Phone Booth (2002) - 16 mistakes

Continuity: Towards the beginning of the movie, the Bell Atlantic sticker on the phone receiver is faded, but it eventually turns into a brand new sticker.

Continuity: In the scene where the pimp starts shaking the phone booth, ad cards and Stu's wedding ring are visible on top of the phone. After the "shaking" the ad cards and ring are gone. A few minutes later the ad cards are back, mixed in with the broken glass.

Other: Several times during the film Captain Ramey's police badge is displayed on his belt and it is a NYPD Detective's badge, not a NYPD Captain's badge. The two badges look very different, so they are easy to tell apart.

Continuity: Right before the police arrive for the first time, Stu is shot in the ear and reaches up and starts to hold his ear. The camera angle changes to a wide view and both of his hands are now on the shelf in the phone booth.

Plot hole: Why wouldn't the police evacuate the area around the booth where an armed (they think) homicidal maniac is making a phone call? All those people would be well within gun range and the city would have been held liable had any of them been shot. Step one is usually to secure the scene for the safety of the public.

Factual error: The "robot guy" is credited as Nigerian but when Stu pays for the broken doll, he speaks Swahili, mostly spoken in East Africa.

Revealing: Near the start, in the first few minutes, in several shoots you can see barriers that are separating the crowd from the set. They are right back, so they couldn't be too visible.

Continuity: Several times during the movie the police cars forming the perimeter around Stu appear to be closer than they were before. When Captain Ramey first approaches Stu, he has to walk a distance of about half a block. Later in the film he seems to be walking only a few feet.

Factual error: The Caller tells Stu that Channels 2 and 5 were coming to see him. This would be correct, since Channel 2 is the CBS affiliate for New York City, and Channel 5 is the FOX affiliate, but the news vans that show up indicate that channels 5 and 8 are covering the stories. The nearest broadcast Channel 8 is in Connecticut. (The only channel 8 in the New York City area is used by a cable station for a premium channel or local programming.)

Revealing: When Stu is tempting the sniper to see if he will really shoot, the sniper shoots the phone booth, shattering the window, and supposedly hitting or grazing Stu's right ear. When Stu lifts his head, you can see his bloody ear. A few shots later, Stu's head is turned so you can clearly see his fresh wound. If you look closely, you can see Stu's real ear folded back beneath the fake latex one. This happens several more times in the next few minutes of the movie.

Factual error: In one quick shot Stu scans the surrounding buildings looking for the sniper's location. You can see the Grace Building from his point of view. You would not be able to see this building from his location at 53rd. street. The Grace Building is at 42nd & 6th.

Continuity: You can see the amount of glass near the cabin changing its size repeatedly during the film.

Factual error: Several times, throughout the movie, Stu or another character using a cell phone is hung-up on. When they are hung-up on, instead of the cell phone dropping, they hear a short dial tone. Actually, when a call is dropped, the cell phone side simply disconnects. You never get a dial tone.

Continuity: Stu takes off his wedding ring as soon as he gets in the phone booth. However, in one shot where the camera is panning away from him (just after the police call his "lawyer"), he is wearing his wedding ring again. When the shot pans in, it has disappeared.

Continuity: Right before Stu comes clean and confesses his crimes, Pam gets out of the police car and you can see two police officers in front of her. The camera angle changes to a front view and there is now only one police officer there.

Factual error: The recreation of West 53rd St. is full of mistakes. The street, for example, is mysteriously as wide as an Avenue. The curbs are much higher than they should be, and the buildings are set back much farther from the street than they should be. Studio 54 and the Ed Sullivan Theater should be on the north side of the street, and the back of Roseland should be on the south. There is a subway entrance in the scene that's a block west of where it should be. This is not surprising as the film was shot in Los Angeles, not New York City.