Character mistake: In the scene where Denzel Washington and company are beginning to analyze the evidence from the first murder, Washington verbally lists some of the elements found at the scene including the "iron bolt". A little later, someone mentions "by the way, the bolt is iron, not steel" and Washington is surprised.
The Bone Collector (1999)
1 character mistake - chronological order
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Queen Latifah, Michael Rooker
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Amelia is driving the truck full of policemen to the scene of the second (Mrs. Rubin) murder, the shot changes a couple of times before it settles looking through the front windscreen at Amelia. Through the rear windscreen of the truck, you can clearly see the highway and all the cars on it behind them. Amelia turns the steering wheel sharply to the left, and you hear the screeching rubber-tyres-on-tarmac noise as if she really had swerved left, but the scene of the highway behind them seen through the rear screen does not alter at all - as if she was just going in a straight line all the way.
Amelia: Excuse me, but the victim was already dead when we arrived.
Captain Howard Cheney: And you, half-assed patrolman working a crime scene... those days are over. I'll take that evidence bag now, thank you.
Amelia: You can take it with a chain of custody voucher, sir.
Captain Howard Cheney: Are you out of your mind? Hmmm? Let's go. You're coming with us.
Amelia: What? Are you arresting me?
Captain Howard Cheney: You just get in the car, and keep your mouth shut to the press.
Trivia: The Director, Phillip Noyce, makes a cameo appearance as the man in the bookstore.
Question: There is a LOT of changes if you compare the film to the book, and most of them I understand, since you always have to make some changes. But why did they change such things as characters names and genders?
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Answer: The film makers changed the name of Amelia Sachs because it sounded too much like 'sex'. I have not been able to discover for certain why they made Thom into a woman, but possibly this had to do with Thom's homosexuality. It could be viewed as controversial that Rhyme's nurse is a gay man, and could possibly also bring Rhyme's own sexuality into question. To make the nurse female would avoid all such issues.
Twotall