Character mistake: In the scene where Billy is called to the crime scene of Andrews' murder, Andrews' body is shown with a wound on his chest. Later in the movie though, Billy is questioning Todd Lancaster. Todd Lancaster says that he saw Andrews get shot in the head. (00:52:00 - 01:25:00)
Character mistake: When Detective Welles is searching for Naomi in the Police Computer System he types "Naomi, Cozier" which is backwards - he should have searched "Cozier, Naomi" or skipped the comma entirely. (00:58:20)
Character mistake: Buffalo Bill's revolver is a double action, meaning did not need to cock his gun before firing it (you only need to do so with single-action revolvers. Cocking a double-action just makes the next trigger pull easier.) He could've just shot Starling. His stupidity got him killed.
Character mistake: During the fight in the double deuce where Wesley brings Jimmy in to take all the bouncers on, Jimmy takes on Wade, and Dalton comes to his rescue. Afterwards Wade says to Dalton 'same town new story', when in fact the line should have been, 'new town same story'.
Suggested correction: Wade said it that way on purpose. He was alluding to the idea that there is something different about this town's situation, compared with all the other towns where it was the same old situation.
Character mistake: At the football players funeral, the guy on the left is still breathing, despite being dead.
Character mistake: Sid deduces that Billy could be the killer because he could have used his phone call from jail to make the threatening call. However, the deduction has to be incorrect, since if it was really Billy, he could have never used the voice-changing device.
Suggested correction: This will sound pedantic (hey, it's MovieMistakes.com, we're entitled), but I don't think this is what is meant by a character mistake. Sidney isn't presenting an erroneous fact that goes uncorrected, she's explaining an idea that had crossed her mind. Billy immediately gives a plausible response and by the end of the film it's evident who'd called her. The takeaway isn't that Billy could still be the killer but that Sidney can't help but suspect him despite their reconciliation.
Character mistake: Sandra Bullock's German is very good, but not perfect. She says about her husband, "Gestern hat er seine Schuhe in den Gefrierschrank gestellt," ("Yesterday, he put his shoes in the freezer"). Immediately afterwards, she says "seine Schuhe ins Gefrierschrank," ("He put his shoes in the freezer"). The word Gefrierschrank (freezer) in German is masculine and can never be preceded by the accusative case contraction "ins", the contraction for "in das." She just changed the gender of the word Gefrierschrank (freezer) from masculine in the first sentence (correct) to neuter in the second sentence (incorrect). (01:40:05)
Character mistake: When Cutter is talking with Chief Biggs for the first time, right after the negotiations for fuel, Cutter says he is the former head of security for the airline. Since he has just been hired for that role (after being an independent security consultant), he should have called himself the future head of security, or new, or something of that nature. Former would indicate he has resigned from the position.
Character mistake: When Woody Harrelson picks up the movie magazine and opens to a page, he says "I love Clara Bow." The picture he is looking at is of Jean Harlow. (01:00:54)
Character mistake: The movie starts with shots of the moon Io and the company's operations, with typed descriptions at the bottom of the screen. Guess they couldn't afford a proofreader. They spell dependents as dependants, marshal as marshall, and principal as principle.
Character mistake: Near the end of the movie when Ray shoots Odell, Ray checks Odell's pulse using his thumb. Since the thumb has an artery in it, you should never check someone's pulse using your thumb. As a cop, he should know this because I'm sure he's taken basic first aid.
Character mistake: Toward the end of the film, Detective Davis orders Captain McKenna to put his badge on the table. New York City police always refer to their "shields", not badges.
Character mistake: When Murphy shoots down an F-16, the guy says "we just lost a M-16."
Character mistake: On the tour boat in London, the voice on the loudspeaker says 'if you look to your right, you will see the Tower of London'. Except it's on the left, given the direction the boat is travelling. (00:53:00)
Character mistake: The sheriff has his service weapon on him in the cellblock. Whenever law enforcement enters a jail or prison, they disarm.
Character mistake: Jimmy is at work, feeling sick in the toilet. Two other employees are talking at the sinks. The man on the left is called Phil by his colleague at the beginning of the scene, but at the end of the scene, he calls him Simon.
Character mistake: Detective Sing asks Dr Gordon to listen to Amanda's testimony. Any detective would know its not a testimony, its a statement. Testimonies are done in court, not a police station. (00:23:00)
Character mistake: In the start of the film, the sticker on Peter's head for his work misspells the word Bleecker Street on it.
Character mistake: At the party, Fred is supposed to make a bbq, feeding about 50 people. But once he's got the fire going, he puts two lonely pieces of hamburger meat on top, to cook - only two.
Character mistake: Blore accuses Lombard saying "What about those 21 poor natives in South Africa?" The record played during the first evening mentioned indeed 21 men, but that were natives of a tribe in East Africa. (00:14:20 - 01:10:10)