Goofs for
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) More at IMDbPro »

• Continuity: Toward the end of the bakery scene where Harold refuses to accept the gift of the box of cookies, the box disappears from the counter top between shots.
  
  
• Continuity: At the beginning when Harold is brushing his teeth, there is toothpaste shown around his mouth. The camera angle changes and the toothpaste is gone, and he is still brushing his teeth.
  
  
• Continuity: During the scene when Harold first meets Ana in the bakery, a handprint in flour appears and disappears on her apron and tank top.
  
  

• Continuity: A little before the time that Harold and Professor Hilbert are talking about pancakes, you can see the same man (with a dark denim jacket) walk by in the same direction twice. Then during the pancake scene, you can see a woman with a zip up brown sweatshirt walk towards them and pass them, twice.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harold and Professor Hilbert start going over Hilbert's checklist of tragic heroes, Hilbert is eating a cup of yogurt. A moment after Hilbert takes his first spoon of yogurt, the camera cuts away. When it comes back again, there's a spot of yogurt on his tie. When the camera cuts away and later returns, it is gone, and moments later, it is back on the tie again.
  
  
• Continuity: Just before Professor Hilbert and Harold start going over Hilbert's checklist of tragic heroes, Hilbert asks Harold to be seated. Harold clearly sits on a jacket that is thrown on the chair. In later moments of the scene the jacket is neatly placed on the back of the couch next to Harold.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Harold's apartment is partially destroyed by a front-end loader with hydraulic forks hooked to it. When Professor Hilbert talks to Harold in the next scene he mentions it being hit by a wrecking ball.
  
  
• Factual errors: There are a number of inconsistencies in the apartment demolition scene. After seeing a man appear in the apartment partially wrecked by their front-end loader, the demo crew foreman shouts "stop the crane," which would only be appropriate if they were using a wrecking ball instead. Demo crews would never start work at an incorrect address - the site was obviously not prepared for wrecking, there were no permits posted, and the demo plan would not have matched the configuration of the "wrong" building (OK, so this is a conceit of the movie, we can suspend the disbelief for this one.) Also, the front end loader would not have been stopped for so long after tearing out the first chucks of the apartment. Yes, after seeing an occupant, work would stop immediately, but there was an overly long stop period before they see Harold Crick. (This can also be the writer's conceit, but it truly doesn't fit the situation.)
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Early in the movie Ms. Eiffel dictates that Harold always ties his tie in the movie in a single-bow Windsor knot. That is not always the case. The bow is in a double bow at least once after that. When it is in a single bow, the bow is not always tied on the same side - which is usually the case.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harold runs up to Ana with the flours, the front of the cardboard box he is holding is creased. The box is uncreased moments later in a close-up.
  
  
• Crew or equipment visible: Near the end, when Dr. Hilbert meets with Harold in his office after reading the book, in a shot of Hilbert you can see a crew member in the reflection of the window.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harold and Ana are talking in the bakery and she has made him cookies, one scene camera is on Ana and there are approximately 5 cookies on the tray; the camera flashes to Harold, then back to Ana, and there are only 3 cookies on the tray.
  
  
• Continuity: When Harold and Prof. Hilbert are in Hilbert's office talking about being the 'king' of anything, there is a shot when Harold is seen with his arms on his legs. In the next shot, he is seen with his arms resting on the arms of the chair. In following shot, he is seen with his arms on his legs again.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene where Harold and Dave eat dinner and discuss what one would do if they knew they were going to die, as the camera cuts back and forth there appears to be a piece of melon in the middle of the table or on one of the plates and it comes and goes depending on the shot.
  
  
• Miscellaneous: In the intro talking about Harold's life they say he counts the stroke of brushing his teeth each direction to 38 times. Then when the movie actually shows him brushing his teeth he only does it 24 times per up and down. In addition, when trying to provide his own narration, he appears to give a total of 72 (not 76).
  
  
• Continuity: When Harold picks up the apple it had no bruises. After he got hit, it had a bruise on it. While yes, this may be seen as an error in continuity; another reading of it is that of symbolism. Before the accident and before all of this happened, Harold was shiny and unscathed. After the accident, he was 'bruised' or more true to life.
  
  
• Continuity: In the scene where Harold realizes who the voice is, Professor Hilbert’s left shirt collar switches from being tugged in his vest, and sticking out of it.
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: Near the beginning, Ms. Eifel dictates "When asked by a co-worker for the product of 67 and 453, Harold drew a blank. He quickly answered 30,351 despite the answer really being 31,305." The product of 67 and 453 actually is 30,351. This was meant to get viewers to question who was dictating Harold's life. Was it the narrator or Harold himself? It wouldn't be a coincidence that the "incorrect" number given by Harold would in fact be the correct answer.
  
  
• Continuity: When Ana Pascal and Harold Crick are kissing on the couch, after she says "I want you too," he slips her jacket down to her elbows. When the shot changes, her jacket sleeve is only on one arm, but when the camera changes angles, her jacket is on both arms again.
  
  
• Continuity: As Harold rides the bus reading the "Death and Taxes" manuscript, an Asian woman is seated behind him. Her arm/sleeve is visible in shots involving only Harold. Alternating shots of Harold and the back of the bus inconsistently show the woman - she vanishes and reappears. Her sleeve remains consistently visible.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In his counseling of Harold, Hilbert defines comedy and tragedy as prose fiction when they are, in fact, dramatic genres.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): Harold tells Ana that she can deduct the bread she gives away to the homeless as charitable contributions on her tax return, which is not true. In order to qualify as a charitable contribution, the property (in this case, the bread) must be given to a qualified charitable organization and be properly documented. Simply giving away food to the homeless is not enough, as there would be no way to prove that she actually gave the bread away.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Ms. Eiffel walks out of the fruit store, there's a sign in Spanish that reads "DENERO" instead of "DINERO" (money).
  
  
• Incorrectly regarded as goofs: When Harold and Ana are on the bus, he asks her if she is a "frequenter of the Metropolitan Transit Authority." The film is shot in Chicago, where the bus agency is called the Chicago Transit Authority. However, the film is not set in Chicago, but in a generic, unnamed city.
  
  
• Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): When Harold exits the bus after flirting with Ms. Pascal, the narrator states that he got off 27 blocks early. He then proceeds to walk in the opposite direction relative to the path of the bus. If he got of the bus early, then he should have followed the bus in the same direction.
  
  

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