Factual error: It is established early in the movie (Natalie's call) that the money ball event celebration is part of the -first - anniversary of the Valley River Center, the shopping mall where most of the movie is set, with the town of Eugene, Oregon, mentioned explicitly. However, the center opened in 1969, and the movie is set in 1980. The original script was written in 1971, so that line needed an update and slipped by.
Continuity mistake: During the heist, the lights go out, but just the stage ones. Elaine asks for a flashlight; a guy with a short-sleeved light green shirt is sitting in the audience, or standing in the reverse shot. (01:27:20)
Continuity mistake: In the semi-POV of the security cart that takes a hard turn through the crowd, the off-balance guard is clinging to his colleague's shoulder, but he was nowhere near to reach him in the other shots. (01:30:30)
Continuity mistake: Louise's husband is in the car with his nurse. She rubs his earlobe with her fingers; when he asks her about the wet towel and adds "I think I'd like that." her thumb is in front of the ear, but when she replies "I know you would" it's behind it. (01:03:40)
Continuity mistake: Elaine and the policeman are talking at her place. He proposes to go to the bedroom and she says "I don't think so." He then asks why not, and puts his hand in front of his forehead. The hand position changes at the cut. (00:59:50)
Continuity mistake: The girls are stopped by the cop as they get out of the back door. Jane says "Maybe we all better give it a try."; in the background, Louise's right hand is all the way down. Next shot ("Why don't we tell the truth?") and it's up all the way to the shoulder. (00:55:00)
Audio problem: When the three (plus Jane's kids in the back of the car) are approaching Robert's store to rob it, in the last shot as they pull over nobody's lips move, the lines are dubbed over. (00:52:50)
Continuity mistake: After the failed robbery with the water gun, the friends try one more caper. Elaine knocks down a stack of paddles; a few are left standing against the ticket booth, but the moment there's a cut, a single paddle is still up. (00:50:25)
Continuity mistake: Louise says "I'll be in charge of phase 1", and her hands is on her own chest as she plays with the brooch; suddenly at the cut the same hand is on her arm. (00:39:15)
Continuity mistake: Elaine phoned her friends to meet her in front of the money ball. When we see Jane approach, she has a rather quizzical look. She walks past a bench with two older people on it, and comes across two women; one has long black hair and wears brown pants, the other shorter blonde hair and has lighter brown pants with some sort of long beige sweater tied to her waist that goes past her knees. The exact same duo that walked past her in the opposite direction is in front of her in the mall square a couple of shots later. (00:36:55)
Continuity mistake: Elaine is out of gas and tries to make a phone call at the mall. When she hangs up, the phone cord is positioned above or under the microphone in different shots without her touching it. (00:35:30)
Continuity mistake: Jane is talking to her dad who was just thrown out by her mum going through a lesbian phase. Look at him when he says "Hall closet, top shelf! Aye, aye, captain." His duffel back is floppy, and it rests already tighter to his body at the cut. (00:32:40)
Continuity mistake: In bed with Albert, Louise tells him she's gonna lose the store. She is holding the issue of Time magazine in different positions and distance between shots. For instance, at the first cut the magazine is suddenly resting on her chest, and the tip of her hair is above or below the magazine between shots. (00:23:25)
Continuity mistake: Jane talks to Fred Willard once they get out of their lovemaking vehicle. She crosses her hands on top of the car door, but the hands are positioned differently between shots (when she says "Robert" the left is on top of the other, cut and they are locked together with the left hand sideways). (00:04:35)
Continuity mistake: During the opening credits, the three protagonists walk into a literal meat market; the price tags on the steaks change position between the two wider angle and the closer one. (00:02:00)
Other mistake: Elaine is counting her share of the loot in $20 increments; however the pile of money is not made of $20 bills. You can spot about 1 in the visible area, the rest are 1 or 5 dollar bills. Louise is shown stacking away all $100 and $20 bills. (01:38:30)
Other mistake: It's a funny line, sure, but when Jane is with her fiancé, he tells her that her mother and her lesbian partner "adopted a black baby" and "last week, she hocked her wedding ring to buy a crib." That's a little fast, considering the relationship happened just a little before the heist planning, a week. (01:04:20)
Continuity mistake: The three friends are trying to come up with a plan for the heist. Elaine suggests taking a walk meanwhile. Louise walks backwards for a few; she has her left hand in her pocket, but at the cut it's the right hand. (00:38:25)
Continuity mistake: At Taco Time, Jane goes on a rant about international aid while she eats a burger. She has the tiniest piece of burger left in hand when she is done, but in Fred Willard's reaction shot she is holding an almost full burger again. (00:26:20)
