After first listening to the "Born in the USA" and "Darkness on the Edge of Town" albums on cassette, Javed quotes a line from the song "The River", which is not on either of those two albums. It is the title track to a different album, Springsteen's "The River".
When a picture is taking at Javeds birthday party, the actual picture shows him holding something on top of the tie box. This item wasn't there when the picture was taken.
The amount of chips on Javeds plate change from there being a mountain of them to just a regular portion this in the time it takes him from getting the food to when he picks his seat.
During the first English class the writing on the blackboard changes size.
The night after the party and Javed and his father get into the car. The traffic light air freshener hanging from the rear view mirror is visible in exterior shots and missing in interior shots.
The American flags hanging on the airport walls are displayed incorrectly. When displayed vertically against a wall, the union (blue field) should be uppermost and to the flag's right, that is, the observer's left.
Javid is charged £20 per ticket to see Bruce in concert. Tickets for the Tunnel of Love tour in the UK were £17.50.
Although the cars depicted on the street scenes and the estate parking lot where Javed's home is are correct for the era the film was supposed to have taken place in, they are all in pristine condition, which is unbelievable given that the salting of roads in Britain led to early rust out of cars only a few years old. This is most obvious by Javed's father's car - a thirteen year old Vauxhall Viva with not a spot of tin worm on it.
The tree outside the family home had pink spring blossoms in two scenes that were set in autumn - Javed's birthday and his departure for university the following year.
Javed listens to Bruce Springsteen's studio version of Patti Smith's "Because the Night". This particular version was not released commercially until a 2010 compilation.
An establishing shot shows an arriving airliner over a sign that reads "Newark Liberty International Airport." However, the story is set in the late 1980's when the airport was named "Newark International Airport." "Liberty" was added to the name in 2002 after 9/11.
The movie's depiction of attitudes to Springsteen's music seems to be based on 2019 rather than its setting of 1987. In 1985 Springsteen had embarked on the Born in the USA tour, a massive popular success (including 3 nights in the UK's Wembley Stadium). The album also hit #1 in the UK, with several singles charting as well. He was a mainstream musician and by no means viewed as music for older people only.
When Javid picking up the NME at the newsstand there's a Number One magazine on the shelf too. This is the issue dated 21 January 1984 with Frankie Goes To Hollywood. It seems unlikely the vendor would have a 4 year old issue on sale.
The DJ is playing Tiffany: I Think We're Alone Now in Nov '87, but it didn't reach the UK charts until early 1988. He also talks about people wanting to hear Bros. They didn't have their first hit until 1988 with When Will I Be Famous. Their first single I Owe You Nothing entered the UK chart on 28th November 1987 at Number 81.
When Javed heads outside into the storm to throw his poems into the trash, you can clearly see the large fan the film crew are using reflected in the living room window of Javed's house.
Matt tells Javed the Manchester university with the excellent creative writing program is 250 miles away. In reality, it is 175 miles from Luton to Manchester.