Character mistake: McQuarry enters the subway at the 103rd Street station on the 1. He is transferring to the 2/3 at Chambers Street when Bose approaches him. However, it makes no sense to transfer here. As someone who knows New York, McQuarry would transfer to the 2/3 at 96th Street to benefit from the express ride to Chambers. (01:03:05)
Character mistake: When Mr. Brooks and Marshall hack into the police database and are looking at detective Tracy Atwood's financial records there is a screenshot of the computer screen showing some very terrible spelling.
Character mistake: The letter from the FBI containing the results of the blood and semen test is filled with numerous typos. First, on the line "Subject: Result of examination requested", the word "examination" is misspelled "examnation." Second, the term "DNA instrumental analyses" has "instrumental" incorrectly spelled as "insrumental." Third, the line "Reference: Letter dated October 21, 1987", has the word "dated" misspelled as "dateed" and the month "October" misspelled as "Octorber." (01:58:35)
Character mistake: When Ms. Gruwell tells Gloria to read the first sentence on the board Gloria reads "Odysseus had no sense of direction." but on the board something different was written.
Suggested correction: The chalkboard had 5 sentences that were purposely written with wrong spelling and tenses. Gloria read the first sentence correctly as it appeared on the board "Odysseus had no "since" of direction."
Character mistake: Bart is sitting on a bench outside the hotel. After Detective Espada talks to the Mercer hotel manager/owner, he goes to talk to Bart. Bart has blood on both hands and lower left sleeve. Detective Espada is supposed to be investigating a fresh murder case that puts Bart at the scene, but he does not confiscate Bart's bloody clothes, conduct a gun powder test on Bart's hands to check for residue, or take him to the police station for formal questioning. Espada did not follow police protocol. (00:17:36)
Character mistake: Queen is an attorney and should know how to conduct herself as a passenger in a car pulled over by police, yet she fails to behave in an acceptable way. Even though certain things may be permissible under certain circumstances, a lawyer should know exceptions and extenuating circumstances, but she apparently does not. She did not have the right to interfere with a police officer and "demand to know" or get out her cell phone to record if she was told to keep her hands where he could see them. (00:10:25)
Character mistake: The mother is supposed to be American, but she speaks in her native Australian accent near the end when she says, "I don't think I can take anymore of this" upon finding out that Pita may be alive.
Character mistake: Carl, carrying his gun, goes up the outside staircase before entering Frank's apartment. When he encounters the frightened cleaning woman, he flashes his F.B.I. badge at her to identify himself. However, he only shows her the back of the black I.D. wallet, which has no markings on it.
Suggested correction: This was undoubtedly an intentional choice by the filmmakers. Given that most of Carl's work takes place in an office, it's entirely plausible that he would feel nervous when stepping into the field to apprehend a suspect. The scene emphasizes his anxiety through several deliberate actions: he fumbles for his gun, incorrectly displays his badge, and even holds it upside down if you look closely. These details subtly underline Carl's unease in high-pressure situations.
Character mistake: After Dimitri put Leena's wrist bands on for her (through the door slot), Leena said, "I want to do something nice for you; you can come in." Dimitri agreed, and Leena pulled up a chair to stand on (to be his height) and caress his face/ hair. When Leena bent in to kiss him, she banged his head against the wall several times, killing him. As a "Saarne Instituute" security member, Dimitri should know not to get sexually involved with or trust a patient, especially the most dangerous one. (00:10:29 - 00:11:29)
Character mistake: At the security guard graduation, the instructor opens a pouch of quarters and says to use that to call the cops when things get nasty. You don't need to put money in a pay phone to dial 911. (00:21:05)
Character mistake: A radio report refers to a character with two different police ranks with 15 seconds apart in the same broadcast - first as a Police Chief and a few seconds later as a Captain. (00:21:28)
Character mistake: Reacher asks the MP Sgt who her "DI" was in "boot camp." The Army doesn't have Drill Instructors or boot camp but rather "Drill Sergeants and Basic Training." Call a drill sergeant a DI and you'll be doing push-ups, seen it happen.
Character mistake: When the undercover cop says, "Hi, when was the last time you had a good..." she doesn't identify herself as a police officer. (00:37:15)
Character mistake: When the neighbor is showing off his Challenger he states it is a 1972 4.9 liter. Dodge never made a 4.9L that year, only a 3.7L, 5.2L and 5.6L.
Character mistake: Wouldn't the president be concerned that the alarm system, which Luther deactivated, was deactivated?
Suggested correction: How would he have known that it was deactivated? It wasn't even his mansion. He was drunk after all and focused on the girl.
Character mistake: During the St. Ives riddle, Simon gives them 30 seconds to solve the riddle and call back. But it takes them 65 seconds to call, to which Simon says they're 10 seconds too late. And, after 42 seconds, McClane says they only have 10 seconds left.
Character mistake: When Francis Allen is being interviewed by Reagan, Allen presents Reagan cell phone pictures of himself on a yacht to support his alibi. Allen says "the time and date are on the top of the screen, you saw that, didn't you Reagan?" and Reagan agrees. However the date is seen at the bottom of the screen, not the top.
Character mistake: Shaft meets Junior for the first time and mocks him with the offer of bubbly water. Junior says "And as for that wedge of lime, it makes it alkaline, so..." It wouldn't, since lime juice is rather acidic. (00:23:10)
Character mistake: Why would the rich witness be at the supermarket himself and using a taxi cab?
Character mistake: Although great care was taken to duplicate Bob Crane's distinctive hairstyle for Greg Kinnear, Bob Crane's hair was actually parted on the left. The makeup department for this film parted Greg Kinnear's hair on the right, producing a mirror-image of Bob Crane's hairstyle.