American Psycho

Movie Details:

Cast & Characters:

• Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a New York City investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer
• Justin Theroux as Timothy Bryce, a colleague of Bateman
• Josh Lucas as Craig McDermott, a colleague of Bateman
• Bill Sage as David Van Patten, a colleague of Bateman
• Chloë Sevigny as Jean, Bateman’s secretary
• Reese Witherspoon as Evelyn Williams, Bateman’s fiancée whom he despises
• Samantha Mathis as Courtney Rawlinson, Luis Carruthers’ fiancée who is having an affair with Bateman
• Matt Ross as Luis Carruthers, a colleague of Bateman and closeted homosexual
• Jared Leto as Paul Allen, a fellow investment banker whom Bateman kills
• Willem Dafoe as Donald Kimball, a private investigator who investigates the murder of Paul Allen
• Cara Seymour as Christie, a sex worker
• Guinevere Turner as Elizabeth, a woman whom Bateman kills
• Stephen Bogaert as Harold Carnes, Bateman’s lawyer
• Reg E. Cathey as Al, a homeless man
• Krista Sutton as Sabrina, a sex worker
• Catherine Black as Vanden, Williams’ cousin
• Patricia Gage as Mrs. Wolfe, a real estate agent
• Anthony Lemke as Marcus Halberstram, Bateman’s colleague

Storyline:

It’s the late 1980s. Twenty-seven year old Wall Streeter Patrick Bateman travels among a closed network of the proverbial beautiful people, that closed network in only they able to allow others like themselves in in a feeling of superiority. Patrick has a routinized morning regimen to maintain his appearance of attractiveness and fitness. He, like those in his network, are vain, narcissistic, egomaniacal and competitive, always having to one up everyone else in that presentation of oneself, but he, unlike the others, realizes that, for himself, all of these are masks to hide what is truly underneath, someone/something inhuman in nature. In other words, he is comprised of a shell resembling a human that contains only greed and disgust, greed in wanting what others may have, and disgust for those who do not meet his expectations and for himself in not being the first or the best. That disgust ends up manifesting itself in wanting to rid the world of those people, he not seeing them as people but only of those characteristics he wants to rid.

About Movie:

American Psycho is a satirical horror film directed by Mary Harron, co-written with Guinevere Turner, based on Bret Easton Ellis’s 1991 novel. Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chloë Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, and Reese Witherspoon in supporting roles.

Producer Edward R. Pressman acquired the film rights in 1992, despite Ellis’s belief that his novel was unfilmable. After several directors, including David Cronenberg and Oliver Stone, were attached to the project, Harron took over, aiming to highlight the satire of 1980s excess.

Christian Bale was cast as Bateman, but Lions Gate Films initially wanted Leonardo DiCaprio for the role, leading to Harron’s temporary replacement by Stone. Creative differences caused both Stone and DiCaprio to leave, and Harron was rehired.

Filmed in Toronto and New York City, American Psycho premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000, and was theatrically released on April 14. It received praise for Bale’s performance and its screenplay, grossing over $34 million on a $7 million budget.

The film has since achieved cult status and gained popularity in meme culture. A direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho 2, was released in 2002, though it bears little connection to the original.

Budget & Box Office Collection: