| American Psycho 2 | |
|---|---|
DVD cover |
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| Directed by | Morgan J. Freeman |
| Produced by | Ernie Barbarash |
| Screenplay by | Alex Sanger Karen Craig |
| Starring | Mila Kunis William Shatner Geraint Wyn Davies Robin Dunne Kim Poirier Lindy Booth |
| Music by | Norman Orenstein |
| Cinematography | Vanja Cernjul |
| Editing by | Mark Sanders |
| Studio | Lionsgate |
| Distributed by | Lionsgate Home Entertainment |
| Release date(s) | April 22, 2002 June 18, 2002 (United States) |
| Running time | 88 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
American Psycho 2 is a stand-alone 2002 direct-to-video sequel/spin-off of Mary Harron's 2000 film adaptation of American Psycho. It is directed by Morgan J. Freeman and stars Mila Kunis as Rachael Newman, a driven criminology student who is drawn to murder. The film also features William Shatner as a professor. The film was adapted from a script titled The Girl Who Wouldn't Die.[1]
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The film starts with a twelve-year-old Rachael Newman, whose babysitter is on a date with serial killer Patrick Bateman. As Bateman begins to dissect her babysitter, Rachael breaks out of the duct tape binding her hands and stabs him with an ice pick, which then shows up periodically through the rest of the film. Fast forward to the present day and Rachael is now a college student studying criminology under Professor Starkman, a former FBI agent. Rachael aspires to join the FBI and is hell-bent on getting the teaching assistant position under Starkman, which would make her a shoo-in for the FBI training program.
However, tough competition for the position stands in her way, and Rachael proceeds to kill off classmates one by one. During her killing spree she decides to see the school psychiatrist, Dr. Eric Daniels. Realizing that Rachael is a textbook sociopath, Daniels tries to warn Starkman, who mistakenly thinks the psycho student is Cassandra Blaire, with whom he had an extramarital affair. When Cassandra reveals that her affair with Professor Starkman has guaranteed her the TA position, Rachael decides to murder her as well. After she does so Professor Starkman discovers Cassandra's body and calls Daniels to tell him that "she's dead". But he does not identify the victim, and Daniels assumes it must be Rachael. Distraught, Professor Starkman leaves his teaching position, which angers the obsessed Rachael. She reveals that she is not Rachael Newman: she killed the real Rachael at the beginning of the semester and assumed her identity.
During spring break Rachael stays on campus and confronts Starkman, who had taken Valium and alcohol, and tries to seduce him to get the job. However, Starkman sees she is wearing a dress and necklace he had given to Cassandra. She then confesses her crimes to him, her "crush" on him, and that she knew about his affairs with various women (which included her former babysitter, whom he indirectly killed, since he had told her about Bateman and she decided to track him down), as he backs up towards the window in a state of confusion and fear. Rachael blows him a kiss, and he falls out the window to his death. As she leaves, Rachael realizes a janitor has witnessed Starkman's death, and she murders the janitor, too. Driving away from campus with Starkman in her car, Rachael gets pulled over by a cop, whom she stabs to death with an ice pick. As the movie reaches its conclusion Daniels and two cops pursue Rachael in a car chase, which ends with Rachael driving off a cliff, resulting in the car exploding. At this point, she is presumed to be dead by the cops who witnessed the event and the media.
In the final scene, Dr. Daniels is giving a lecture on Rachael's mind and how he wrote a book about her. When he looks up from speaking with a student, he sees Rachael, who hasn't died after all; she indirectly reveals that she killed Starkman's last assistant, Elizabeth McGuire, and stole her identity to get into Quantico. She allows Dr. Daniels to know because she believes there is no point in committing the perfect crime if no one knows about it and that she's proud of his success. The body that was in the car was the real Rachael. As she walks out of his class, Dr. Daniels is obviously disturbed and rattled.
American Psycho 2 received mostly negative reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 11% of critics have given the film a positive review, based on 9 reviews with an average score of 3.1 out of 10. [2] Pete Croatto of filmcritic criticized the film and added "I can't think of one American Psycho fan who wouldn't be disappointed watching this far inferior 'sequel', which doesn't even try to flex any intellectual muscles or take any chances. It's another stale, kill-by-numbers flick, complete with blade-thin characters and terrible, pun-laden dialogue. And if that's not enough for you, William Shatner is in it."[3] The film was denounced by American Psycho author Bret Easton Ellis. [4]
This list only includes credited cast members whose characters were named in movie.
| Character | Actor | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Rachael Newman | Mila Kunis | The serial killer, and a student of Professor Starkman's class, seeking to learn everything she can about serial killers. |
| Susan Dalton | The real Rachael, whose identity was stolen. | |
| Jenna Perry | Younger version of Rachael. | |
| Prof. Robert Starkman | William Shatner | College professor who was once an FBI agent. He teaches in the Behavioral and Social Sciences department and is Rachael's professor. He dies by falling out of a window. He is killed by Rachael. |
| Elizabeth McGuire | Kim Schraner | Assistant to Professor Starkman. She is killed by Rachael off-screen, and Rachael then assumes her identity. |
| Dr. Eric Daniels | Geraint Wyn Davies | Psychiatrist. Friend of Professor Robert Starkman who is scared of Rachael after their first therapy session. |
| Patrick Bateman | Michael Kremko | Infamous serial killer from whom Rachael escapes as a child. In the original film, the serial killer character, Patrick, was played by Christian Bale; in this movie, the character exists only in the memory of the character played by Kunis. |
| Brian Leads | Robin Dunne | Classmate of Rachael. Choked to death by Rachael. |
| Barbara Brown | Kim Poirier | Student of Professor Starkman's class who is hoping for a good grade in class but ends up being set aside because of Starkman's affair with another student, Cassandra. |
| Cassandra Blaire | Lindy Booth | Student who has an affair with Professor Starkman. She is hanged by Rachael. |
| Keith Lawson | Charles Officer | |
| Gertrude Fleck | Shoshana Sperling | |
| Clara | Kate Kelton | |
| Neighbour | Quancetia Hamilton | |
| Gill | John Healy | |
| Janitor | Andrew Scorer | |
| Waiter | Thomas Dozol | |
| Rachael's Mom | Lynne Deragon | |
| Rachael's Dad | Philip Williams | |
| Daniels' Mom | Kay Hawtrey | |
| Harvey | Neil Crone | |
| Jim | Boyd Banks | |
| Mary | Greer Kent |
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