The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • Page 66

Today PagelOE Friday, April 14, 2000 The Sun Deft hand with a dark tale Parents playing favorites has a lasting effect 'Psycho', from Page 1e Ann Landers 'American Psycho Starring Christian Bale, Willem Dafoe and Chloe Sevlgny Directed by Mary Harron Released by Lions Gate Films Running time ioo minutes Rated (strong violence, sexuality, drug use and language) Sun score Dear Lori: Those parents did not write to me. Their daughter did. She cannot force her parents to love her any more or treat her any better. She can, however, stop obsessing over her parents' favoritism, accept the relationship for what it is and learn to make the best of it. Gem of the Day (Credit Gene Hegel of Elgin, Never do card tricks for the group you play poker with.

Creators Syndicate Send your letters to Ann Landers, P.O. Box 11562, Chicago, III. 60611-0562. Dear Ann Landers: i was really upset when you told the woman whose parents favored her brother to "get over it." Believe me, it's not that easy. My older brother is adored by my parents.

He can do no wrong, in spite of the fact that they have had to support him his entire life. They phone him every day to see if he's OK. They call me twice a month. When my brother had the flu, my mother called the entire family, even those out of town. When I had surgery, she didn't even mention it.

No one knew a thing about It. withering. It's also hilarious. Welsh-born Christian Bale, who made his film debut as the boy hero of Steven Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun," is all reptilian menace as Bateman. There's nothing endearing about him this is no misunderstood victim of society but there are more than a few elements of the surreal.

It's an open question whether his Bateman is a murderous psycho or just a delud-. ed psychotic, but in neither case do you want to be around this guy. Bales' is a sly, disturbing performance that makes Norman Bates seem the lesser of two evils. As a book, "American Psycho" was accused of being misogynistic, but on screen, the female characters are the only ones emotionally involving. That's especially true of Chloe Sevigny as Bateman's secretary, Jean, who insists on finding humanity in her boss, and Cara Seymour as Christie, a prostitute who gets drawn into Bateman's potentially deadly games.

"American Psycho" is never going to be mistaken for the feelgood movie of the year. But by distilling the novel to its satirical essence, Harron turns it into a withering condemnation of a culture where greed is a virtue, a culture that you don't have to feel guilty for laughing at. You have no idea what it's like to feel unloved by your parents. It is not possible to "get over it." I try to maintain a decent relationship with them, but I feel the heartache every day. Lori In Massachusetts crusade.

He just likes to kill people, finds it all rather exciting. Plus, he finds it so much easier to kill people than interact with them. But as his murders become more calculated he kills one coworker in a white-carpeted apartment, calmly taking time to cover everything in plastic beforehand he seems to take less pleasure in them. He even lets what passes for conscience talk him out of killing one woman. This won't do.

Especially since the police, in the form of nosy detective Donald Kimball (Willem Dafoe), seem to be getting wise to his act. What's a psycho to do? But then, is Bateman the murderous psycho he seems? Or does he just have a vivid imagination fed by a corporate culture where murder seems like a logical extension of the way business is run? "American Psycho" has great fun manipulating reality; in its opening scene, blood that appears to be dripping on the screen turns out to be dessert preparation involving red berry sauce. That's not the last time Harron and Turner's pi FREE E-COMMERCE SEMINAR screenplay has viewers doing a double-take. And, as gruesome as Bateman's murders and sexual games may be, perhaps the film's most memorable scene involves a simple business card. In Bateman's world, the person to be envied isn't the richest, or most successful, or the one with the prettiest trophy wife.

It's the guy with the best-textured, most delicately off-white, most exquisitely printed business card. To the naked eye, the cards look pretty much the same, but Bateman and his friends take it all deadly seriously. As satire, the scene is brought to you by 3 www.sunspot.net review i Magnetic Newman steals the show in 'Money' April 25th Hyatt Reqency, Baltimore Everything you ever wanted to know about opening an online store but didn't know how to ask. Our free seminar will teach you the latest trends in online retailing, give you valuable information on e-tommerce, provide tips on marketing your business online, and unveil Registration By Ann Hornaday SUN FILM CRITIC Seminar ICE 111 'Where the Money Is9 1 i iree seminar April 26th near you! the important "keys to success to help you grow your business on the Internet. Give us an hour.

Get a real education. Hilton, Columbia Registration Starring Paul Newman, Linda Fiorentino, Dermot Mulroney Directed by Marek Kanle vska Rated PO-13 (sexual content) Running time 89 minutes Released by usa FUms Sun score All you need to take advantage of this offer are products, the ability to ship them, and Internet access with an email account. We design, build and host your online store, give you easy tools to maintain it, and provide hands-on practice using them. Set-up is free all you pay are modest hosting and transaction fees. Plus, your store will be placed within our mall and the national Point Shop" super mall.

And we support you with dedicated, live, 24x7 customer service. To reserve your seat, call (888) 718-3434 Seminar April 26th The Radisson Inn, Cross Keys Registration Seminar of endless Bingo games and "sipping green Jell-O through a straw." Newman's role as a stroke patient at first glance seems to be a shameful waste of his talents, but rest assured that it provides him with some nifty small moments, as well as a few of the most memora ble entrances and exits of his career. "Where the Money Is" is devoid of that ineffable quality Hollywood calls "edge" (a polite term for gratuitous blood and profanity). Instead it's just another modest, unsurprising little heist flick, directed with too much self-conscious visual style and too many contrivances by ad-man Marek Kanievska. So why is it so much fun? Why do Fiorentino and Mulroney, both appealing actors but neither at their best here, seem to shine in some greater reflected light? Why will audiences walk out of the theater oddly cheered and satisfied? The answer, lady, is in your purse.

There's a story that's been circulated for years, probably apocryphal, about a woman who was ordering an ice cream cone in an upscale shop one day when Paul Newman walked in. Briefly flustered, she didn't fawn over him or make a big deal out of it; she just got her change and left. A few minutes later she returned, explaining to the counterman that she had forgotten her cone. "Lady," Newman cracked, "it's in your purse." That story gains resonance while you're watching "Where the Money Is." Newman plays a stroke patient in the movie, a role that wouldn't seem to lend itself to an animal magnetism that has lost nothing in over four decades. But all it takes is one glance from those eyes, one brief, grin, to make knees go weak.

Every time Newman takes the screen, it's a lovely little heart attack. In "Where the Money Is," Newman plays Henry, who has just been admitted to a slightly gone-to-seed nursing home. There he comes under the care and feeding of Carol (Linda Fiorentino), who discovers that Henry is actually a former bank robber who has been transferred to the hospital from prison. Pretty soon Carol, who is bored by the small-town dreams of her prom-king husband Wayne (Dermot Mulroney), is scheming to find one last caper for Henry to pull off before he accepts his fate f. if I Presented By Performing Arts Productions Inc.

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