Character mistake: After Mort finds the two bodies in the truck, he makes a great effort to avoid leaving any fingerprints on the door handle and also on the screwdriver he removed from the one body and takes with him. However, when he's pushing the car towards the cliff, he reaches in the window to grab the steering wheel with his bare hand, leaving his prints all over it and uses his other hand to push the truck.
Character mistake: Laura is on the floor, screaming and exhibiting bizarre behaviour, so Dr. Rose Cotter goes to the wall phone to call for help. Instead of maintaining observation and continuing an evaluation of Laura, the psychiatrist faces the wall while making the call and even stares at the wall for a couple of seconds after hanging up. A patient's body language can/do help make a diagnosis, so the psychiatrist should keep her eyes on Laura. (00:11:20)
Character mistake: At the truck stop, Mark (young Damian) meets with Martin. Martin tells Mark that he had the shedding pills reverse engineered and hands him a piece of paper. The percentages of the 5 ingredients only add up to 90% rather than 100%. (01:29:25)
Character mistake: When looking at the newspaper about Chester Copperpot, the caption under his picture reads, "Reclusive scavenger claims, 'I have they key.'" It should read "I have the key."
Character mistake: When Cole and his mother are stuck in traffic due to an pedestrian accident, a cop ignites a flare to place on the road by the car that hit the pedestrian. The police were already on scene, traffic was gridlocked up and down the street, nothing was moving, and he places the flare about 2 feet in front of the car - a move that is unsafe (potential fuel leak) and unnecessary. It would never be done on a city street, and never in heavy traffic. (01:27:25)
Suggested correction: We don't see the cop place the flare on the ground, the camera cuts away as he leans down with it. It could be assumed that he's putting it down but it's possible he's just bending down to pick something up and has to move the flare towards the ground to do that. Without confirmation that the flare was placed where it's suggested there can be no definite mistake.
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.
Character mistake: When Princess Mombi is sleeping she is snoring, but she has no head.
Character mistake: When Dr. Walker and Michelle are dancing at the club, the people around can't help but stare at the camera.
Character mistake: The little girl asks Kristen "what's your name?" Kristen replies "Kirsten". (00:05:59)
Suggested correction: I hear her say "Kristen." The transcript and subtitle even say "Kristen."
Character mistake: When Leon goes to see Susan Hoff with his photography portfolio she tells him he needs improvement. After she leaves, Leon tells Jurgis that he thinks she hated his work and Jurgis tells Leon "when she hates somebody's work she gives them about a minute, you got three." In reality, she actually did give him one minute almost to the second. (00:06:58)
Character mistake: The conductors on Michael's train repeatedly call the seat check slips "zone stubs." Michael could make this mistake, but no conductor would.
Character mistake: After Father Flynn has completed his first sermon, Donald Miller comes into the dressing room and says "That was some sermon, Father." Flynn then says "Hi Jim". Jim is the name of the other altar boy. He should have said Donald.
Suggested correction: Flynn says "hey, Champ", not Jim.
Character mistake: Nikolai is driving Anna home after the bike went kaputt in the rain, outside the restaurant. Anna towards the end tells him to "take the next right." Both Naomi Watts and Viggo Mortensen are looking left, and keep their eyes there. (00:28:25)
Character mistake: There's no way that using a regular needle and thread to sew up that wound would work the way it's shown. Anybody who knew what they were doing - which John Cusack is portrayed as knowing - would also know that using unsterilized materials and instruments without a sterile field from an uncleaned massive open wound is a great way to kill your patient.
Suggested correction: The main plot of this film takes place inside the head of a murderer with dissociative identity disorder. The fact that stitching up a wound in that matter wouldn't work is irrelevant to the fact that it is how Malcolm is playing out the scenario in his head.
You're making a good point to invalidate a "character mistake", but couldn't the entry be reclassified as a "factual mistake" and stand as written?
Character mistake: The first victim gets smacked in the face by the Mistress, and then in subservient fashion holds her hand and kisses it asking if she hurt her hand hitting him. Thing is, she slapped him with the right hand and he is kissing the left better. (00:01:40)
Character mistake: When Sammy, the postman, arrives on the scene, he rushes up and attempts to take Vera's pulse in her neck. Unfortunately, Sammy's fingers are nowhere near the carotid artery, so he couldn't take her pulse.
Character mistake: When Michael goes to the antique shop, the sign out front is spelled wrong; it reads "anitques."
Character mistake: There are some musicians at different times in the movie. One of them is playing a moraharpa (traditional Swedish instrument, a predecessor of the nyckelharpa), but holding and playing it incorrectly. (00:38:37 - 01:39:45)
Character mistake: When Marco is trying to raise his rifle to assassinate Senator Arthur, he held it upside down with his scope below and turned over in the same scene, He is an expert marksman.
Character mistake: The prosecuting attorney told William, "In the interests of getting this thug [Danny] off the streets as soon as possible, his attorney has agreed to plead guilty to assaulting an officer, possession with the intent to distribute, and resisting arrest, and that's all in addition to his parole violations. We're looking at five to seven [years in prison]." The parole violations alone are sufficient to get Danny off the streets immediately. (00:09:34)