Character mistake: When Greer and Cantor visit Ryan's home after Miller's escape, they state that he was being moved to HMP Albany on the Isle of Wight (correct, given it was a Cat A dispersal prison at the time and regularly used for IRA prisoners) however Greer later states "it happened in Kent, near the channel", which is incorrect. Lymington (as stated by the guards over the radio in the escape scene) is in southern Hampshire - over 90 miles away from Kent and on the other side of the country.
Patriot Games (1992)
1 character mistake
Directed by: Phillip Noyce
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Harrison Ford, Sean Bean, Richard Harris, James Earl Jones, Anne Archer, Patrick Bergin
Continuity mistake: When the terrorists attack the van at the bridge, shortly after the explosion, you see the terrorists crossing the water in a boat. In the background you can see the van on the bridge with its doors open, shortly after this the terrorists are at the van doors demanding that the police open the van doors!
Cathy Ryan: It was him wasn't it? He's never gonna leave us alone.
Jack Ryan: He'll never get that close to us again, honey. That's why he calls in the middle of the night. It's all he can do.
Cathy Ryan: You get him, Jack. I don't care what you have to do. Just get him.
Trivia: As Harrison Ford leaves the naval academy he hesitates and stares across at his would-be assassin, who is hanging around suspiciously on the opposite side of the street. The street name sign under which the man is standing reads 'Hanover Street'. Hanover Street was the first film in which Harrison Ford played the leading role.
Question: Near the end, during the dinner party at the Ryan house, how did Jack figure out that Lord Holmes' assistant, Watkins, was the IRA informant? He seemed to put it together very suddenly.
Answer: The guests seemed fine, but Jack realised the power was intentionally cut since the boathouse light was working. Maybe he saw the external powerlines were still intact and thus deduced the power was shut down from inside the house. Going toward the basement, he sees Watkins coming from the direction of the basement shortly after the power went out and this made Watkins the prime suspect of the power outage. Ryan may have also known about the existence of an informant in the Royal entourage due to his extensive study of the prior attack situation. Finally, it may have been inappropriate for Watkins to have a gun since he was not a bodyguard. Seeing the blood, the dead guard and the power switch off confirmed Jack's suspicions which led him to shoot Watkins to get more info.
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Answer: Because, while everyone was scared and running for safety, he was the only one cool and calm. Plus, everyone was together, he was the only one alone and appeared out of nowhere.