Corrected entry: When David Ferrie (Joe Pesci) is ranting to Jim Garrison (right before Ferrie is killed), his hair piece goes from being on the top of his head to right above his eyes, and back.
Corrected entry: 'Back and to the left' is not strictly true, JFK's head flies forward very fast and then rockets back, you can see it on the Frame-by-frame analysis on web sites. And, heads can fly towards the bullet's entry wound.
Correction: As Gerald Posner showed Dan Rather, blood and brain from the President's head fly forward. On "NOVA" after scientist fires at a skull with a rifle from behind, the skull goes backward. As stated on ABC the wound on JFK's skull in the back of the head is the entry wound.
Correction: The Zapruder film was good technology at the time but bad technology to slow down enough to really examine any entry or exit with definite certainty. Having said that most would consider me an expert in arms, ammunition and shooting to which I must tell you exit wounds can become much larger than entry wounds. As in significantly larger! Let's take the angle of JFK's head pre head shot and look at the angle of the book store. If that last shot came from that highly elevated book store position the right rear of his head would have been the entry but that would have blown out of the complete left side of his face on exit. To complete unrecognized proportions. However with his head tilting down and turning to his right a shot from the grassy knoll would have entered just above the hair line and exited on the right rear of his head. Doctors have stated the right rear of his head was blown out. The exit wound.
Corrected entry: Towards the end of the movie when Kevin Costner is giving his big speech to the jury, the camera shows his wife sitting there with her hair down. Back to him and then back to her but her hair is now pinned up.
Correction: Garrison's closing argument is meant to be taking place over several days. Not only does the wife's hair change, but the suit Garrison's wearing changes several times.
Corrected entry: After David Ferrie is found dead, the next scene shows an FBI agent sternly warning Bill Broussard to stop investigating the JFK assassination. Umbrellas are open and it appears to be pouring rain. However, as the camera pulls back the sun is shining fiercely, there is blue sky everywhere, not a cloud in sight, yet the rain still falls seemingly from nowhere. (01:48:49)
Correction: New Orleans is a sub-tropical environment and as a resident I can say, as bizarre as it sounds, the "mistake" mentioned is actually possible and happens quite frequently.
Corrected entry: Governor Connolly was actually sitting in a jump seat twelve centimetres lower and half a metre to the left of JFK, which means the 'through and through' (or magic) bullet is entirely credible. Stone repositions him in the limousine to a position level with and directly in front of JFK, and reproduces this misinformation in the court room scene using stand-ins. This makes it seems like the bullet turned and twisted in mid flight, a key piece of conspiracy theory 'evidence'.
Correction: This was how the real scene went down in the actual court case. It was not till many years later that people realized his positioning could disprove the 'magic bullet' theory. So while Costner's re-enactment is inaccuarte now, it was seen accurate when the trial took place.
Corrected entry: In the sniper's nest, Jim Garrison mentions Clay Shaw, but the name "Clay Shaw" isn't used until later in the film.
Correction: Clay Shaw was a well known businessman. Garrison did not associate him with Oswald. He talks about his connection to the mayor of Dallas.
Corrected entry: Right after the scene where Kevin Costner leaves his meeting with Donald Sutherland in Washington he returns home. A news bulletin comes on the TV featuring scenes of the now famous Zapruder film. However at the end of the movie, during his closing comments at the court case, Costner informs us that the film has never been released to the public. Funny how NBC has a copy.
Correction: What he means near the end is that the ENTIRE film has never been released for analysis, only the safe, sanitized clips of it we are all familiar with.
Correction: The wig moving around during this scene is not a mistake. David Ferrie suffered from alopecia and was totally bald. He made his own wigs and they were known to be poorly constructed and ill-fitting. Having the wig move around when he is under extreme stress and rambling on and on was intentional, to show how upset and distracted he was.
Mobrien316