Why do people like American Psycho?

I always thought that was the point of it. To be comment on the absurdity of stereotypical businessmen of the time. All wearing the same "uniform," using the same business cards, indistinguishable from one another.
It is a comedy! Its all one huge absurd comedy of the fragile, toxic masculine existence. So you've nailed it.

To really really love this film, you kinda have to be familiar with the era that this film came from. Specifically, the absolute love of money=success of the yuppie culture of the 80's. Also, ultra violence was a big thing in movies from that time.

For more context, watch Oliver Stone’s “Wall Street” with Michael (greed is good) Douglass.

So you don’t like Huey Lewis and The News?

Their early work was a little too new wave for my taste. But when Sports came out in '83, I think they really came into their own, commercially and artistically. The whole album has a clear, crisp sound, and a new sheen of consummate professionalism... that really gives the songs a big boost.

Feels like Fight Club to me where there is a subset of young men who like it, not recognizing it's a parody. Then there's people who get it and like it as a comedy. And the obviousness of which is which is not always clear, so you will never see me talking about whether I like it or not because it invites the first type.

People who think you're supposed to like Bateman are people you don't need to associate with, its a great litmus test
The not getting that you’re being called out for loving the violence and fascism part of the movie reminds me of Verhoven films like “Starship Troopers” and “Robocop”.
Big overlap with the "I liked Rage Against The Machine, until they started getting political" crowd.

I like vanilla, some people like chocolate

I don’t really remember it, so I guess it isn’t very memorable. It seems not to have been especially praised by critics, nor by the author. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Psycho_(film)#Reception

Original author [Bret Easton] Ellis said, "American Psycho was a book I didn't think needed to be turned into a movie", as "the medium of film demands answers", which would make the book "infinitely less interesting". He also said that while the book attempted to add ambiguity to the events and to Bateman's reliability as a narrator, the film appeared to make them completely literal before confusing the issue at the very end.

I think it's just fun to see Christian Bale convincingly play a psychopath lol

You can also see him play a psycho behind the scenes of “Terminator Salvation”.

I watched it for the first time the other day. I didn't hate it, but it wasn't at all what I expected, and I'm kind of surprised it has the profile it does. I quite liked the ambiguity of a lot of it though.

Interested to see what responses you get here.

I don’t hate it. It’s just a massive let down.
- What about it was a let down to you? To me, there's so many quotable moments and the acting is great. The whole thing is dark as hell while somehow being hilarious. It even leaves some things open to interpretation

It's hilarious! My favorite Bale performance easily. Willem Dafoe is excellent too. I love the whole over-the-top 80s NYC yuppie caricature.

It's also a scathing nightmare parable about the raw pursuit of wealth and influence.

What do you find bad about it? Do you have specifics?

Many things taken together: The message is too “in your face”. The comedy is weak. The story not engaging enough, lots of false starts but no follow through.
The acting is good though, and there were some tits. Overall 2/5. Not bad enough to matter, just “meh”. Which is why it confuses me that it enthralled so many people.
- It maybe the time and place. Watching it now we might be too far away from the 80s to have it still resonate. Back in the 80s there was a few people like Bateman. So the commentary on the era while it was still fresh in memory that really added to the humor.
- You could try the book.. The movie is quite tame compared to the book though. It sketches a very detailed look into the time as well. Iirc there are about five pages in wich Bateman explains why he loves certain music albums. And of course his whole morning routine.. I really liked it.

Why do you feel it was bad?

For the memes.

Why do you think it's bad?

I read the book because I was a big bookworm and I had only that one book (was in another country, being poor).

So bad.

Just a really bad book with ultra violence added IMO.

The film is over quicker so IMO better than the book, which was about 500 pages too long.

I recently watched the lion king and was whelmed.

Story telling has just evolved. The pacing of modern movies is more finely tuned. I can see how these movies used to be good but we're just spoiled by better movies.

wait you can be whelmed? I had never considered that I had only ever heard people say underwhelmed.
- There's also overwhelm as well! Cool thing about most prefixes in English is that they can be changed out for other prefixes or completely removed. Though, one wouldn't quite hear somebody say antiwhelmed there's still nothing against it.
- I think you can in Europe.
Whelmed is a perfect description for how I felt about many movies (thanks for that!), but this one just underwhelmed me.

I like some scenes but not the movie as a whole.

Believe it or not, it was a running chainsaw. In a Manhattan apartment building. After she ran screaming and punching all the doors. And no one noticed.

I expected it to be scarier. I grew up with a sociopath serial killer couple in my hometown so this was just tame compared to that.

I agree with you. Lots of people in this thread assuming you "didn't get it", even though the satire punches you in the face.

Right? Give me some layers between the performance and the message. Watching it made me feel talked down to, as I was a child.