Factual error: You hear Richard unzip his pants when he sees the woman diving into the pool, but even before he goes to the window he is wearing boxers. Boxers are all buttoned, they don't have zippers.
Factual error: Rob Lowe gets into his red Cadillac and is strangled by the motorized seat belt - no Cadillac model ever had motorized seat belts.
Factual error: When the two are travelling the country to sell the brake pads, when they go to Detroit, it is not Detroit. The Detroit skyline looks nothing like that and the Detroit road sign appears to be added/airbrushed in.
Factual error: Considering the size of Big Tom, the coffin at his funeral is too small.
Factual error: When they get on the flight to Chicago, it's an American Airlines 747. No airline in America would fly a 747 from Ohio to Chicago, a 1 hour or so flight. No one would waste the amount of fuel and costs to fly a plane that big full of passengers for such a short flight.
Factual error: When Paul flies off the hood of the crash test car when it stops, he should have kept going in a straight line. Instead, he flies off to the side at a sharp angle and lands in the seat testing department.
Factual error: At the end of the movie when Tommy is in the boat and needs wind from his dad, you can see the bottom of the lake! If it were so shallow he would probably be grounded.
Answer: A number of online explanations said it was because Lowe was already contractually tied to another project while this one was being filmed. Another explanation is that he was left uncredited so his appearance mid-film would come as a "surprise" when the plot took a different turn.
raywest ★
I read where his contract with the mini-series "The Stand" left him unable to take any credited roles. However, it seems "Tommy Boy" began filming after "The Stand" aired and he was credited for his role as Jesse James in "Frank and Jesse." However, it seems to be an Internet story where the source isn't credited.
Bishop73