American Psycho Turns Nasty

If there's one thing that the film world has learned of late, it must surely be that no film is safe from the protests of a bloodthirsty public. And American Psycho is no different. Canadian anti-violence groups are rallying to protest the imminent Toronto filming of the flick, which has just gained the talents of Reese Witherspoon and Samantha Mathis. Seemingly attracting bad publicity wherever she goes, Witherspoon was in the news only yesterday for her own protests against Aaron Spelling's comments pertaining to her forthcoming teen-movie, Cruel Intentions, which she stated reflected real teen life and not the usual fantasy portrayed by many Hollywood productions. However, controversy has long dogged Bret Easton Ellis' 1991 American Psycho novel, especially since a copy of the book was found in 1993 beside the bed of convicted Canadian serial killer Paul Bernardo. A psycho who it is believed used passages as a blueprint for his sadistic crimes. But last week, writer-director Mary Harron defended her film saying, "I'm not really interested in violence, so none of the ghastly things that are in the book make it into the movie." Due to begin filming on Sunday, Christian Bale stars as a Wall Street broker-turned-killer in a cast which also includes Willem Dafoe, Jared Leto, Chloe Sevigny and Guinevere Turner, who co-wrote the script with Harron.