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Once upon a time, Christian Bale was not worried about yelling at the director of photography. He was not a punch line for angry actors in the mold of Russell Crowe and Mel “I hate your boobs” Gibson. Instead, he was intensely devoted to his craft. If that meant being so skinny he made Kate Moss look healthy, he did that. He would then quickly turn around and put on muscle to beat up Tom Wilkinson and Liam Neeson. Yet, he never forgot about creating characters. For some reason, he is now concerned with being brooding instead of expressive. Yet, none of that negates his terrific work as Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

Maybe it was Bale identifying so closely with Bateman that facilitated Bale’s strongest performance. Mary Herron, herself denied for Best Director, captures every single moment of Bale’s intense, horrifying and sometimes funny performance. From the opening scene of his meticulous morning ritual as to prevent the aging process, to the little details of his face as he even feels defeated when a colleague has a better business card than his own, Bale expresses a man who has created a world that centers on him. In this world, Bateman is capable of anything, and Bale presents him as a man who knows what he wants and believes he is popular and important.

The role allowed Bale to demonstrate this through subtle facial cues as he goes through his rituals, through each rub of his special facial cream to his political statements. Bateman spouts out musical commentary on artists that run the gamut from Huey Lewis to Peter Gabriel to Whitney Houston. Bale gives Bateman the confidence to tell his secretary that she needs a better dress and to wear high heels to work. Bateman is always the center of every room, party and conversation. None of the other characters are given the time to register, because Bateman allows himself to be the center of attention, or more accurately perceives himself to be the center of attention. Bale’s own self-confidence fuels Bateman’s narcissistic tendencies. His performance never feels like he is over-acting, but only an extension of an ego-centric personality.

Yet, Bale is given plenty of room to also have fun with his role. The greatest of these scenes involves the murder of a colleague set to “Hip to be Square”. The scene is brutally violent, but you can’t help but laugh at the over-the-top nature of the moment - not only for the choice of Huey Lewis and Bateman’s sincere commentary, but that Bateman’s enjoyment of the crime comes not just because of jealousy but instead because it’s a fun activity. Bateman doesn’t see any line between good and evil, but it’s an activity like stomach crunches or a game of pick up hoops. Even before he kills his more popular colleague, he has to impress him by playing a popular band of the moment and demonstrating his knowledge of the group. Later, when he picks up a couple of prostitutes, he engages in similar music commentary, but instead of the more jovial attitude from the previous scene, he instead speaks down to these lowly whores. He comments on the fine wine he is providing them and speaks more verbosely. Bale gives Bateman such a succinct manner of speaking and postures him as to give Bateman an aura of superiority.


Yet, Bale doesn’t hold back from showing Bateman’s vulnerability around authority. Willem Dafoe’s detective is the one character who is allowed to steal the scene from Bateman. As controlled as Bateman tries to be, the detective maintains his cool. Bateman easily seems more on the edge and in less control of the situation. He doesn’t feed Bateman’s delusions nor does he buy them. It is this vulnerability that spirals Bateman into greater madness, yet Bale doesn’t allow the audience to see the cracks in Bateman’s personality, aside from the obvious murders. Repeated viewings show Bale’s subtle hints of the true nature of Bateman’s insanity, but it’s only after you seen have the story once.

Throughout the film, Bale hints at other forms of madness (a tirade at a dry cleaner, killing a homeless man, an outrageous sketch where he chases a victim with a chain saw). In many ways, Bale presents Bateman as a man deeply in control of his own actions, yet someone not in control of his urges. The movie and Bale’s performance really do offer a terrific critique of '80s vanity and consumerism. In what could’ve been a performance that channeled a younger Gordon Gekko, Bale makes his character concerned less with money, but in the being ultimate male of his time and place.

As mentioned earlier, I could also write at length at how Mary Herron was denied herself of a Best Director nomination. Considering all the laurels that Kathryn Bigelow won for The Hurt Locker, for executing a “male” film as a woman, Herron did the same thing nine years earlier in a far more thought provoking movie. The film now stands far above fellow Oscar nominees; Erin Brockovich, Gladiator, Crouching Tiger and even Traffic. Bale faced stiff competition, but while the nominee field produced strong characters, none stand out as uniquely as Bateman.

Yet, as he has gone further into the mainstream, Bale has become more of a punch line. Bale was a celebrated choice as the new Caped Crusader, and was an important part of the first film’s success. However, despite how much improved The Dark Knight was over its predecessor, Bale seemed to be the weakest leak in an impressive cast. Despite his downfall, though, one can still experience Bale’s John Connor and remember when Patrick Bateman was one of the freshest, most memorable characters.