Factual error: Sarah states that Namibia is on the Ivory Coast, while in fact, it is on the Skeleton Coast in southern Africa.
Factual error: All UK driving test instructors must wear a yellow reflective waistcoat or jacket while instructing someone during their driving test. This was still true in 2002 when the film was shot.
Factual error: While the Stevens family were on the plane they could see the island from the window and it was a small and "green" piece of land. However during the movie there is a scene meant to be taken at the same island which shows the recording studio, personnel and extras of the Family Fakeout reality show and you can see that it is in a wide and open space. This place couldn't be seen by the family when they were on the plane.
Factual error: In the scene where Meg Ryan and her sister are in the coffee shop, her sister calls to the waitress that they ordered a latte, no foam, very dry - it is impossible to make a dry latte without foam, because dry means "foamy." Not to mention, a very dry latte is technically a cappuccino.
Factual error: When Frances arrives in Cortona. prices in the market are all expressed in Lira (we cleary see 6.000/kg for some vegetables). But after a while she passes close to a newspaper stand which exposes the poster of the satirical magazine "Il Vernacoliere". That poster dates November 2002. By that time the Lira had been replaced by the Euro.
Factual error: Lots of liberties are taken with the geography of downtown Portland. For example, at one point Bonham is standing on a fountain looking around and, from his point of view, you see two MAX trains on a slope going past a parking lot. Those two points are about a mile apart and there is definitely not line of sight between them because most of downtown Portland is in the way. (01:07:40)
Factual error: In the final fight scene, you hear members of the SEAL team yelling "Grenade!" before chucking a grenade. They are supposed to yell "Frag out!" as yelling out "grenade!" is a warning of incoming enemy grenades.
Factual error: Fairfax was not present at the trial of Charles I, although his wife Anne was, (and was forcibly removed after telling the court what she thought of them).
Factual error: There is one scene in the movie where Heath Ledger reads a Latin sentence in a book. As he is translating the sentence, he goes over the words one by one with his finger. This would never be possible in a Latin sentence, because words in Latin are never - I repeat: never - in exactly the same order as in English. Words that actually belong together can be placed on opposite ends of a sentence.
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie, Robert E. Lee addresses Francis P. Blair as 'General' once. Blair however was never a general and in fact never held any military rank.
Factual error: In the scene where Robert Duvall, Michael Caine and Haley Joel Osment are in a general store/coffee shop and the young punks come in, there is a Coca-Cola machine shown that has the "Wave" logo and a slogan that was used in the 1970s, not in the time period in which the movie took place (1950s/60s). (00:47:20)
Factual error: When Antonio Banderas gets shot with the dart in the forehead there are two reasons why that wouldn't work - 1) There isn't any muscle tissue and the skin is too thin for the dart to stick most likely. 2) The tranquilizer would never take effect that quick unless it was injected into a muscle where the blood supply is greater. (00:53:55)
Factual error: Rankin Fitch's "team" has Juror Millie Dupree's husband Hoppy Dupree arrested as part of their plan to control Millie's vote. If you listen to the damaging evidence from Hoppy, he is saying "I can help you get that county permit, blah, blah, blah" This is supposed to take place in Louisiana, where there are no counties only parishes. This is a hold over from the John Grisham book that the movie is based on. That story took place in Mississippi where there are counties. (01:03:25)
Factual error: After Mat has turned off his ringer we see him going into the menu and turning off his voice mail through an option labeled "Voice Mail / Off". The biggest problem with this is that there is no option to turn off your voice mail in an I90. The closest thing that it has is an option to turn off the ring tone that signals a new voice mail message.
Factual error: The Sensory Deprivation Tank used in the film is an MRI machine. It has no doors and makes far too much noise to allow for sensory deprivation. (00:47:15)
Factual error: During any British election, the Queen avoids making public appearances in order to avoid influencing the election turnout. She usually stays at Windsor castle and would not have hosted such events as the garden party.
Factual error: In the scene where Tom and O'Malley are talking in O'Malley's flat, the chessboard in between them is set up the wrong way round.
Factual error: The monkeys that are threatening The Rock when he is hanging in the trees are baboons which are native to Africa, not to the Americas. In a magazine interview about the movie The Rock mentions "howler monkeys" (which are from South America)
Factual error: When Griet is introduced to the camera obscura, far too much light is projected onto Vermeer's and Griet's faces. Camera obscuras don't make their own light; rather the image produced on the viewing screen is always dull.
Factual error: If they used Liquid Nitrogen to freeze the safe door and crack it open, they would certainly not have opened the door by pulling on it with bare hands/flimsy leather gloves, without leaving half of the skin on their hands behind. (00:09:30 - 00:10:40)