I once read that there is a notable percentage of individuals afflicted with psychopathy in high-ranking corporate positions. Business is a cutthroat world, and to rise to the top one must be charming and personable on the one hand, and on the other, willing to do whatever it takes to obtain that coveted promotion. While I don’t know how true these statistics are (I must admit that the reasoning makes sense to my liberal-minded small-business-loving brain), it certainly makes for the basis of a good story.
Baxter Avenue Theater presents a midnight showing of “American Psycho” tomorrow, Saturday the 14th. Already a cult classic after just over a decade, this brutal and disturbing film tells the story of businessman Patrick Bateman (brilliantly played by the current incarnation of Batman himself, Christian Bale). Bateman appears to be a normal, successful businessman to his colleagues, but inside he is an emotionless monster filled with perverted desires, an insatiable bloodlust, and a love of 1980s pop music.
This dark and bloody film is based on the novel of the same name by Bret Easton Ellis and is directed by Mary Harron (“I Shot Andy Warhol,” “The Notorious Bettie Page”). It also stars Reese Witherspoon, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Justin Theroux (“Mulholland Drive”), Matt Ross (“Big Love”), and a personal favorite of mine, Chloë Sevigny (“Big Love”, “Gummo,” “Julien Donkey-Boy”).
The opportunity to see this masterpiece on the big screen is not to be missed. Where else do you get to witness an enthusiastic philosophical meditation on the music of Huey Lewis and the News by a blood-splattered axe-wielding maniac? I swear you will never hear the song “Hip to Be Square” the same way again.
Ticket and theater information can be found at the Baxter Avenue Theater website.
Image courtesy of the Internet Movie Database.