The photo that Jenine (Meryl Streep) observes on Senator Irving's (Tom Cruise) office wall of him dressed as a young cadet is a still photo from Cruise's role in the 1981 film Taps (1981).
In an interview to the Variety magazine, Tom Cruise said he had made the film out of deep respect for Robert Redford's body of work, which he said had inspired him since Ordinary People (1980).
After Rodriguez rolls onto his back so that Arian can see the extent of his injury, he is then shown alternately on his left side (correct) and his stomach (impossible).
The movie shows the events in all 3 places beginning at 10am Eastern Standard Time, 6:30pm in Afghanistan, and 7am in California. In fact, Afghanistan is 9.5 hours ahead of Eastern Standard Time. If it were Daylight Saving Time, then it would be 8.5 hours, but the movie took place during winter and the text on the screen said Standard Time not Daylight time.
When Senator Irving returns to his office after receiving a phone call, there is a lamp positioned slightly in front of the framed article (about him) that was written by Janine. When Janine was looking at the article previously, there was no such obstruction.
Senator Jasper Irving: We walk, and Afghanistan reverts back to the Taliban. Only now the Taliban has metastasized into something infinitely more vicious and potent because they're now 2-0 versus superpowers. They butcher the people who helped us, who voted and were stupid enough to put their faith in our word. So call it not only the end of hope for 10s of millions of Afghans, but the end of American credibility, the end of America as a force for righteousness in the world. And when we're forced to go back in a couple years, and please quote me on this, we'll be squared off against a shattered Iraq, a hopeless Afghanistan, and a nuclear Iran. How many troops are we going to need then? I guarantee you'll be adding some zeros.
What aspect of the plot is taken from a book about real life events in Afganistan, and what was the name of the book?
A
The soldier falling out of the helicopter on a mountain in Afganistan, and a "new offensive" to take the high ground. The book was titled "Roberts Ridge" by Malcolm MacPherson