Factual error: In the scene where Violet gets her tapes back outside her apartment, she looks at an envelope with HER name as the sending address and the company as the return address. This is possible, however, the envelope would not be stamped "unsolicited mail" if it was re-packaged by the company. An unsolicited stamp would be there, like all the other envelopes, if it was being returned to her in the original envelope, with her name as the RETURN address, instead of the sending address. (01:19:25)
Factual error: The average speed of an African Ostrich is 31mph, not 27mph as noted in the film.
Factual error: After the onside kick, they did NOT return for a big gain. Bateman tried to keep running with the ball, but Falco (who as quarterback shouldn't even be on the field during this play) tackled him. While Bateman was running with the ball, he just kept going back and forth near the line of scrimmage and didn't advance.
Factual error: When Novalee is locked inside Wal-mart during a storm she looks out the front. Water is streaming down the front doors. The problem with this is that the doors of the Wal-mart are very far under an awning and would never see that sort of rain. The awning is shown a minute or so before and is a standard Wal-mart feature. (00:16:45)
Factual error: During the multiple hospital scenes, the doctors direct their updates to Will, ignoring the closest family member, her grandmother. Will's relationship with Charlotte is not even a year old. No hospitals or doctors would ever discuss this condition with anyone outside the immediate family, including and especially the Cleveland Clinic.
Factual error: When the police are looking at the reflection of a neon sign in the glasses in the picture of the girl, the letters are reversed as you might expect. But the sign is on the glass front wall of the shop, facing the outside. Since the photo was taken inside the shop, the inside view of that sign would have already been reversed, and the reflection should have been the right way round. (00:35:15 - 00:39:40)
Factual error: Prior to the Yom Kippur sermon where Rabbi Stiller is asking for forgiveness for not revealing his relationship, the cantor sing the Kol Nidrei prayer, which is only sung once a year on Yom Kippur eve. Totally obvious mistake to anyone who knows anything about Judaism. Clearly Stiller and the script writers do not.
Factual error: The Lancer that gets lost on the train tracks can't come back into Paris the way it did by taking the metro, as the Paris metro is not connected to the railways. Also, if the movie depicts it going out at Trocadéro, the station is on lines 6 and 9. However, the sign to enter the metro shows the station connects with lines 2, 5 and 8 - no such station exists in Paris.
Factual error: Throughout the film, you hear Lina Termini's "Ma L'Amore No" playing on the gramophones. However, "Ma L'Amore No" was released in 1943 - three years after the film's setting. (02:02:00)
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, when we see the hero wandering the empty streets of south Tel-Aviv, the sharp front tip of a modern scooter can be seen behind the street corner. The movie takes place in 1973, when the only scooters were Piaggio Vespa, which have a distinct round front wheel cover.
Factual error: John Grady Cole's father says that the last time he spoke with Cole's mother was in San Diego in 1942. His lighter has a 3rd Infantry Division badge which means he fought in the European theater of WW2, not the Pacific Theater.
Factual error: In the epilogue text, the movie claims that author William S. Burroughs "got a good lawyer, claimed that the gun discharged accidentally, and was absolved of Joan Vollmer's killing." This is patently untrue, as is most of the content of the film. In point of fact, Burroughs was arrested for the shooting of Joan Vollmer (his common-law wife), he gave wildly conflicting accounts of the incident to police, and he spent two weeks in the Mexico City jail before making bail. Burroughs was ordered to remain in Mexico City and report to authorities once a week, which he did for a year, pending his trial. When his "good lawyer" also shot somebody and fled the country, Burroughs fled back to the USA to escape prosecution in Mexico. A Mexican court found Burroughs guilty of manslaughter (in absentia). He was never "absolved" of the killing.
Factual error: When Wolf is starting to turn and the Queen contacts him, after he storms off, in the daylight in the distant background on top of the hill electricity towers can be seen.
Factual error: One of the cars featured at the end of the film is an Alvis TA21, which only entered production in 1950, several years after the Nuremberg Trials.
Factual error: Capt. Towers (4 rings on his shoulder) would be addressed as Captain, not Commander. And when he was promoted to Admiral he never displayed that rank.
Factual error: The ship goes to rescue someone 3000 light years away. But the shockwave from the 9th dimensional matter explosion is estimated to reach earth in 51 years. It would travel at light speed or less.
Factual error: Apparently, Han escapes from a prison in Hong Kong. Then why are the guards speaking Mandarin, which is spoken in China and Taiwan? The guards should have been speaking in Cantonese, which is Hong Kong's dialect. This was probably to convenience Jet Li, who speaks Mandarin but probably little Cantonese.
Factual error: The scene at the very end of the film where Billy is grassed up by Alex Kingston. I live in Essex so know that you cannot see Ye Old Plough House (the motel) from Southend Sea Front (the phone box).
Suggested correction: The film was set after the Chinese takeover of Hong Kong so the official language of Hong Kong is now Mandarin as it is in the rest of China.
The principal language of Hong Kong is standard Cantonese, spoken by 88.9% of the population at home daily. As an official language, it is used in education, broadcasting, government administration, legislation and judiciary, as well as for daily communication. As a result of its predominance throughout the community, Cantonese is virtually the exclusive language of official discourse at all levels of the executive, legislature and courts of Hong Kong. Mandarin has increased since 97 but still not the official language.
The official language of Hong Kong is "Chinese." Cantonese is a dialect of Chinese, and not a separately set official language of Hong Kong. While many people communicate in their local dialects, it's not unreasonable to assume they could also be communicating in Mandarin, especially government officials, and especially if they are law enforcement. Not a plot hole or a mistake here.