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: 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 By that time the Lira had been replaced by the Euro.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: 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: 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)
Factual error: The final episode of "The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour" when Lucy meets Ernie Kovacs, marks the finality for Lucy and Ricky Ricardo, and Fred and Ethel Mertz. By this time the shows weren't filmed before a live audience the way it's depicted in the movie. The producers of the show abandoned the live audience earlier than the final shows.
Factual error: In the two "live" concerts, the one at the beginning and one at the end, both show the seven original members, not the six shown in the movie.
Factual error: The film is set in the 1950s. In the scene where Ewan McGregor and Peter Mullan are waiting for a load of coal (the morning after they discover the body), there is a close-up shot of Ewan McGregor's head and shoulders. In the background is a huge container ship, slightly out of focus. Containers were not introduced to Europe until 1966 and the ship in this film was probably built in the 1980s.
Factual error: When Johnny commits suicide in the end, the slide of the pistol doesn't move when it fires. (01:33:00)
Factual error: At the beginning of the movie when Anthony Hopkins' character points out to the academic board the definition of "spooks" in the dictionary, it seems to be too close to the front of the dictionary to be in the S section. (00:07:10)
Factual error: When May finds out that Bob and Walter are conjoined twins, they are holding a Dunkin' Donuts bag. There are no Dunkin' Donuts in Los Angeles.