I still remember reading the book, “American Psycho” by Brett Easton Ellis, as well as all the hubbub that it caused. It seemed that Women’s Organizations lashed out and complained about hoe incredibly violent the story was, and how horribly it depicted violence towards women. It became so bad that it took quite a while for the movie to even get made. What these (mostly unemployed) complainers didn’t seem to realize was that there was also some violence in the book directed towards men (or they did realize it, but didn’t consider that as horrible). Of course, these arguments came from the same demographic that protested a couple of years back because there weren’t enough women in Congress. The fact that this is caused by people’s votes, not because men were shutting them out, didn’t seem to phase the their misinformed objections. . But I digress…. (I do that a lot…) “American Psycho” stars Christian Bale (yes… the new Batman) as Patrick Bateman, a seemingly all-around okay guy, with a touch of the hedonist in him.

By day, he is a highly successful commodities broker, with the money, looks and talent to have anything he wants… but by night he has the tendency to let his inhibitions run wilder than expected. I’ll cut to the chase; he’s a cold-blooded, maniacal serial killer. His tastes run from the macabre to the downright silly, but at no time do you get the idea that he isn’t just enjoying the heck out of the power trip his activities give him.

When the book and film were first unleashed on the unsuspecting public, members of said public pretty much had two opinions. They either loved them, praising the bravery of the author, screenwriter and director to attempt to repel us at every turn. Those on the opposing side derided the material for being total trash, deplorable and disgusting. Nobody rode the fence.

I was amongst the more intellectual folk who recognized the intentions of the author and filmmakers in as far as creating a story that horrified us with what could be considered a ‘realistic’ monster, while pointing fingers at the rather amoral society in which we live. They went even further to slide back the curtain and reveal the self-indulgent ‘ME’ attitude that was so prevalent in the 80’s (when the story takes place), which questions whether or not we’re all insane, only separated by degrees.

Is the movie shocking and repulsive? Absolutely, but there is little I would call gratuitous. It is not a film for children, it is for adults, and if we are going to be faced with a monster, there’s no reason not to show the limits of his atrocities, or lack thereof. What is even more unsettling about the film is that there are moments of uncomfortable humor. You know, those times you laugh at what the killer does or says, but you know you shouldn’t? You’ll find this throughout the movie.

“American Psycho” fulfilled my expectations for so many reasons, but at the top of the list would have to be Christian Bale’s amazing performance. Bale has only made a handful of films, but he has always managed to perfectly capture every little nuance that makes a character tick. I first saw him in Steven Spielberg’s “Empire of the Sun”, and even as a young teenager, showed an immense talent well beyond his years. Since that time, Bale has been drawn mostly to tortured figures, like that of Trevor Reznik in “The Machinist”, a role for which he lost an incredible amount of weight to physically transform himself into a man who hasn’t slept in a year. Considering the fact that he has mostly kept himself to lesser known films, I was surprised to learn that he had accepted the role of Bruce Wayne/Batman in the new “Batman Begins.” However, it was this bit of casting that made me excited about the film, as Bale will surely create a psychologically tortured Batman as he was meant to be.

When “American Psycho” was originally released on DVD, there wasn’t much beyond the film, but now Lions Gate is finally releasing the Edition to end all Editions. Aside from it being the Uncut version (which was released previously), this one is completely rep-mastered and there are finally some great extra features that open up a whole new world of the movie.

We are treated to a lengthy four part documentary that goes into tremendous detail in explaining what it took to create a film out of such a controversial piece of work. There are tons of interviews, and quite a bit of history that I wasn’t even aware of, including the fact that both Leonardo DiCaprio and Johhny Depp were considered for the lead role. There are also two commentaries, both of which offer an even greater insight into what director/co-writer Mary Harron and actor/co-writer Guinevere Turner envisioned for the film. You will also find some deleted scenes, which are preceded by some on-set interviews with cast members.

I was also interested to see a half hour look at the attitudes and culture of the 1980’s, and how they were approached in the film as well as a look at the sexual politics and treatment of women as seen through the eyes of critic Holly Willis.

I will be the first to admit that “American Psycho” is not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but those who are not intellectually-challenged will certainly find the film’s viewpoints make terrific topics of conversation.

Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage, Chloe Sevigny, Reese Witherspoon, Samantha Mathis, Jared Leto, Willem DaFoe
Extras: Director/Writer Commentary, Cast and Crew Commentary, Postcards from the '80s, On-set interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, Deleted scenes
Specifications: Widescreen, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound
Studio: Lions Gate
Release Date: 6/21/2005
Region 1
MPAA Rating: NR
Website

We'll give American Psycho: Killer Collector's Edition an A.