--- title: "American Psycho: the reviews" canonical: "https://film.one/film/american-psycho/reviews" title_page: "https://film.one/film/american-psycho" critics_score: 66 critics_reviews: 9 licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # American Psycho (2000): what the critics said Critics' score 66 from 9 reviews: 6 positive, 0 mixed, 3 negative. Most critics respond favourably to Mary Harron’s treatment of American Psycho as a satire of male vanity and 1980s materialism. Praise centres on Christian Bale’s Patrick Bateman: his physical precision, narcissism and dead-eyed delivery make the character both comic and unsettling. The favourable reviews also credit Harron with limiting the gore and finding humour in business-card rivalries and pop-music monologues. The controlled visual style and carefully judged performances receive recurring praise. The split is nevertheless wide, with detractors questioning whether the satire offers much insight into the behaviour it depicts. The Los Angeles Times finds the social commentary shallow and the attention to violence excessive, while the Evening Standard argues that the slick presentation aestheticises violence and leaves the treatment of women unchallenged. Even some favourable reviews find the coldness distancing; others admire the humour and art direction without believing Harron has overcome the source material’s flaws. ## RogerEbert.com — Roger Ebert Rating 4/4. 14 April 2000. Ebert praises Harron for transforming the story into a satire of male vanity and ego rather than mere bloodlust. He highlights Christian Bale's committed performance in embodying the despicable, narcissistic Patrick Bateman. [Read the review](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/american-psycho-2000) ## Empire — Kim Newman Fi1m's normalised score 85/100 (inferred from the text). 21 April 2000. Harron has made the best possible film of difficult material by capturing the novel's obsessive, all-surfaces tone and treating every detail—from business cards to violence—with equal pornographic attention. Bale's performance and the film's dark humour stand out in a world where Bateman is no worse than anyone else around him. [Read the review](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/american-psycho-review/) ## Radio Times — Jason Caro Rating 4/5. Harron's decision to cast Bale is vindicated in this dark comedy drama where he excels as the psychopathic yuppie; the film offers restrained, satirical swipes at 1980s materialism with laughs, though its cold tone lessens the impact of the actions. [Read the review](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-br0q7a/american-psycho/) ## The New Yorker — Anthony Lane Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 10 April 2000. Lane calls the film a fierce and timely satire of 1980s excess and emptiness, crediting Harron's direction for keeping the material creepy and controlled rather than overly graphic. He singles out the performances and visual style for capturing the blank, mannequin-like quality of the characters. [Read the review](https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2000/04/17/to-the-limit) ## Time Out — NB Fi1m's normalised score 80/100 (inferred from the text). 29 November 2011. Harron sensibly excises the novel's gratuitous gore to deliver a provocative socio-psychological satire balanced between chilly horror and outrageous comedy, with Bale delivering a sublimely dead-eyed performance that makes for wonderfully unsettling entertainment. [Read the review](https://www.timeout.com/movies/american-psycho) ## Sight and Sound — Tony Rayns Fi1m's normalised score 40/100 (inferred from the text). The adaptation extracts a viable screenplay and plays up the book's humour effectively with strong art direction and performances, but the film ultimately doesn't work as it remains hampered by the source novel's flaws and smug tone. [Read the review](http://old.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/review/289) ## Los Angeles Times — Kenneth Turan Fi1m's normalised score 30/100 (inferred from the text). 14 April 2000. Turan finds the satire shallow and unconvincing, arguing that the film spends too much time with an unpleasant psychopath without sufficient insight or payoff. He criticizes the excessive focus on violence and the failure to make the social commentary land effectively. [Read the review](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2000-apr-14-ca-19332-story.html) ## Evening Standard Fi1m's normalised score 25/100 (inferred from the text). The film reduces to a sensationalistic, pointless serial-killer story that aestheticises violence and offers no real insight into its empty central character or society. Harron sanitises the source material into slick chic while presenting an abject view of women with no counter-perspective. [Read the review](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/film/american-madness-hits-london-7433846.html) ## Slant Magazine — Ed Gonzalez 2 May 2001. Harron’s adaptation feels deeper than the book by focusing beyond brand names and shows Bateman’s human side while delivering a nightmarish vision of ’80s self-involvement. The film suggests that, like the era, Bateman shall pass. [Read the review](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/american-psycho/) ## The Guardian — Peter Bradshaw 21 April 2000. Mary Harron has turned Bret Easton Ellis's novel into a stylish, disquieting and unexpectedly witty film, anchored by Christian Bale's smart and sensuously physical performance as Patrick Bateman. The adaptation cleverly keeps most violence off-camera and highlights the satire through funny business-card rivalries and pop-music monologues. [Read the review](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2000/apr/21/breteastonellis) ## Variety — Dennis Harvey 21 January 2000. Festival review. Harvey notes Harron's adaptation reframes the novel as a sharp satire on Reagan-era consumption and moral bankruptcy, reclaiming the material impressively despite its controversial elements. He praises the design, performances (especially Bale), and restrained approach to gore while acknowledging marketing challenges. [Read the review](https://variety.com/2000/film/reviews/american-psycho-1117775592/) ## Vulture 24 April 2000. The film is superficial about superficiality and overconceptualizes its metaphor for yuppie excess. It ultimately resembles a classy slasher flick released at the wrong cultural moment. [Read the review](https://www.vulture.com/2000/04/movie-review-american-psycho-christian-bale-mary-harron.html) ## Collider — Luna Guthrie Rating 8/10. 30 November 2024. The critic finds the film a sharp, satirical stab at 1980s yuppie culture, toxic masculinity, and consumerism that remains timely and demands rewatches for its layers. They single out Christian Bale’s magnetic, range-showing performance as Patrick Bateman and Mary Harron’s direction for turning the material into a biting yet entertaining critique. [Read the review](https://collider.com/american-psycho-review/) --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Our review: https://film.one/film/american-psycho.md