American Psycho Dialogue Script

[Lalo Scalf]

AmericanPsycho is a 2000 satirical horror film directed by Mary Harron, who co-wrote the screenplay with Guinevere Turner. Based on the 1991 novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis, it stars Christian Bale as Patrick Bateman, a New York City investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer. Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Chlo Sevigny, Samantha Mathis, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, and Reese Witherspoon appear in supporting roles. The film blends horror and black comedy to satirize 1980s yuppie culture and consumerism, exemplified by Bateman.

Ellis considered his controversial novel unfilmable, but producer Edward R. Pressman was determined to adapt it and bought the film rights in 1992. Stuart Gordon, David Cronenberg, and Rob Weiss considered directing the film before Harron and Turner began writing the screenplay in 1996. They sought to make a 1980s period film that emphasized the novel's satire. The pre-production period was tumultuous; Harron chose Bale to play Bateman, but because distributor Lions Gate Films sought Leonardo DiCaprio in the role, Harron was fired and replaced with Oliver Stone. After Stone and DiCaprio left due to creative differences, Harron was rehired and allowed to cast Bale. Principal photography began in February 1999 in Toronto and New York City.

American Psycho premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2000, and was theatrically released in the United States on April 14. The film received mostly positive reviews, with praise for Bale's performance and the screenplay, and grossed over $34 million on a $7 million budget. It has since developed a cult following and a strong presence in contemporary meme culture.[5] A direct-to-video sequel, American Psycho 2, was released in 2002, although it has little relation to the original.

In 1987, investment banker Patrick Bateman spends most of his time dining at popular restaurants while keeping up appearances for his fiance, Evelyn Williams, as well as his circle of wealthy associates, most of whom he hates. At a business meeting, Bateman and his associates flaunt their business cards, obsessing over their designs. Enraged by the superiority of his colleague Paul Allen's card, Bateman finds a homeless man and his dog in an alley at night and kills them. Bateman and Allen, who mistakes Bateman for another co-worker, make plans for dinner after a Christmas party. Bateman resents Allen for his affluent lifestyle and ability to obtain reservations at Dorsia, a highly exclusive restaurant which Bateman cannot get into. Bateman gets Allen drunk, lures him to his apartment and kills him violently. Bateman disposes of the body and goes into Allen's apartment to record an outgoing message on his answering machine, claiming that Allen has gone to London.

Private investigator Donald Kimball interviews Bateman regarding Allen's disappearance, mentioning that Allen may have been seen in London. Bateman invites two sex workers, Christie and Sabrina, over to his apartment, where they have sex. He then tortures them, pays them, and sends them on their way. Shortly after Bateman's colleague Luis Carruthers reveals a new business card, Bateman tries to strangle him in the restroom of an expensive restaurant. Carruthers mistakes the attempt for a sexual advance and declares his desire for Bateman, who is revolted and flees. Kimball, now suspicious of Bateman, conducts a second interview with him. Later, Bateman murders a model and stores her severed head in his freezer. The next day, Bateman invites his secretary, Jean, to his apartment. As Bateman prepares to kill Jean with a nail gun, he receives a message from Evelyn on his answering machine and desists.

Bateman has lunch with Kimball, who reveals that a colleague of Bateman's claims to have had dinner with him on the day of Allen's disappearance, cementing Bateman's alibi. Kimball remarks that the idea of one of Allen's friends murdering him for no reason is simply not believable; Bateman nervously smiles in response. Bateman brings Christie to Allen's apartment, where he drugs his acquaintance Elizabeth before having sex with her and Christie. When Bateman kills Elizabeth, Christie runs, discovering several corpses as she searches for an exit. Bateman chases her and drops a running chainsaw on her as she flees down a stairwell. Soon afterward, Bateman breaks off his engagement with Evelyn.

As Bateman uses an ATM, he sees a cat. The ATM then displays the text ".mw-parser-output span.smallcapsfont-variant:small-caps.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps-smallerfont-size:85%Feed Me A Stray Cat". Bateman prepares to shoot the cat, but a woman suddenly confronts him; he instead shoots her. A police chase ensues, but Bateman shoots one of the officers and blows up a patrol car, killing the other policemen. Bateman kills a security guard and a janitor before hiding in his office. He calls his lawyer, Harold Carnes, and frantically leaves a voicemail in which he confesses to all his murders. The following morning, Bateman visits Allen's apartment to clean it, but he finds it vacant and for sale. A realtor cryptically tells Bateman that the apartment does not belong to Allen before asking him to leave and not come back.

In a state of hysteria, Bateman calls Jean and then goes to meet with his colleagues for lunch. Meanwhile, Jean finds detailed, graphic drawings of murder and mutilation in a journal in Bateman's office. Bateman sees Carnes and mentions his voicemail. Carnes mistakes Bateman for another man and laughs off the confession as a joke. Bateman clarifies who he is and again confesses the murders, but Carnes says he recently had dinner with Allen in London, rendering Bateman's claims impossible. An exhausted and uncertain Bateman returns to his friends. They discuss dinner reservations and muse about whether Ronald Reagan is a harmless old man or a hidden psychopath. Bateman, unsure if his crimes were real or imaginary, realizes he will never receive the punishment he desires. Bateman narrates that he is in constant pain, that he wishes his pain inflicted on others, and that his confession has meant nothing.

The film is an adaptation of the satirical novel American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis, which was published in 1991 amid significant controversy over its graphic depiction of violence against women. Ellis had been disappointed by the 1987 adaptation of his first novel, Less than Zero (1985), and did not expect that anyone would be interested in adapting American Psycho, which he considered possibly unfilmable.[6] Nonetheless, development of a film adaptation began in 1992, after Johnny Depp expressed interest and producer Edward R. Pressman bought the film rights.[7] Pressman, to Ellis' surprise, was "obsessed" with turning American Psycho into a film.[8] Ellis discussed the project with filmmaker Stuart Gordon but felt that he was unsuitable.[9]

The development was prolonged due to what Variety called American Psycho's "literary complexity", which made adapting it to film difficult.[11] Cronenberg was dissatisfied with Ellis' draft and by March 1994 had sought a new draft from Norman Snider;[10][12] Ellis later recalled that Cronenberg left the project after he disliked Snider's draft even more.[10] Ellis wrote another draft for Rob Weiss in 1995, but the film again failed to materialize.[10] Pressman did not want to make a film that would offend people and described Ellis' draft as "completely pornographic".[7] Pressman appeared at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival to pre-sell the distribution rights to no avail.[13]

Harron read the existing drafts; while she somewhat enjoyed Ellis', she felt that most were too moralistic, missing the novel's preciseness in depicting social privilege.[14] Harron told Pressman that she would join the project only if she could write her own screenplay.[6] Pressman commented that out of all the directors who attached themselves to American Psycho, Harron was "the only person who actually ever conveyed a clear solution as to how to do it".[7] Harron recruited Guinevere Turner, who she had been working with on what would become The Notorious Bettie Page (2005), to co-write. Turner was not a horror fan and had never heard of American Psycho, but Harron convinced her that it would be a good project to pursue. Though she found the novel unsavory, Turner appreciated its blend of humor and horror and concluded that "with the right spin it could be a really subversive, feminist movie".[6]

Harron met with several actors for the role of Patrick Bateman but struggled to find a suitable candidate. She noted that "if someone isn't 100 percent on a role like [Bateman], you can't cast them and they shouldn't do it".[14] Billy Crudup was attached to the role for a month and a half,[6] but was uneasy and left the project.[14] Turner appreciated Crudup's honesty in admitting he could not understand the character. Harron sent the script to Christian Bale,[6] but he had never read American Psycho and thus had no interest.[15] Harron contacted Christine Vachon, who was working with Bale on Velvet Goldmine (1998) at the time, and Vachon told him to read the script.[6] Bale found the script humorous and immediately became interested, and flew to New York to audition in Harron's living room.[6][14][15]

Bale struggled to speak in an American accent since he had been speaking in a Manchester accent for Velvet Goldmine, but Harron thought it was clear he understood the role.[14] Like Harron, Bale was uninterested in Bateman's backstory; he saw the character as "an alien who landed in the unabashedly capitalist New York of the '80s".[6] Harron felt he was the only one who fit the role, later saying he "saw the part the way that I did, and he got the humor of it". When auditioning others she "had the feeling a lot of the other actors kind of thought Bateman was cool". Bale, she said though, did not.[6] Harron thought casting the relatively unknown Bale was risky, but "had a lot of faith in him", as Velvet Goldmine director Todd Haynes told her that Bale was "the best actor I've ever worked with".[6] Harron and Bale, in-character as Bateman, met with Ellis for dinner, an experience Ellis told Bale later into the evening was "unnerving [him]".[8]

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