Continuity mistake: On the trip to Baltimore when Carol tells Simon to wait to tell his story until she pulls over, the top of the car is down. When she's pulling over, the top is up.
Continuity mistake: When Frank forces Melvin to take in Verdell the dog (just after Simon has been beaten up), the camera follows Verdell as he explores Melvin's apartment alone. Melvin's grand piano at this stage has the lid open, but does not have the music rest up. Shortly afterwards, Melvin re-enters the apartment, prepares food for the dog, places the bowl on the floor in the sitting room, then walks over to sit down at the piano. Suddenly the piano's music rest is up. There is no way Melvin has had the time or opportunity to do this during this sequence.
Continuity mistake: When the car pulls over on the way to Baltimore, and Simon talks about his life, Carol's hair swaps from messy to brushed between frames.
Continuity mistake: When the movie ends, the curb is drenched in water, but when the couple starts walking it's completely dry.
Continuity mistake: When we see Simon in hospital after being badly beaten up by the thugs, he has long, similar stitches over his face and also over the bridge of his nose. When he is released from hospital most of the cuts have left very visible scars of almost Frankensteinian quality, only the injury on the nose is hardly visible. At the end of the movie, for example when he is talking to his parents over the phone, his nose is now unblemished while the other scars still look quite frightening. (00:30:25 - 01:47:00)
Continuity mistake: When Melvin feeds Verdell for the first time the dog is standing still at the edge of the carpet, facing his dish. When the camera angle changes he is standing further back. Then he lies down, and when the camera angle changes again he is lying at a different spot. (00:28:20)
Continuity mistake: When Carol brings her date home he lifts her up, puts her on the sofa and starts kissing her down the right side of her neck. When the camera angle changes he is kissing her on her mouth with his head on the other side. (00:14:40)
Continuity mistake: When Melvin tells Simon in very clear terms that he doesn't wish to be disturbed for any reason whatsoever Simon's shirt is open almost down to his belt. When he turns away after Melvin has closed the door the shirt is almost buttoned up. (00:08:20)
Continuity mistake: When Melvin and Carol are talking in the restaurant about Spence's asthma, the plates that Carol is holding are rotated differently in each shot. Also the way she is holding them keeps changing (hand under the plate or thumb over the rim). (00:22:20)
Continuity mistake: When Simon is explaining to the model how he decides how to paint a person and then tells him to hold it, we see the position the model is in. However, in the very next shot his hand is in a different position it was than when he told him to freeze it. (00:21:10)
Continuity mistake: When Melvin answers the door when Carol comes over in the rain, his hair is standing up crazily. In the very next shot, it is neatly pressed down - he didn't have time to run his hands through his hair to fix it between shots. (01:04:30)
Visible crew/equipment: When Carol leaves by bus for the trip to Baltimore she waves Spence good-bye. At the end of the scene there is a reflection of a cameraman in the window. (01:19:30)
Continuity mistake: In the scene before Carol goes to Melvin's house, she is sitting on the couch wide awake. Carol has one blue eye and one brown. (01:02:30)
Answer: It has everything to do with his mental illness. His OCD condition has kept him isolated with anti-social tendencies. He just finds it difficult to directly interact with people.
raywest