Question: What has ended up with Max? Billy promised to go back and release him, but we never see that happen, and no explanation is given for that in the Epilogue. Is Max a real figure? If he is, what has happened to him? Did he manage to escape, or did he die in prison?
Answer: It's never stated what happened to Max. The film was a heavily fictionalized version of Billy Hayes' book, and the Max character appears to be fictional as well or at least a composite of other real-life imprisoned Westerners that Hayes met while in a Turkish prison.
Question: I realize how much the wedding ring must have meant to Mae Braddock, but I don't see why she would not have pawned it, rather than send her children away or become sicker because they could not pay for the heat?
Answer: In that case, you apparently don't realise how much the ring means to her.
Question: At various points in the film the car brakes are glowing red hot, would this happen in real life or is it for show?
Answer: Watch any NASCAR short track night race where heavy braking is required, the brake rotors glow at every turn.
Answer: I watched this movie with my father, who actually participated in Autocross races in the past. He says from first hand experience that this is indeed real. The breaks get so heated from use in the race during the rapid slowing and going that they glow hot. This is why there are racing grade breaks and it's unwise to try and race without them.
Agreed. My dad is a former race car mechanic and he said that this absolutely happens all the time.
Question: What were the Spanish lyrics to the song Frida was singing in the bar just before she started the brawl, and is that the literal translation that is on the subtitles? I know what the movie says the translation is, but I can't get the words the same when I try to translate back into Spanish.
Answer: The Song Frida is singing is one of Diego´s most favourite songs, La Bruja (On the soundtrack performed by Lila Downs). http://www.musicbrother.com/index.php?page=song&id=167156 (german page, but spanish lyrics).
Question: How did the FBI find the note Jordan gave Donnie when he was wearing a wire?
Chosen answer: As seen from Donne's reaction when the FBI storm the building shortly after, It should be assumed that Donnie told the FBI himself, and kept the note as evidence. One of the reasons for this could be that Donnie must have felt betrayed or something similar.
Question: When the men finally get their shoes, they are just tossed a pair from the wagon and they automatically fit. Were military shoes back then one size fits all? How could they have shoes that automatically fit them?
Answer: To add to the answer, it's shown in the film in this scene as a soldier approaches a pile of shoes and places a pair on the pile and grabs another.
Chosen answer: The shoes would have been a mix of the most common sizes, and the men would have gone through them to find the right size...swapping when necessary. Keep in mind many of them were barefoot, so even shoes of the wrong size would have been a blessing.
Question: What is going on with George Clooney during the scene on the diving board? Where did all the blood come from? Did he kill himself?
Answer: He was presumably shot by the double agent. Which is why he tells Barry 'It's up to you now.'
Question: In the 'War Room' scene, there appeared to be a sheet of plastic or acetate covering the wall with the map of the enemy's movements. Was that premature for plastic to be available in that size for that time frame?
Question: Where does Bonnie get all her clothes from? From what we see she goes off with Clyde wearing the yellow dress and doesn't have any bags or anything with her. Are we supposed to think she steals them?
Answer: Bonnie and Clyde were bank robbers, remember - it's quite reasonable that Bonnie would buy herself some clothes with the proceeds.
Question: Was P.L. Travers left-handed, as Emma Thompson portrays her when she is shown writing?
Chosen answer: It seems P. L. Travers was, in fact, right-handed. With just a bit of research, I found this YouTube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xeiEumLxTcM. At time reference 4:05, archive video shows Ms. Travers in her garden, holding a basket hooked on her left arm, and making clippings with a scissors in her right hand. Feeling convinced, I stopped, though I suspect further research (it's a six part biography) would yield other examples of P. L. Travers engaged in right-handed activities.
Only problem with the assumption that travers was right-handed because she trimmed plants with her right hand is that there were no (to my knowledge) scissors for lefties. I was born in 1955 and I am a lefty who cuts right-handed, wear my watch on my left wrist, and made other adaptations due to the fact that left-handers were ignored, and travers was born over 50 years earlier.
Answer: I do not know the actual answer to your question. However, I would like to point out as a lefty myself that we often have to use our right hand for certain activities just due to the fact that left handed options are not readily available. Scissors and shears are a great example of this. Very often you cannot just switch them to your left hand and have them work. They actually have to be put together to be left handed to work properly. Also, many left handed writers are also ambidextrous. For example I golf right handed but bat left handed so the two swings don't negatively affect each other.
Question: I don't know all the ins and outs of the law, but when Erin is in a car accident, she is going straight through a green light. The other guy rams into her as he tries to cross the intersection (it's not like he just cut her off making a right turn) so obviously he had a red light and not even an arguable right of way. I know money can buy you justice, but how is this not an open and shut case?
Answer: They would have had to prove he ran the red light, which would require video or witnesses. It seems like Erin had no witnesses backing up her version of the story, so they wouldn't have had anyone to say he went through the red light either.
Chosen answer: I have to admit that is a bit frustrating to watch. I think that?s how the producers wanted us to feel. Making us think, "Man this chick never gets a break". It was just an unrealistic way to set up the character's life.
Question: At the end of the movie right before Rudy's gang kills him, they ask the Asian guy if he was coming out and he said he was staying in. Did he not come out because he feared they were going to kill him, or did he know they were going to kill Rudy and he wanted no part of it?
Chosen answer: He did not want to take part in the murder. That's why one of the attackers asked him "You sure you know what you're doing homes?"
Question: When Bev drives to meet Ray to have him sign a waiver so her book could get published, Ray tells Amelia that Bev was his first wife. Since Bev and Ray never got divorced, isn't she still his first wife and his marriage to Amelia null and void?
Answer: Amelia is Jason's girlfriend! Ray never says if his Shirley is his wife.
Yes he did. He introduced Bev as his first wife, implying that she's his second wife.
Question: After John's arrest in El Paso, in the following scene he's talking with Viv about the incident and denying he has a problem, even though she says everyone around him says so. She then asks about June and he says she left the tour and Viv responds with "Well that explains everything, doesn't it?" What exactly does she mean by that statement?
Answer: Viv's implying he is acting the way he is cause he is upset about June leaving.
Question: During Rex Harrison's entire performance as Julius Caesar his arms and legs are covered by garments underneath his military garb and robes, even while in Egypt. The other Romans as would be expected have bare legs and arms. Was Harrison suffering from some skin condition or was he too shy or embarrassed of his limbs to show them in the film?
Answer: The people of higher rank would usually have more or better armor so in his case that would probably be extra armor for his legs and arms.
Question: I want to know how the scene with the Nazis dumping the man in the wheelchair off the balcony was done. How did the man/stuntman manage to survive this fall?
Chosen answer: In the scene, we see the old man being lifted in his wheelchair. Then, there is a cut-away to the family watching from across the street. Then we see someone being dumped from the chair and falling, but we never see him hit the ground. My guess from watching the scene is that the stunt person fell into a cushion which was removed in post-production. Generally, when confronted with a question such as this, I like to refer it to someone who would be in the know - in this case, the stunt team on the film. I looked up that team on IMDb.com, and searched for the individuals on Facebook. Of the twenty or so stunt people and coordinators, I could only find three with unique profiles that made me think I might have the correct individuals: Janusz Kadlubowski, Stella Kuczynska and Zbigniew Modej. I posed your question to them. However, given that I am not connected on Facebook to any of them, I have no idea if or when they would see my message and respond. I will update this answer if I receive further information.
Question: When Chris and co are having dinner with an Iraqi family, why does Chris react the way he does when he sees the mark on the Iraqi father's left elbow? What does Chris think it is?
Question: I don't quite get how the Hoffa killing plays out. His son is there in the car, Frank and Jimmy go into the house, Frank shoots him, apparently not heard, then leaves the house...doesn't Chuckie Hoffa have questions? Like where his dad is for a start, let alone the gunshots he must have heard?
Chosen answer: First off his name was Chuckie O'Brian. Jimmy Hoffa wasn't his biological father, he was more in the nature of a foster father. Second, he probably knew what happened. What was Chuckie going to do? It was a sanctioned hit. And if he went to the police he would have ended up the same as Jimmy Hoffa. They put him in the middle of it to keep him quiet. If he goes after the people who did it, he's as good as dead. If he talks he could end up in jail with them, and the mafia will probably kill him anyway.
Answer: Max WAS a real character, and a Dutchman in real life, rather than an English one as portrayed in the movie. He eventually got paroled and later treatment for a severe drug addiction he had too.