in or get away with things due to their status, like dragging a bloody body through a lobby or into a taxi; no one notices because they so don’t get paid enough to care, and if they did, those they work for can afford to bankrupt them in court over “frivolous” claims, so they keep their head down. Same with their peers, they just see nice overnight bags rather than anything suspicious, because in their life, nothing like that ever happens. But that’s why the director said it was mostly real. The cat message at the ATM was obviously in his head, the police car blowing up was fake, hence his look of bafflement at the gun. And that’s what kept Bateman AND the audience guessing; am I crazy? Is this real? How much is real? And that’s the true struggle for a psychopath; discerning fantasy from reality. In Patrick’s case, he’s extra unfortunate to be in a life where his circle of people pretty much allow these kinds of things to happen unchecked, so he’ll probably never get help or stop. Pretty interesting stuff!
Absolutely loved this. Perfect.
For the movie yes... But in the original novel, Bret Easton Ellis meant for Bateman to be an unreliable narrator so that the reader is left just as confused as he is about what is real and what isn't
@@michaeltabor4176 Definitely! Both are very well done and while the films director had some different ideas about the ending, I think it still landed appropriately and in line with the books, within reason.
Wow. I just thought he was suffering from the onset of schizophrenia. I'm so linear. haha
This is the best crash course explanation for what's going on in the story within the confines of the film adaptation.
I've seen this movie countless times and I still end up dumbfounded at the end every time. Christian Bale is so freaking amazing.
It's one of the funniest movies of all time.
@@vishalsorout That's the other thing about the movie that's so great. It's so dark and twisted but then you get moments like the atm asking to be fed a stray cat.
Another great Welsh actor like Rhys Ifans, Craig Roberts, Eve Myles and of course Anthony Hopkins.
Remember there are several hints in the movie that people at this company keep mixing up who is who. Even Paul Allen thought Bateman was Halberstram. This is to let you know that relationships in these social circles are completely superficial (which Bateman is an extreme example of). So when someone told the detective that Bateman was at this party it doesn't mean it's necessarily true. Also Bateman's lawyer at the end calls Bateman Davies, even he can't tell the difference between his clients. So when he says he had dinner with Paul Allen in London how do you know it was really Paul Allen and he didn't just mix up the names? The point being, all these people are so self-absorbed and they know so little about each other that Bateman can become a raging serial murderer in front of their eyes and they still can't see it. Well, at least this is one interpretation of the story.
I only watched this movie for the first time like a few weeks ago and that’s how I took it
This is exactly what the movie is saying. Your interpretation is totally correct. I also think the title American Psycho is not necessarily about Bateman, but about that specific group of people. What an interesting character study and what an interesting satire
Dude’s face in the back “Yo, he was really pissed about those business cards”.
I’m dead 😂🤣😂🤣
🤣🤣🤣 that was hilarious he made me pause the video and hit the like button for that part alone
So is Paul Allen
I'm pretty sure I heard somewhere that Bale's costars thought he was a shitty actor when filming scenes. It wasn't until they saw the movie that they understood what it was he was doing with the character.
They must also not have understood the director because there are several characters who act strangely for the situation.
Or maybe that rumor is not true.
Fun fact: the Willem Dafoe scenes were always shot 3 times, once he thinks Bateman did it, once he thinks hes innocent and once just chatty and no clue.
Forgot to mention that they then edited those three takes into the one take that you see on screen. That's why the whole scene feels so odd and kinda off.
@@John_Locke_108 yeah sorry totally skipped that part of the info. :D
You know, you can just state the fact without saying 'fun fact'. We're not on a children's education show.
@@John_Locke_108 thats actually brilliant
@@johnnyjohnny6174 Lighten up, Rocky Dennis.
Fun bit of trivia, Christian Bale modeled his performance on Tom Cruise, from an appearance on David Letterman.
Mary Heron directed the film. She revealed that Bale was inspired by Cruise’s “energy.” According to /Film, she said: “We talked about how Martian-like Patrick Bateman was, how he was looking at the world like somebody from another planet, watching what people did and trying to work out the right way to behave. And then one day he called me and he had been watching Tom Cruise on David Letterman, and he just had this very intense friendliness with nothing behind the eyes, and he was really taken with this energy.”
And they recorded Willem Dafoe's scenes 3 times, with him playing his part knowing Bateman was the killer, suspecting Bateman was the killer and not suspecting Bateman. Then during editing they used snippets of each performance to continue with the unreliable narrative of Bateman's guilt.
Here's the Cruise interview on Letterman: ruclips.net/video/I-W3QbWWbbk/видео.html
The book "American Psycho" was a dark comedy, hence the subtle comedic elements of this movie. When reading the book, they would go into so much detail of what brand clothes the characters were wearing I couldn't help but cackle.
The level of detail in the book is legitimately unsettling, not even just in the scenes of horrific violence, but when Patrick is just describing things in general. Him going on an on for several pages about his *home stereo set-up* is like the most psychotic shit to me lol
"Don't touch the watch." It was a Rolex in the book, but Rolex themselves didn't want their product mentioned in the film.
Let’s see Paul Allen’s card
"I hope I'm not being cross-examined". "Do you feel that way?". "Not really, no.". One of my favourite exchanges of all time. :D
I remember seeing this with my (ex)wife in the theater when it came out. We were laughing out loud, but we were the only ones. That made it even better.
In the novel Bateman is intended to be an unreliable narrator so the reader is left not knowing what is real and what isn't... and in that way relates to the psycho. This is illustrated when the ATM tells him to feed it a stray cat. This was of course a hallucination. Also, right before he kills Paul you will notice he takes some sort of prescription. The prescription bottle is left intentionally blank, but I assume it is some sort of anti-psychotic. Finally, If you notice, when the police car explodes Bateman is taken off guard and surprised by that.
The book is way more messed up than the movie. One of my favorite parts of the book is when he gives his fiancée a used urinal cake that he covered in chocolate as a present and she eats it.
Bret Easton Ellis is one of my favorite authors. No one captures the decadence of the 80s any better than he does.
I love the part where he goes to the beach and eats "handfuls of sand and hermit crabs."
Lol, that's incredible; I really need to look into reading the book
That scene is incredibly funny and very dark and disgusting. A brilliant book.
Yeah the book is insane man. He kills a lot more people. He's a lot more racist and he even kills a little kid in the central park zoo restroom
That confessionphonecall from Christian Bale was his best Actor performance i`ve ever saw from him !
one of my favourite films. darkly hilarious - just the same as the book. love Bale's performance, god he's suuuuch a good actor. i'm of the opinion the murders did happen, but nobody gave a damn because they're so obsessed with their own self. in the book and movie, they're frequently calling each other by the wrong name, everyone looks the same. anyway the author wrote it to be real too. but at the end of the day you can take what you want from it!
If you like Christian Bale's performances you might want to have a look at "The Machinist" from 2004.
Amazing film
if you enjoy scenes of white-knuckle, edge of your seat suspense scenes, you need to check out Boogie Nights. There is a drug deal sequence in that, it'll have you twisted up inside. The most gut-wrenching scene I've ever experienced in a film.
I love Mark Wahlberg so I'm definitely down for this, I'll add it to the list!
Oh yes Boogie Nights is excellent.
I've never heard anyone, ever, say they weren't a fan of Christian Bale, especially because of how he looks. I mean he's a phenomenal actor, the best Batman so far, and (no homo) he's a very good looking man.
I watched Empire of the Sun just recently and it starred Christian Bale as a child. I didn't know he started acting so young. It's so fascinating to see older movies and recognizing actors as their younger selves. I only ever knew him as Batman/Bruce Wayne and seeing him play a self-obsessed killer psychopath just made me realize of his wide range as an actor.
I think about half of it was in his head, and the other half was everyone being so self-absorbed that they didn't even notice he's a killer.
yup. i think the author of the book that this film was based on stated that none of this was solely in Patrick’s head, & that he’s just a subpar narcissistic psychopathic killer amongst many other self-absorbed killers.
"something's obviously going wrong"
Yes. Oh yes.
Feed me the Cat!
According to the audio commentary, Christian Bale was able to break a sweat at the exact same moment of every take during the “card scene.”
The end sequence is intentionally ambiguous, so we both see his mental state and also reflect on the enabling/psychopathic nature of the society around him. It's a masterfully made film, and in another, better timeline, the director Mary Harron should be given all the money to do anything she wants.
You might want to check out Christian Bale in the film he did when he was 12, called Empire of the Sun. It's an extremely well made film about a boy being separated from his parents during WWII, and later being held in a civilian POW camp by the Japanese.
the reason he was telling the women that he was Paul Allen and taking them to Paul Allen's apartment was for an alibi. this way, in case they started talking they would be able to say "hey, we were at Paul Allen's apartment the other night" and that would make people believe he was still alive. it was a strategy to keep Patrick away from suspicion for murder since the police were sniffing around about his disappearance.
while looking at bateman the lawyer lifts his eyebrow when talking about paul allen as if to say "this is your alibi, patrick. take it."
I think it's more about mistaken identity.
There's the running theme that Bateman and the rest of the Wall Street guys keep mistaking each other, like Paul Allen keeps mistaking Bateman for Halberstram.
There's the possibility that Carns thinks he had dinner with Paul Allen when really it could've actually been someone else.
@@thelivingjed9676 Plus he was just calling him Davis. How did he clean up all the mess, if he doesn’t even remember his name?
@@thelivingjed9676 bateman is about to insist that he didnt have lunch with him but he pauses and the lawyer then lifts his eyebrow to which batemen looks horrified. as if he just realized that his confession, his breakdown was all for nothing. his "guilt" if you wanna call it that means nothing.
and im not saying he cleaned the mess, hes just giving him an alibi.
Everyone looks the same in this movie, they get confused with other people all the time, that's why is brilliant. You can't really know what's real and what's not.
9:10 Christian Bale doing Jim Carrey
Mary Harron and Guinevere Turner produced a masterpiece with this movie this far transcends the (admittedly controversial and taboo) source novel. Great movie and excellent reaction.
"I don't like the way he looks." ... *Bale looking incredible in this movie*
His interactions with everyone was real, but in his mind, he was playing out the scenarios of killing everybody.
Everything happened. Not only in his mind
Most likely a lot of it happened, some of it was just in his head. Realize that his circle of people is interchangeable. He was always confused as Halberstrand or Davis or someone other than himself. So he has a built in alibi. He could be spotted at a party he never attended because all of his friends could be mistaken for him and vice-versa. That's how Paul Allen could be both dead and had dinner with him in London. With the Paul Allen apartment, it seems that possibly the realtor covered up what was in there to be able to sell the apartment. Or it is possible that some of those events never happened. Also, as others have said, you can't fully trust the narration due to Bateman's metal instability.
At least these are my thoughts and opinions on the events of the movie.
You're gonna wanna react to a David Lynch movie at some point.
The entire movie is supposed to be ambiguous. You can either believe that he did kill all those people and he is so rich and powerful, that he could easily get away with it or cover it up. Or you could think that the entire movie and all murders were just a long hallucination. Clues being people have no idea what he is talking about, the book with all the fantasy murders and what have you. That is the brilliance of the movie .. There is no real answer.
I like when you and Curtis discuss the film afterwards. Your reactions are great, but I don't mind a little first view review after. I hope you guys spend at least 5 minutes discussing after. Shoot, I'd accept 10 minutes or more even. Good job as always, Chris.
Thank you, we really appreciate that and have been actually considering making full on reviews of the movies as a separate video after we re-watched it to go further in-depth about them; just didn't think people would be interested but maybe I'm wrong about that lol.
I worked in Investment Banking, on the trading floor in the 80's... Trust me, business cards were that important. Just as if you got your shirts from Brooks Bros. or tailor made, type of suspenders, shoes, your yacht, summer homes, etc.. And yes, loads of coke was done by million dollar traders.
I always interpreted it as his facade, success, social circles and wealth enabled his psycho lifestyle. The old lady in the apartment that was full of bodies is a clue. They found the mess, cleaned it up and put if on the market because they didn't want to lose property value. An apartment full of blood and guts isn't proper kind of thing. The end is a bit surreal overall.
I repeat, do some comedies for your mental health! You're lovely guys, you deserve some feel-good stuff! Okay, watching now because this is actually an amazing movie. And now that I think about it, it's kind of a comedy. Or it's a psychotic fever dream with some comedic elements?
Edit: Of course he's running around naked with a chainsaw and shoes. You have to wear shoes, guys. Haven't you seen Die Hard? But yeah, I don't know what happened either.
Your facial expressions make me wanna watch movie with you guys!lol
The stage musical of this show is incredible
@randywhite3947 personally I think so, Bret Easton Ellis did as well
@randywhite3947 Benjamin Walker was superb in the role on Broadway. Matt Smith from Doctor Who played the role in the UK.
@randywhite3947 it's very differnt takes on the role. Both are superb.
This is what Wall Street doesn't tell you what happens to individuals who just want to fit in with the sheep lol
I love your reaction when Bateman picked up a kitten. Run, cat, run🦊😝🐱
Most sane wall street worker.
This is to Anyone who is reading this, watch the explained version of this movie it’ll blow ur mind
You'll love Christian Bale's performance in American Hustle, Out of The Furnace, and Ford Vs Ferrari
“Sabrina don’t just stare at it, Eat It!” It’s seamless where you don’t know if it’s Patrick’s fantasy or if he’s in reality; Paul Allen just like Patrick looks just like every other Yuppie during that era so they were easily confused and replaceable and the business cards shows just how petty n shallow even the tiniest changes that seem better than your instantly wanna kill em lol
Have you guys seen "Candyman" from 1992? A new remake is coming soon this year and I thought it would be great if you could react to the original first. It's an awesome movie.
I agree I love candyman . Very psychological
On the list, it's something I've been wanting to watch for a long time now!
Omg. When they both waved at the very end......a double twin wave.....adorable.
Im happy this movie has been getting some attention lately. I felt it was very underrated when it first came out...
ZODIAC 2007... Amazing movie.. Amazing performances..
Before Christian, Leto, and Reese were mega famous. Excellent acting all the way through!
Wanna see a psychological movie check out
The Machinist with Christian bale
And
The Jacket with Adrien Brody
This movie is literally so fucking scary to think about because it’s the fact that these type of people exist in real life and they could be literally anybody
Love the part in the book when he runs into tom cruise in an elevator haha
"Your new movie, Bartender. The best!"
Love the book and its my fav movie
Dam, you fellas are pretty much seeing all the best movies of the last 35 years.
If I can throw ya's some requests, can you please react to the Three Colors Trilogy by Krzysztof Kieślowski? They're essential 90s movies. Also, I don't know how familiar you guys are with Stanley Kubrick, but I'll put 2001: A Space Odyssey up as a big request, and also the classic John Ford western The Searchers. You're on a roll, loving the reactions guys.
Such a great film! Between the intolerable superficial existence that plagued Bateman through societal expectations of his circle which lead to the cathartic acts of extreme violence and sedition crecendoing to the night of his confessions, he is left questioning whether it was imagination or truth. Regardless of which it is, we see the disinterested elite circle carrying on without a care, ever-focused on the surface game of social appearance. Bateman - and the audience - is left wondering what is real and what is not; a difficult yet sobering reflection of our existence in a world of capitalism and media influence.
Sweet Double Feature flick to go with this movie is the David Cronenberg classic Dead Ringers. Devolution into complete insanity. Pure magic.
"My man likes space, he's got a telescope!"
uh-huh ...
Read the book by Bret Easton Ellis , it goes into more detail than the film , but you’ll need a very strong stomach 😂😂😂
After the lawyer says he had dinner with Paul Allen, you can see from behind that he's raised his brows and made a face suggesting hes like "got it?!".
Nice video, I absolutely love this film, one of my favorites of all time. Also, I know you guys prioritize Patreon suggestions but im still gonna put it out there, Climax 2018 is an amazing and absolutely INSANE drama/horror film.
I shouldn't think this movie is funny...but i love his constant excuse of having to return some videotapes and how he says it.
I just noticed the Kamogawa Boxing Gym shirt. Methinks you are a Hajime no Ippo fan!
We are both huge fans of Hajime no Ippo, it's actually our favorite manga/anime!
I'm actually old enough to know how serious the business card game was. Of course in the world before emailing and Google was a thing.
I thnk what happened is a combination of big business suits reflexively covering for each other to avoid law suits and reputational damage to their corporations, including the real estate lady covering up the corpses in the apartment she was going to get to re-sell, and the suits being so alike and interchangeable that a couple could go missing and really not be missed, and for people to assume he's someone other than who he thinks he is, because the only real identity is the suit itself, and the business cards they carry. That he's protected by the entire dehumanised, sociopathic Wall Street or Wall Street-adjacent business executive culture.
"Idk what to say that"
😂☠😂 had me dying
Your reaction videos are fun to watch :) If you start to review movies - do you think you could maybe keep doing reaction, too?
The reactions are what brought me here ... you two are entertaining :)
Whatever you decide, good luck with your movie reviews! :)
Quick point of clarification: Patrick Bateman is not a psychopath as it's currently understood by the psychiatric community. He's flagrantly, aggressively psychotic, meaning that he's plagued by delusions and the occasional hallucination (FEED ME A STRAY CAT). He also has brief moments of fear and apparent remorse when he breaks down on the voicemail to his lawyer, even if that's only because he thinks he may get caught. He's more likely to diagnosed as schizophrenic due to his episodes of disassociation with reality. That's not a psychopath, meaning someone who has antisocial personality disorder. A real-life psychopath would be much closer to Anton Chigurh (loved your reaction to No Country for Old Men, by the way!). Emotionless, ice-cold under pressure and stress, remorseless and ruthless, and (most importantly for the purposes of comparison to Bateman) free of delusions and hallucinations. APD sufferers are much more likely to be zeroed in on the real world and to understand clearly how others behave because their perspective is not clouded by undue emotional attachment to other people, just how to best use them for their own gain. So a psychopath would most likely not be like"RARRRRRR IM A CRAZY MOFO DIE YUPPIE SCUM HAHA CHAINSAW GO BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!%$!" while killing someone. A psychopath would be much more likely to just shoot the guy next to you and then calmly apologize for getting blood on your carpet.
Also, the ending is a total mindfreak for sure! There's enough ambiguity to argue for both interpretations, and to still ponder to what extent any of these events were imaginary. I personally think that Bateman got away with the majority of his crimes simply because everyone else around him (except Jean) is as self-absorbed and apathetic to the plight of others as he is. Bateman's co-workers were constantly mistaking Bateman for other people, which is the only reason the detective lost the scent on Bateman's murder of Paul Allen. The real estate lady simply got rid of the bodies and cleaned up the apartment so she could make a sale. The lawyer was even more cold and ruthless than Bateman was, simply playing off confession to mass murder as a great joke and subtly letting Bateman know that this will be the official story, simply in order to protect his client. Just my two cents!
Real complex movie with brilliant undertones about identity
If you look back to the first time Patrick met with Kimball, Kimball says that Paul Allen was spotted having dinner in London, but it turns out someone got him confused with someone else.
So it’s like this. The movie is social commentary. It’s suggesting that the Wall Street American psycho who gets away with “murder might as well be a serial killer getting away with murder.
This is one time I love when a movie is vague and ambiguous. Following Patrick's demented mind, you can't tell what's real and what isn't. It allows a lot of different great theories, loved hearing you guys debate it! lol
I like to think it's a mix of both, that he did murder some homeless people, and the prostitutes, but the rest was in his head. The homeless people unfortunately wouldn't be very traceable or have many consequences of killing. The prostitutes in an empty apartment were legit dead but his lawyer covered them up in the end. So it creates this person who thinks he's crazy, but when he tries to make sure by checking the proof of the dead prostitute bodies.... someone moved them, which makes him think it was imagined when it was actually real. Which confuses himself with things that ARE imagined, lol. (like his shooting spree at the end)
How can you figure out what is real or not if people keep making you think what is real, isn't?
I think that's the best part, you can't really figure out what could possibly be real or some sort of fantasy in his head; especially as you said everyone is trying to tell him it never happened. Truly one hell of a movie, I enjoyed this far more than I thought I was going to!
Fun fact. When Christian bale met the director of those movie before he had chosen who to be the lead character. Christian actually introduced himself as the main character and spent the whole dinner pretending to be him. That's how he got the part.
Hey guys check out 1.Sliver2.Basic Instinct3.Fatal Attraction4.Unlawful Entry5.Lakeview Terrace6.Flowers In The Attic7.The Hand That Rocks the cradle8.Fallen with Denzel Washington9.The Game with Michael Douglas10.Black Rain with Michael Douglas11.War Of The Roses with Michael Douglas12.Ricochet with Denzel Washington13.Natural Born Killers with Brad Pitt
even the detective was a thing of his mind
You guys should watch "Hell or High Water" it's a good movie and you guys can argue over who would be who.
As far as TV shows everyone does Breaking Bad and it's awesome, but I've yet to see anyone do The Shield, IMO it's up there with The Wire and The Sopranos, kick ass show.
Man, the novel is far more graphic, but had to cut out the more brutal stuff to make it R rated.
Loved your reaction to this!
Crazy
Crazy for or feeling so lonely
CRAZY.
CRAZY FOR FEELING SO BLUE.
Love the movie and the music especially love the ending. Was it all in his head? I just thought of did all this happen but this guy has identity issues so he don't know who himself or others are. Maybe he did kill that guy but his name wasn't Paul Allen even later he uses Paul Allen name as his own later. He thinks he's Patrick Bateman but others keep mistaking him for someone else. Earlier they mistook him for someone else but at end he's mistaken for someone else to but maybe he really is someone else. Maybe they're not mistaken him for someone else but he don't even know who he is so of he'll be mistaken for someone else to him.
That’s a cool theory
I think this movie is kind of like the joke where people are so caught up in their own vices and lives that they are blind to true world around them. Thats pretty much why no one else cared about or even noticed Patrick’s crimes even when the dead corpses are right in front of their face they just go on about their daily business and clean up the mess Patrick made like usual. His lawyer was just giving him an alibi for his case even after he confessed to everything and tried to seek help but help never came and by the end of the film he’s just too far gone.
Patrick can't tell what's real and what's not. And neither can you.
After 20 something years I STILL HAVE NO IDEA
Funny part he actually put the time out to put his shoes on with the chainsaw 😊
It would still be in tone with the movie and it’s portrayal of businessman and playing up that they’re all narcissistic and greedy and full of themselves by assuming all of that brutal violence was in his head.
But I think the director and the writer of the novel the movie’s based on, did confirm that he did indeed do all the murders, he really is a psycho, but the world around him, the world of his work is just so monotonous and everyone is just so dumbed down by their roles, that they’re oblivious to the reality. And that because of their high class ambivalence, Bateman will continue to escape the punishment he deserves, no matter how many people he succeeds in killing.
e.g. Patrick really did kill Paul Allen, but his lawyer has seen and done business with so many businessmen who are on the same level as Paul Allen that he doesn’t know the real Paul Allen if you get me.
Although the Batman trilogy was brilliant and The Fighter is outstanding, I believe American Psycho is Christian Bale's best work.
It wasn't in his head . He did kill everyone . There Is an American Psycho analysis on RUclips that explains everything and it will make total sense
It makes it much deeper and layered
It explains everything just type in American Psycho analysis
It's the one titled Identity, has a yellow background
Anytime
Then why did the ATM say feed me a stray cat? Why did the cop car explode?
@@CrackerJack06 Because he IS crazy, it's just the dangerous kind of crazy
"In what can arguably be seen as the biggest twist related to American Psycho's ending, writer/director Mary Harron and co-writer Guinevere Turner have actually gone on record saying that -- in retrospect -- they don't love how the film's ending came together. This is because they feel that the finale is actually too ambiguous, and they don't love the fact that people walk away from the story wondering if it's all just a dream. They want to make it very clear: Patrick Bateman is most definitely a serial killer."
Yes I think people always go for the “in his mind” answer because it’s easy. The real point of this movie is how he can’t get himself caught because everyone is so ignorant and indifferent, and self obsessed and materialistic, no one gives a damn to figure out what’s under their nose, and if they do, they ignore it.
This movie made me feel like a damn psychopath and I was like 12 cuz the ending blew me🤣🤣 yet as I watched it again as an adult therapist...it made perfect sense. It's mentally possible that it all happened except for a few components. If you lived in a world where everyone was trying to one up each other yet somehow became the same exact person within trying to do so the constant strain to be different and seen above all would basically make you a mfn psychopath yet imagine ppl in the same circle being on to your strange addiction afraid to confront you yet not wanting to get twisted up into it so they cover tracks. Now imagine a person viewing this from the outside with no knowledge of someone coming to cover up the exact massacre you saw with your own eyes...try explaining that to someone without a drop of evidence...who now becomes the psycho? Well that's what I got from it. 🤣 It was a movie to thrill us and make us psychologically feel insane.😵💫
my brother and I have fought with fists so we cant have this relationship. we live in the same room and will probably do this until we die.
Bale is a master of the unraveling role.
You might like him in The Machinist 2004
Run, cat, run....lolol....I’m in love 😍
I like how u guys didn't flinch when the homeless man was killed but the dog really upset both of u lol
You like Huey Lewis and the News?
Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism that really gives the songs a big boost.
He's been compared to Elvis Costello, but I think Huey has a far more bitter, cynical sense of humor In '87, Huey released this; Fore!, their most accomplished album. I think their undisputed masterpiece is "Hip To Be Square". A song so catchy, most people probably don't listen to the lyrics. But they should, because it's not just about the pleasures of conformity and the importance of trends. It's also a personal statement about the band itself. Hey, Paul!
impressive. very nice. let's see Paul Allen’s reaction video
8:48 look on RUclips for the hilarious parody of this scene with Huey Lewis and Weird Al.
He actually killed the people, the absurd aspects were the parts that were only in his head. Like the cat and the ATM and the cars exploding.
This movie was too disturbing for me lol😳
I saw ‘American Psycho’ so long ago. I need to see it again. Btw, I like the poster of this film. In it, Christian resembles Billy Drago. To be honest, judging from the poster, I initially believed it was Billy’s film.
Think about the cars blowing up from gun fire and the message on the ATM