Factual error: Near the end of the movie, Agent Terrence asks Mitch why he didn't release the recording to the media. Mitch replies that it would have been against the law. This is actually incorrect. Tennessee, where the movie is based, is a one-party consent state. Which means only one party needs to give consent to a conversation being recorded. That one party is Mitch McDeere.
Factual error: American law schools graduate students in mid-May. Tom Cruise and his wife drive from Boston, Mass. to Memphis, Tenn. to take the new job pending the bar exam, which is given in late July. So why during that late Spring/early Summer are autumn leaves falling?
Factual error: Early in the movie, Mitch is shown walking through a lounge at Harvard Law School. The lounge has multi-colored chairs and couches. It does not exist at Harvard. This lounge is actually the Mark Twain's Lounge in the University Center on the campus of The University of Memphis.
Chosen answer: At first the security guy doesn't suspect Mitch any more than any other new associate hired by the firm. His job is to keep a close watch on all new associates to see if they realize the firm has mafia ties. He starts watching Mitch (Tom Cruise) more closely after he was approached by the government agents who wanted him to spy on the firm. He knows that Mitch now suspects there are illegal activities going on and may decide to aid the government. It is also shown that Mitch's house was being bugged, and it can be assumed the resort cabana regularly used by the firm in the Bahamas would also be bugged.
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