Factual error: Jennifer Lawrence uses a Bic lighter that has a child-proof safety device on it. The film is set in 1976. Bic lighters did not have safety devices on them until the 1990's. (00:57:25)
Continuity mistake: When Samir parks by 128 Randolph, he leaves the vehicle with the drivers side window down, but when the other agents pull up, the window is rolled up.
Factual error: Towards the end of the movie, George W. Bush is seen walking through the Cross Hall of The White House towards what is in reality The East Room. Behind him we see a large staircase with a plant next to it on the other end of the hall. These should not be there: that is where the door to the State Dining Room really is. In the next shot we see W. coming upstairs from a winding staircase that doesn't exist.
Revealing mistake: When Louis is trying to get Lester to apologize to Cleo after hitting her, lots of extras on the sidewalk and across the street can be seen watching the whole scene being shot.
Plot hole: At the end of the movie we discover that the main character (Claire) was in the plane crash and was sitting next to Eric as the plane started to go down. However at the beginning of the movie( before we are supposed to know Claire was in the crash) Eric can be seen but Claire is not next to him. (00:01:10 - 01:19:20)
Continuity mistake: At the beginning of the film when Georgiana is talking with her mother about her engagement, the curl running down the back of Georgiana's neck disappears and reappears multiple times.
Factual error: When Caroline is opening the envelope from Dr. Henry, she removes a wad of cash. They are modern bills; the large corner numbers weren't introduced until the late 1990s. (00:32:30)
Character mistake: During the seminar, Professor Rohl tells students that only 19 workers of Auschwitz were sentenced (in 1966). During the first trial of Nazis from Auschwitz, 39 were sentenced, including 23 persons condemned to death. The trial was in 1947 in Krakow.
Plot hole: Blackbird and Ritchie fake their deaths in order to lure Wayne and Carmen out of hiding. What was the point of pursuing Wayne and Carmen? The only reason they wanted the couple dead was to prevent them from testifying. The problem is .if Blackbird and Ritchie were "dead", the case would be CLOSED. Carmen and Wayne wouldn't be testifying anyway. So why go to the trouble of killing them? It makes no sense.
Audio problem: The day after Operation Mardonius, when the first set of bombs explodes you first see the explosion and then hear it after a second, then as the last bombs explode you both see and hear the sound at the same time.
Revealing mistake: The raid took place at Xmas in 1951. In homage to this fact, the characters wear big coats and one of them even rubs his hands together and goes "Brrr." Yet the movie was filmed in the height of summer. Trees in the background of scenes in London are full of leaves, we never see any mist in exhaled breath and the lighting levels and shadows indicate a high, bright sun.
Factual error: When the captain is arguing with the Armed Services Committee chairman, Homeland Security is mentioned. However this movie takes place prior to Desert Shield, and the Department of Homeland Security wasn't created until over a decade later.
Continuity mistake: When the brothers are standing on the rocks on the beach, the clouds change back and forth behind Stephan.
Continuity mistake: When Ronald's girlfriend gets up at the breakfast table, and tousles his hair, Ronald is holding a glass of milk in his right hand. There's a cut to a wide shot, and Ronald is not holding the milk. There's not enough time for him to have put it down.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Sam is talking with the person in the cemetery, while they are sitting side by side on a bench. In one shot there is an object on his left shoulder and it is missing in the next shot.
Visible crew/equipment: When Tibby is talking to Lena on the phone about the man in her art classroom, you can see a crew member's face reflected on the glass window.
Continuity mistake: During the scene that Bo and Sam kiss, his hair changes between shots. From the back, his hair is completely pulled back. From the front, his bangs are down. (01:27:20)
Continuity mistake: The first night in Genova Mary cries and her father comes to hug her. Her hair keeps swapping back and forth from sweaty and stuck to the forehead to loose.
Continuity mistake: The neighbors are dripping wet as they get out of the hot tub, yet they don't drip any water when they get onto the trampoline.
Deliberate mistake: In the final fight, two master Brazil Jujitsu fighters, one an instructor and the other a champion, execute rear naked chokes without the requisite body locks, using the legs to control the body. In the first case, Mike was able to escape the choke by flipping backwards, which a body lock prevents. In the second case, Mike was able to strangle Silva even though any trained fighter could prevent it by simply twisting their body. (01:30:00)