American Psycho is one of the best films of the 2000s, and Christian Bale's magnificent portrayal of Patrick Bateman is one of the most compelling for many years. Bateman is a vain, egotistical, wealthy investment banker in his 20s, during the yuppie era of the 1980s. He is also a serial-killing psychopath. He callously murders a homeless man and his dog, and a co-worker of whom he is jealous of- a particularly brutal scene- as his grasp on reality starts to slip because of his relentless drug taking. There is an obvious charm about Bateman that makes it impossible not to like him slightly - his passion for the 80s music scene at the time, from Huey Lewis And The News to Genesis, is entertaining throughout - and he is incredibly engaging. Despite this, he is a woeful excuse for a human being, and perfectly symbolises how many loathsome people there were on Wall Street at that time. To be honest, that's probably still the case today. Whether or not you believe Bateman's actions are all actually just in his head in the end is up to the individual watching the film, but there can be no doubting that throughout the film he is one of the most dislikable film characters you are ever likely to see. He makes Jordan Belfort look like Mary Poppins.
