Satire. It has been in films for generations. Satire is a type of genre that utilizes irony, humor, and exaggeration to demonstrate flaws and behavior in humans. For anybody that has seen American Psycho before they understand that this is a satire of fragile masculinity. Men who think they are so different from everyone yet try so hard to fit in with everyone else; apartment that costs more or the business cards that look better. Written and directed by Mary Harron, this is a deep dive into the psychosis of Patrick Bateman and his spiral out of control.
Again, this will give some spoilers, this is another one that is hard to talk about without giving some stuff away. I will warn people before I get to that however. Man, this movie has so many people in it. Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Reese Witherspoon, Jared Leto, Willem Dafoe and Chloe Sevigny and that’s not including the other extras that you have seen in a hundred other movies but just don’t know their names. The cast list alone is a powerhouse! The story of this film follows Patrick Bateman. He is a wealthy New York investment banker by day and in his personal life he delves deep into madness and violence.
SPOILERS (KIND OF). The first instance of Patrick with a cigar is the laundromat scene. Patrick is at the desk screaming at the female worker because they couldn’t get the very prominent red colored stains (I think you know what that is) out of his bedsheets. The whole time he is waving his arms around shouting he has an unlit stogie in his hand. It was a bigger cigar with a reddish band and I have done some digging but can’t quite put my finger on what kind of cigar it was. A few of the brands that have been thrown out there are La Plata, CAO and Gurkha.
One part of the movie is when he kills a colleague. Patrick dons a fancy raincoat then proceeds to AXE his a colleague a question! After the deed is done and he doffs his raincoat he sits down, blood splattered face and lights a stogie. A triumphant smoke? He feels complete and the only thing left is to light up his cigar. There are a few other times you see cigars in the film, him walking down the street or hanging out with his peers at a lounge. Quite honestly this movie has so much to unpack I could write/talk about this movie for hours but alas, all good things must end. This is a fantastic movie based off an even better book with an excellent cast, great direction from Mary Harron and an absolute KILLER soundtrack! This is one you absolutely need to check out! Stay smokey!
TRIVIA
1 – During production, Christian Bale followed the morning routine that his character Patrick Bateman describes toward the beginning of the film.
2 – The vast majority of the dialogue in the movie is taken word-for-word from the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
3 – The single biggest cost on the film was purchasing the rights to the various songs used throughout.
4 – During his big chainsaw scene, Christian Bale would happily (literally) hang out between takes wearing nothing but a sock over his penis and some tennis shoes.
5 – Certain scenes in the book either had to be completely removed or toned down for the film, due to the graphic and extreme nature of the murders and torture scenes.
