- Anachronisms: In 1951 Nash drinks from a paper cup with the "recycled" symbol on it. The symbol didn't come into use until much later.
- Anachronisms: The light switch on the wall in John and Alicia Nash's house is of a modern design.
- Anachronisms: In the 1950s, Alicia is shown in her kitchen with a Tupperware Wonderlier covered bowl that wasn't available until the 1970s.
- Crew or equipment visible: After Helinger tells John he will not receive any placement, the camera pulls back on John as he stands in the doorway. The actor's 'T' mark can be seen on the floor to the far right of the screen where John had previously been standing.
- Anachronisms: In John Nash's neighborhood during the 1950s, one of the houses has a modern-day plastic telephone box on the outside.
- Anachronisms: The baby's pacifier shown on the floor is clearly a Nuk orthodontic pacifier. This brand (made by Gerber) was not made available in the US until well into the 1960s.
- Anachronisms: A plastic laundry basket appears in a scene taking place in the 1950s.
- Incorrectly regarded as goofs: A number of facts in John Nash's life were intentionally altered for dramatic and commercial reasons.
- Factual errors: Alfred Nobel's name is misspelled as "Noble" on the rostrum.
- Continuity: When the pens are being placed on Nash's table, they switch from being perpendicular to Nash to being parallel.
- Anachronisms: In 1994 when Nash is talking to the man about the Nobel Prize nomination and they are drinking tea, yellow packets of Splenda are clearly visible on the table. Splenda was not available in the U.S. until 1998.
- Continuity: The way Nash is holding his briefcase changes between shots during the pen presentation.
- Continuity: In Nash's first lecture, the formula on the chalkboard changes between shots. An "f" changes to "F" and a superscript "3" appears.
- Anachronisms: The aerial view of the Pentagon includes the modern-day helicopter landing pad.
- Factual errors: There is no "ceremony of the pens" at Princeton University.
- Boom mic visible: As John Nash is talking to Martin Hansen in his office, the reflection of the boom can be seen in the frame of the picture in the background
- Continuity: When Nash is talking to the man about the Nobel Prize nomination and they are drinking tea, the spoon in the man's hand disappears and reappears between shots.
- Continuity: In the first classroom scene, the movable blackboard is in a different raised position between shots.
- Revealing mistakes: Since the first outdoor scene at Princeton was filmed in winter, but is supposed to take place in the fall, CGI leaves were put on the trees. But the shadow of the trees have no leaves on them.
- Continuity: When Alicia drinks a glass of water in the bathroom she empties the glass. Cut to the next shot she splashes the wall with a good amount of water and then throws the glass, breaking it.
- Factual errors: Even if the audience at the Nobel Prize ceremony would give a laureate a standing ovation, the Swedish King and his family, who sit on stage to the right, would never, ever rise.
- Continuity: When Nash is giving his speech at the Nobel Ceremony, the embroidery on the handkerchief in his pocket is visible then not visible between shots.
- Factual errors: In the Pentagon scene, where Dr. Nash discovers the codes are map coordinates, one of the coordinates he reads off is "67-46-90", presumably in degrees, minutes and seconds. But in the degree-minute-second coordinate system, seconds go up only to 59, not 90.
- Anachronisms: In the first scene in his dorm room at Princeton, set in 1947, Nash listens to a recording by the early-music ensemble Gothic Voices featuring soprano Emma Kirkby. The recording, of Hildegard von Bingen's "Columba aspexit," was not made until 1981; in fact, Emma Kirkby was not even born until 1949.
- Factual errors: The Queen of Sweden is not blonde but has black hair and the King of Sweden is not shorter than her.
- Factual errors: Contrary to what the Nobel representative claims, "the Sveriges Riksbank prize in economic sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel" is not privately funded. It is financed by the Swedish state bank. (The five "genuine" Nobel prizes are funded by the legacy of Alfred Nobel.)
- Continuity: When Nash arrives at MIT after having come from the pentagon he is wearing a topcoat though everyone complains about the air-conditioning is broken and it followed by a scene in which opening windows because of the heat facilitates the film's "meet cute". However this might not be a gratuitous error but a foreshadowing of Nash's mental disturbances.
- Continuity: As Nash walks on the Harvard campus on his way to the math conference (shortly before being chased by Rosen and his men), he drops his bag behind him to hug his "roomate" and the young girl. During his conversations with them, the bag remains on the ground. Within one second, just before Nash walks off, the bag goes from being on the ground to being clutched to his chest.
- Revealing mistakes: In the section set in March 1994, we see the trees a healthy green. In New Jersey, trees are still bare in March.
>>> WARNING: Here Be Spoilers <<<
Goofs below here contain information that may give away important plot points. You may not want to read any further if you've not already seen this title.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When Alicia gives John his medicine, she places it on a piece of newspaper from where it disappears and reappears before he takes it.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When John says that perhaps he should return to the hospital, he takes her hand twice between shots.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When Alicia puts the medicine on the newspaper it is flat, but in the next shot one of the tablets is standing upwards.
- Continuity: SPOILER: When Alicia is comforting Nash after his delusional breakdown at Princeton, she holds her hand out, and Nash places his left hand in hers. Next scene, he places his hand in hers again.
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