Directed by: Mary Harron
Starring: Willem Dafoe, Reese Witherspoon, Christian Bale, Jared Leto, Samantha Mathis, Chloë Sevigny
Factual error: The phone by Patrick's bed is the BeoCom 1401 from Bang and Olufsen, a model introduced in 1991, well after the movie events. (00:05:00)
Factual error: In the opening club scene, the main song played is "True Faith" by New Order. The early part of the movie takes place in 1986, and the song was released in late July 1987. (00:03:45)
Patrick Bateman: I think, um, Evelyn that, uh, we've lost touch.
Evelyn Williams: Why? What's wrong?
Patrick Bateman: I need to engage in homicidal behaviour on a massive scale can not be corrected but, uh, I have no other way to fulfill my needs.
Trivia: Willem Dafoe was asked to play Donald Kimball in 3 different ways: he thought Bateman was guilty, he didn't think Bateman was guilty, and he wasn't sure if Bateman was guilty. They were all blended together to make the audience not know what Kimball thought of Patrick Bateman.
Question: Did Patrick really kill anybody or was it all in his mind? He killed a homeless man but there's no news report about it on TV. He murders Paul but is told Paul is in London. He severely beat and bloodied two prostitutes but no cops show up to arrest him. He murders Elizabeth and Christie but when he goes back to the apartment later, it is empty and put up for sale.
Answer: The situation is intentionally left vague. The homeless man being murdered wouldn't necessarily make the news in the time (there were over 4000 murders in 1989-90 when the book and movie are set). He and his friends are so alike that they continually mistake each other for others. The prostitutes would likely be loathe to call the police because they might be arrested themselves and he would likely get off with a much better lawyer.
Greg Dwyer
Very true. It is also true that both the director and the writer of the novel are adamant that they don't like at all the idea that people assume he didn't kill anyone and it's all in his mind, even if not everything may happen literally as shown (like the ATM cat-killing message).
Sammo ★