Viewed in
2010
Premise
Christian Bale's breakout role as a 1980's American powerful businessman with murder as a hobby. Based on the controversial novel, which I have not read.
Loved
Bale's performance.
Liked
The dark comedy.
Disliked
Getting confused at the end.
Thoughts
I loved Bale's performance, but I cannot say the same for the whole movie.
Christian Bale made this film go. He was detached, pretentious, vain, misogynistic, narcissistic, jealous, hot-headed, and all sorts of nasty rolled into one. You would think such a protagonist would be hard to like. But Bale was somehow able to embody all that with delightful charm and a magnetic presence. Despite his lack of human decency, I could still relate to his frustrations in office politics or finding how he did not have the coolest business card.
Because of Bale's wonderful execution as this character, his killings were justified and fun, from an entertainment standpoint. Some were suspenseful, others were darkly humorous, but they were all interesting. While they were bloody, they were not graphic or gory.
Throughout the film, it reminded me of Fight Club, only bloodier and more satirical. It had a similar style of snarky voice over protagonist narration. Also, it had themes of hate for and rebelling against the materialistic, dehumanizing aspect of American society.
What ruined it for me was the last act. Things started to get confusing (like the lawyer scene) to the point of frustration, and I was not sure what the resolution was. Was there a consequence (and therefore a meaningful arc) for Patrick Bateman? I had to look online to double-check the plot afterward. Turns out it was intentionally ambiguous. Maybe because I was comparing it to Fight Club that I expected a more straight-forward ending. In any case, if it's going to be open-ended like that, it could have been executed better for me to realize that.
Even though I did not like how it ended, I appreciated the film for its risks, themes, entertaining murders, and most importantly, Christian Bale portrayal of such an inhuman (but entrancing) character.
What I would change
Find a way to let the audience realize the ending was meant to be interpreted.
