I remember this movie coming out to a hype of the most gruesome, scary movie since movies began and a good friend of mine hyped this up big style and then I watched it and as the titles rolled I remember looking at the screen and my inner brain just said “well, was that it?” So, it must have been around 2000 when this movie was released. It may have been a year after as I can’t remember going to the cinema to see this so I assume this must have been a video whenever it was released. This movie had a production budget of $7m and it went on to make $34.3m at the box office which has to be seen as a success. It starred a list of names including Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Josh Lucas, Samantha Mathis, Matt Ross, Bill Sage, Chloë Sevigny, Cara Seymour, Justin Theroux, Guinevere Turner & Reese Witherspoon. Should I attempt to describe the plot now?
The story follows Jason Bateman as he proceeds through life in the eighties. He is an investment banker and very rich and likes the fine things in life. They compare the quality of their business cards. The importance of which snobby restaurant to go to or get into and the appearance is all important. Likewise, with his trophy fiancée. This is the eighties business at its most pompous, but as well as his facemask and body products to ensure perfection he also starts killing people. He begins with one homeless man and his dog. He moves onto a colleague who has mistaken him for another person so he lures him back to his flat and then hacks him to bits with a shiny axe. He cuts the body into small bits and then abuses prostitutes. The police are looking into the disappearance of his colleague and he turns his murderous activities to women after inviting two ladies back to Allen’s apartment he kills both and starts to feel the net closing around him and decides to confess.
That’s is basically the entire film just there. It sounds like I don’t like this film very much at the moment but let me add the Tri-Critic Challenge figures that have this movie with IMDb scoring it 7.6/10 which is close enough for me but a poor 69% from Rotten Tomatoes ruined the challenge. I can see exactly why me and IMDb agree with the scores but I can also see why the red and squishy mob didn’t like it as much. Without giving the plot away completely I may not be able to give you a good and full reason for this as I would like. This is a good movie and an interesting story about yuppies from the eighties and having one going way too far and being beyond control. It then takes a turn of whether he is mad, which is clearly correct as he hacks people apart with an axe. It plays with the viewer and some people may find that offensive to the point where they do not like the film. Where others may think this is just clever and tricky and I can see why its popular and for me watching the decent into the psycho part of this character is fascinating to the point where I genuinely gave the score for how I rate this movie and if you haven’t see it then give it go and I would recommend bringing a mirror when you do. As for the first time you watch this movie and when the end credits roll up the screen hold up the mirror and see what expression on your face. That look will decide what score you would give this movie… I went with 75…
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