I saw American Psycho on opening night, April 14, 2000. My friends and I were in the mood for going to a good movie to start off spring break. I had recommended American Psycho because it looked like a good slash-‘em-up thriller, plus I knew that it would be something that my mother would disapprove of. Not really knowing what the movie was about, we did not know what to expect. None of us had read the book by Bret Easton Ellis, so we had no idea of what was in store for us.
The movie started off o.k. The main character, Patrick Bateman, was narrating while going through his morning routine, which consists of a barrage of herbal conditioners and facial creams that would make Fraiser Crane nauseous. He then goes on to say that you may shake his hand, but he isn’t really there. I don’t remember the exact quote, but that is basically it. The movie continues on with lines and plot turns like that which don’t make a whole lot of sense.
The entire movie is about 110 minutes long, and for the first 80, it’s all pretty much sex and killing. Knowing that the movie has to wrap up in a little bit, I was starting to wonder how this whole movie was going to come together. I knew that the movie couldn’t just end, because I felt that there had been no plot development throughout the entire film. The last five minutes, however, opens the possibility of a whole new interpretation of the movie.
I am about to cite different plot points to prove my thesis, so if you have not seen the movie or read the book and do not want to know what happens, go away. Now, onto what I think.
Patrick Bateman didn’t actually kill anyone. It was all in his head. When he told his lawyer that he killed all of those people, including Paul Allen, and his lawyer said that he could not have because he had lunch with him in London, that was because he really did have lunch with him. Paul Allen was not dead. He was really in London. Bateman imagined the entire killing and disposal of the body. That’s why the guard didn’t ask about the trail of blood coming from the overnight bag, because there was no dead body inside. I’m not sure if that whole scene of putting the overnight bag in the taxi was all in Bateman’s head, because Luis Carruthers shows up.
On Bateman’s last killing spree, he blew up two police cruisers with his pistol, which is most likely not possible. But it didn’t really happen. Once again, this was all in his head. That’s why he didn’t have to reload the gun either, because he had no gun. Once he saw the ATM say "Feed me a stray cat," he imagined the whole scene until he enters the building to sign in at his office. He really did call his lawyer, but shooting the old woman, the police chase and shooting the guard and cleaning guy upon entering the building the first time never happened. And the reason that you never see the limo driver is because he doesn't really exist. It was all in his head.
Bateman mentioned returning video tapes four or five times during the movie. This was because he was living out his murderous and sexual fantasies through the videos he rented. When he called Courtney, he was watching a porn of a three-way, which occurs twice in his fantasies. While doing his stomach crunches, a horror movie was showing. He was getting his ideas through the movies and venting them in his date book hidden in the drawer of his desk. The reason why no suspicions were raised when he drew the girl with the chainsaw in her back on the table cloth while talking to Evelyn was because that crime never happened and because he might be known for drawing disturbing pictures. Or, it could be that he didn’t actually draw it and just imagined the entire picture.
When Bateman was chasing Christie with the chainsaw and she was banging on the neighbors doors, no one answered because it never happened. That would also explain how he was able to kill her by dropping the saw on her. It is very unlikely that he would have been able to hit her, but since it was all in his head, it doesn’t matter.
There were also a couple of symbols in the movie. The business cards expressed excessive wealth and power, which intimidated Bateman. Detective Kimball was the "reality-check" character. Whenever he was present, that scene was really happening. It also gave Bateman more fuel for the fire of his perverted fantasies. The music was a connection to Bateman’s unreal world, which is why he preferred it over talking to Evelyn. It was also a symbol for pop culture. I don’t really understand that one, but the majority of the group believed that was true. And finally, the herbal creams and conditioners were to show that on the outside, Bateman, or American, was perfectly normal, but on the inside, they were totally messed up.