Factual error: The actual footage playing during the phone call with Courtney is from the 1998 porn "White Angel" (around the 40-minute mark, in case you want to research the material), making it anachronistic for a movie set over 10 years earlier. (00:14:35)
Factual error: When at the end of the movie there is a close-up on the TV where the yuppies are watching Ronald Reagan's address to the nation from August 12, 1987, it's a Sony KV-20M10, a model first introduced in 1994, therefore years after the movie setting. (01:34:40)
Other mistake: When Jean looks at Patrick's increasingly twisted designs, it turns out that he drew a woman with a chainsaw stuck in her back on November 13th. That does not appear to make sense by the most basic movie inner logic (even if we discount any real-life reference to the year), considering he murdered Paul on December 20th and his descent into madness isn't supposed to be a slow one. (01:34:00)
Suggested correction: First, his secretary is named Jean, not Julia. Second, just because he doodled the chainsaw on a specific date doesn't mean he killed her on that date.
Just corrected the name, thank you. I do make mistakes all the time! As for the chainsaw stuck inside the back of a downed woman, it would have been quite strange if he just happened to draw a prediction of the murder months earlier, and it wouldn't make sense that he would keep a normal diary until November, then go crazy for months after but keep doodling in December of an old diary (the movie is supposed to be well into the new year).
Factual error: When Jean starts browsing Patrick's planner, the planner does not match any possible year the movie could be set in. For instance, in the 80s, October 8th was on a Friday only in 1982, way too early for the movie. Since the movie was shot in 1999 and the pattern of the days would fit, it's obvious that they simply bought a diary the day of the shooting or something like that. (01:30:05)
Continuity mistake: When Bateman's lawyer does not recognize him, thinking he is a 'Davis', and brushes him off for the first time to try and go greet someone else ("Is that Edward Towers?"), a guy passes by them twice in two separate shots. (01:31:35)
Continuity mistake: When Jean goes through Patrick's belongings after his maniacal call, she gets one diary in each hand - but you may notice that they switch hands in the next shot. She grabs the P.B. one with her left hand in close-up but pulls it out with her right. (01:29:45)
Revealing mistake: As it often happens, much of this NY-set movie was filmed in Canada. Patrick Bateman's office building is actually part of the Toronto-Dominion Centre. A funny nod to this gimmick occurs after Patrick kills the janitor and has to sprint between building towers. While he runs in the long shot, a Canadian flag can be seen waving in the wind on the left side. (01:21:10)
Factual error: After killing the random 'stray' old lady, Bateman flees the scene of the crime. When he triggers some car alarms, he walks past the Rector Street subway entrance. The sign for the station indicates it is served by both line 1 and 9, but line 9 was instituted in 1989, well after the year the movie is set in. (01:19:30)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the conversation where Bateman is dumping his girlfriend, she spots a friend in the crowd of the restaurant and waves at her. Notice that in the long shot ("Why, what's wrong?") a server with an orange shirt moves away from a nearby table. In the next shot, he's already way past Evelyn's friend and the bar, but a couple of shots later he is in front of her. (01:16:35)
Factual error: The chainsaw Bateman uses to kill the prostitute fleeing the apartment is a Husqvarna 136 model, which came out in 1993. The movie is set in 1987. (01:15:40)
Character mistake: Patrick gets wrong the fact that Whitney Houston's eponymous debut album had 4 n.1 singles. It had 'just' 3 ("Saving All My Love for You," "How Will I Know," and "Greatest Love of All"). (01:12:35)
Continuity mistake: The limo with Patrick in the back is following Christie. Patrick lures her with a bit of whistling and the usual wad of bills as bait. When she stops, her arms are folded, but in the POV from inside the limo, her arms are straight. (01:08:40)
Continuity mistake: When Patrick asks Jean out, he puts the crossword puzzle roughly on top of a book, off-centre at an angle. When the camera shows us the whole couch again, the paper is now parallel to the book and the phone, also on the couch, has moved slightly. Patrick, during this time, is off-screen a couple of times, but he's not supposed to move anything with his right arm; he is holding a pen and gesticulating towards the girl. (00:57:45 - 00:58:15)
Continuity mistake: Patrick just did cocaine in the bathroom of a club. He gets back to his friend and three women. One of the women, Karen, took the Gorbachev joke seriously, and his friend says, "He's at Tunnel." Karen's position changes completely between shots. (00:56:00)
Factual error: At the club where we see Patrick do coke with his friend, the tunes played are the only single from M|A|R|R|S, "Pump Up the Volume" (before the coke) and "What's on Your Mind (Pure Energy)" by Information Society. The former is a late August 1987 release, the latter released at the end of April in 1988, so outside of the time frame of a movie set in 1987. (00:53:50)
Other mistake: In the nightclub scene where Patrick and Bryce do coke in the bathroom, pay attention to how they are dressed. When the scene is over and they are talking to the three girls, they are actually wearing different clothes... which are the same clothes they were wearing at the very beginning of the movie. This mistake was admitted by the director Mary Harron in her DVD commentary. She says that the editor, Andrew Marcus, suggested moving the snorting scene later in the movie to a different nightclub to avoid opening the movie with such a strong image, and when Harron objected, "I can't, they were wearing different clothes," Marcus replied, "Nobody will notice." Well... (00:54:30)
Continuity mistake: When Patrick tells Courtney that she looks "Marvelous" to deflect having a sincere conversation with her, the blue sweater she is half-wearing disappears from her shoulders/upper arms, reappears, and disappears again. (00:53:00)
Continuity mistake: When Patrick rails Courtney, he grunts after he reaches his climax. Her head is pushed fairly noticeably into the pillows. Next shot, and while neither of them supposedly changed position, the pillows behind her have already been neatly arranged back. (00:52:05)
Factual error: Before the second meeting with Donald Kimball begins, William Defoe can be overheard talking with the secretary, and they mention "Monday, the 20th." As we learn just a few seconds later, the day of Allen's 'disappearance' was December the 20th. However, that's not consistent with the year the movie is set in. Not even close. December the 20th hadn't been on a Monday since 1982 and wouldn't be until 1993. (00:49:55)
Continuity mistake: When Luis shows his new business card, he holds it in close-up in a different position, much more tightly close to the thumb. (00:47:40)
