I adore this film. Love it. Love everything about it. It is straight faced silliness, craziness and completely perfect satire all in one.
The direction, script, performances, cinematography and soundtrack flawless. It also has a roll call of now-famous actors who are brilliant.
Mary Harron, who directs and co-wrote the script, is perfection. Not one thing doesn't work, not one element not perfect.
And at the centre of it all is Christian Bale. His commitment to the role is legendary, including his months long, 6 day-a-week hours long gym sessions. But this is so much more than just what he looks like. The whole character of Bateman and his complete vanity are fascinating and horrifying.
Rent this film, book a reservation at Dorsia and stick Huey Lewis and the News on your stereo, then sit back and revel in this masterpiece of film and acting.
What a shame that CP's copy of this Blu-ray is the American theatrical release, which cut some of the scene between Batemen and the two prostitutes. It doesn't really affect the story if you don't know the uncut DVD version, but it's an unwelcome and jarring note if you do. I'll have to try to find a Blu-ray copy of that somewhere. And how typical of the Americans to cut a couple of sex references/scenes, rather than the abundant bloody violence, sexism or racism.
A blackly comic and subtly horrific adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis’s satire of 1980s excess. Surely the greatest performance of Christian Bale’s career, as a literal wolf of Wall Street whose misogyny runs to more savage extremes than his colleagues and whose violent rage could be awakened by mere jealousy of a colleague’s business card or his continuous inability to get a reservation at the most fashionable restaurant.