Paycheck (2003) - 34 mistakes

Factual error: When Shorty is removing Jennings' memories in the beginning, the pictures shown are from a third person viewpoint. If they are his memories, shouldn't these be from Jennings' viewpoint?

Revealing: In one of the shots of a newspaper you see a serious grammatical error for a headline. The use of "it's" instead of "its". It was something to the effect of "Ahead of it's Time". Forgivable for a note left by a character, but a mistake that real newspapers just don't make. Just FYI: The actual headline is "Nexim Announces It's Answer to ARC's Living Display".

Factual error: In the scene where Michael is patching the ATX motherboard with a paper clip, the sparks coming out of the box are ridiculously long for being low voltage flashovers, especially as the motherboard has no power supply connected to it. Even if the board would run directly on mains voltage the flashovers would only be a couple of millimeters. Furthermore, flashovers are blue, not yellow as shown.

Continuity: When Jennings is in the subway and Colm Feore shoots the man standing between them, the man falls to the ground. But when it shows Colm Feore step over the rail, the man's body has disappeared.

Continuity: When Jimmy visits Rachel in her apartment to tell her that Michael has left, in the shot from over his shoulder he places his right hand on her shoulder and then moves it down to the top of the arm and starts 'massaging it'. However when the shot shifts to in front of him his right hand is just sitting on her shoulder. It changes back again when the shot changes.

Continuity: When Mike goes to meet the fake "Rachel" at the restaurant, note the yellow flowers on her table. They are centered, but against the edge of the table (where a person opposite her would sit). The next shot of Jimmy's screen shows they've moved to the far right (as seen from the fake's perspective). When Mike opens the envelope, they've disappeared completely and, a moment later, they're back (with some of the leaves curled around the stem of a wine glass).

Continuity: After the real Rachel has knocked out the fake Rachel, Mike looks over her shoulder and sees Colm Feores' character sighting a gun on her. He pulls her to the side and, in doing so, knocks over two wine glasses that were on the table. Then the shot switches to show the view from the window and the wine gasses have disappeared. A moment later as Mike and Rachel fall to the floor, they're back.

Continuity: As the truck is approaching the car from Allcom, the view is from the interior of the car (front window, the vertical panel between the windows, rear window) and the semi is right on top of the car. It switches to a wide shot and now the truck is considerably farther back.

Continuity: In the scene where the police car is chasing Ben Affleck and Uma Thurman on a bike down in a tunnel, in one shot, the police car's flashing light on top is ripped off by the low ceiling. In the very next shot, the lights are still on the top. The next shot shows the lights are gone.

Continuity: When Rachel takes the 'Photo Album' out of the bag and places on the bed, she places it between the bag and a white towel. However when the shot changes to show the bed again which Michael then sits on, the 'Photo Album' is sitting partially on the bag and the towel has moved. There is also other clothing on the bed that wasn't there previously.

Plot hole: When Michael sees the "Birthday Clip" it is obvious that he is the one holding the camera towards the bed, but when he sits on the bed we see Michael using both hands. Who is holding the camera?

Continuity: When Michael is checking the stamps with the magnifying glass, the way he is holding the magnifying glass changes several times in the scene, from him holding the bottom edge to having his fingers around the edge of it.

Continuity: After Ben Affleck finds the bug in the machine, he pulls the bit out and turns to Uma Thurman. In that shot of Uma we see that Ben's got a big smile on his face. It then cuts immediately back to just Ben, who has a straight face and immediately cracks a big grin.

Revealing: During the close-up of the gas canisters, the condensation is running upwards and "into" the valve.

Continuity: Towards the end of the movie, when Michael and Rachel split up between the glass door, her left hand is cut and bloody, then it is not, then it is again, as it is pressed against the glass.

Continuity: When Jimmy conks Mike on the head with the cannister (during the fight in the lab), there is a large strand of cable around Jimmys' neck. In the next shot, as he starts to stand up, the cable has disappeared.

Continuity: When Michael and Shorty are having lunch after Michael is released, he empties the contents of the envelope onto the table. A bit later he puts everything back into the envelope, but the bullet remains on the table under a napkin. Later in the movie, Michael empties the envelope and the bullet is in it.

Factual error: The bullet cartridge cannot be used the way Michael Jennings used it in the movie. It is not possible to fire a bullet without a gun. The casing of the bullet cartridge alone is not capable of sustaining the pressure of the gases produced by ignited powder. In order for the bullet to actually fire in forward direction the side walls of the casing must be supported by the gun barrel. Without the barrel the bullet cartridge will simply burst on the side. The bullet won't go anywhere, it will stay in the cartridge. Plastic cable tie used in the movie to hold the cartridge is not enough to make any difference.

Continuity: In the scene where Ben Affleck is walking toward a stuffed animal stand, you see a small red dog facing toward the camera. In the next side shot, when Ben is picking up the parrot, you see the same dog still facing toward the camera when you should see the dog's side.

Visible crew/equipment: When Ben is on the motorcycle getting chased, and the camera is shooting him out of the cop's car, you can see the cameraman's refelection of himself sitting in the front seat.