American Psycho (2000)

Episode 156 (April 11, 2025)

We welcome Hal and Craig from the Red Rose Film Club podcast to cover American Psycho (2000), the Wall Street horror/comedy starring Christian Bale as Patrick “Justin” Bateman. This movie’s got a lot going on, folks. And we get to it all—we determine who has the best business card, we explain why you wouldn’t want Christian Bale as your co-worker at Whataburger, we try to figure out what’s going on with Justin Theroux’s hair, and we marvel at Patrick Bateman’s chainsaw math. Also, is American Psycho Jared Leto’s villain origin story?

Is Patrick Bateman the embodiment of toxic masculinity? A victim of America’s addiction to competition and consumption above all else? A misunderstood baby boy? An iconic slasher villain? What if our answer was…. Yes?

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American Psycho Podcast

Time stamps:
8:00 — Our personal histories with American Psycho
16:30 — History segment: Bret Easton Ellis and his American Psycho novel; development of the film under director Mary Harron; star Christian Bale
41:45 — In-depth movie discussion
2:02:39 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Sources:

“American Psycho: An Oral History, 20 Years After Its Divisive Debut” by Tim Molloy | Movie Maker, 2020 – https://bit.ly/44e4Kd2
“Blood, Boycott, and Body Bags: An Oral History of ‘American Psycho’” by Tatiana Tenreyro | Vice, 2020 – https://bit.ly/4i61CmW
“Snuff This Book! Will Bret Easton Ellis Get Away With Murder?” by Roger Rosenblatt | The New York Times, 1991 – https://nyti.ms/3G0emOE

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:
“Winston-Salem” – https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM
“Snake Drama” – https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg
“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” – https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ