Continuity mistake: In the toxic masculinity Harvard Club scene following the encounter with the two sex workers, the extras' positions don't align between cuts. Most notably, a blonde woman exits the frame to the left just as the dudebros high-five, but in the next shot, she has barely moved, while a waiter seen exiting to the right (during the Ed Gein joke) is instantly repositioned behind Luis in the following cut. (00:46:30)
Revealing mistake: When Patrick orders Christie to take off the robe, you can see the actress is wearing panties. She comes directly from the bathroom where she was bathing, and Bateman only told her to put on the robe. For her on the bed, there's just a little babydoll to put on, and Patrick directly references her showing her hole to the other hooker. So, panties really don't seem to have been part of the equation at any point. (00:42:45)
Continuity mistake: When Patrick fixes Christie's pose, touching her jaw while he muses about "In Too Deep", the scarf around her neck drapes behind her shoulder, but in the wider angle, it's in front of her shoulder. (00:43:20)
Factual error: When Patrick starts rambling on to the hookers about Phil Collins, behind him you can see that he has a couple of books above his CD collection. The books are "Warhol Pre-Pop" by Jesse Kornbluth and "Frankenthaler" by John Elderfield, both impossible for the time frame of the movie, being from 1988 and 1989 respectively. (00:41:50)
Factual error: Patrick forbids Sabrina to smoke, but offers her, as consolation, a Varda truffle. Varda Chocolatier was founded in 1989, two years after the year the movie takes place in. (00:41:30)
Revealing mistake: Patrick Bateman starts the music, picking up Phil Collins' CD case and not actually pushing any button. (00:41:50)
Continuity mistake: You can see Patrick Bateman's desk in full when the detective, during his first visit, asks him how old he is. The only personal item on it would be the sunglasses. However, when he gets up with the excuse of meeting Cliff Huxtable, you can also see in front of him a bottle of pills - at no point is there a visual hint of him taking them, and it's unlikely he'd just pop pills in front of the detective. It's most likely from a part of the scene that ended up on the cutting room floor. (00:34:00)
Continuity mistake: During the interview with Detective Kimball, the pen in front of Patrick is on a notepad and faces him with a clip when the camera is above Christian Bale's shoulder, but it's directly on the leather blotter. (00:33:25)
Continuity mistake: The label on the Apollinaris bottle changes orientation between shots during the first visit of the detective. As Linda sets it down, the label faces away from the camera; in the immediate close-up, it is facing forward in a clear product placement shot, only to face away again in the rest of the scene. (00:33:40)
Factual error: In the scene of the axe murder of Jared Leto, there's a shot of the blood pouring on the newspaper pages set up by Patrick to avoid making a mess of his apartment. In the newspaper, you can see an advertisement for something called "Millennium" and "Broadway." As the phone contact and address confirm (you have to freeze-frame for the latter), that's an ad for the Millennium Broadway hotel (at the time of this entry, the "Millennium Times Square New York"). But at the time of the events in the movie, it would have still been the Hotel Macklowe; it changed name and ownership only in the mid-90s. (00:28:15)
Factual error: Patrick Bateman uses a CD player for his stereo, a Pioneer PD-4300, released in 1989. The movie is supposed to take place a couple of years earlier. (00:27:50)
Continuity mistake: At the Xmas party, someone puts plush antlers on Patrick's head while Evelyn shows him her new pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pig. The antlers are in front of Christian Bale's ears. He excuses himself to go talk to Paul, and the antlers are now behind his ears. (00:24:00)
Other mistake: Despite the intended uniformity of misspells of the department name, Bateman's card actually has an added mistake, lacking the space between the ampersand and the second name (it's "Pierce & Pierce" instead of "Pierce and Pierce"). It should also be noted that not only do they share the remaining misspelling, but their contact info is also exactly the same, including the phone number. (00:18:45)
Continuity mistake: We see Patrick dial the number of the elusive Dorsia restaurant for the first time; a noticeable long lock of hair dangles in front of his forehead. In close-up (when he is laughed off over the phone), his forehead is clear, no wisps in view. (00:15:25)
Continuity mistake: When Patrick calls Courtney to invite her to Dorsia, the porn he is watching on tape is supposed to be "Inside Lydia's a55" (well, I can't post the naughty word here; you get the idea). The case turns around in Patrick's hand between shots. (00:14:55)
Factual error: On the way to the dinner at Espace with his girlfriend, Bateman is listening, or trying to, to "the new Robert Palmer tape." Which is kinda uncanny, considering that the movie only time references set it in 1987 (that particular part in late 1986), and the song, "Simply Irresistible," was released in May 1988. (00:09:25)
Factual error: We see for the first time Patrick with his "supposed fiancée" during a cab drive. Towards the beginning of the ride, the cab drives between a firetruck and an ambulance, both with the insignia of the F.D.N.Y. The ambulance service wasn't introduced in the FD until the merger with NYC*EMS, which happened in the mid-90s, almost a decade after the events of the movie. (00:09:15)
Continuity mistake: Immediately after Patrick asks his secretary for mineral water, he is holding a filled glass at the bottom of the frame. The glass appears before she has even had a chance to move, let alone fetch it for him. (00:08:25)
Continuity mistake: Patrick casually puts his Walkman on the desk as he enters his office for the first time in the movie. The Walkman and headphones are in a different position in the next shot before he had a chance to touch anything. (00:07:45)
Factual error: When we get a glimpse of Patrick Bateman's closet as he narrates his morning routine wearing the mint mask, you can see next to a red capped bottle of Yves Laurent a very distinct bottle with no brand label but a unique design, with its small bumps and decorated cap. It's a bottle of Eaux de Caron Pure, a perfume introduced in 1996, a decade after the events of the movie. (00:06:30)
Answer: There are two possible answers. First, Carnes doesn't recognize Christian Bale as Bateman, instead thinking he is someone named Davis. He insults Bateman and thinks "Davis" left the message as a joke. Realize also that someone claims to have seen Owen/Allen in London, but mistook Herbert Ainsworth for him. Second, Bateman is delusional and only thinks he killed Owen/Allen, who is in fact alive and in London.
Greg Dwyer