Continuity mistake: At the airport, in the shot from inside the car, Vic, Matthews and Clonsky take their luggage out of the back. One button is closed on Vic's blazer, Matthews has the black duffel in his right hand and the suitcase in his left hand and Clonsky has the blue duffel in his left hand and two other pieces of luggage in his right hand. Yet in the next shot from outside the car, there are now two buttons closed on Vic's blazer, Matthews' luggage switched hands and Clonsky's blue duffel is now in his right hand with one of the pieces of luggage. (01:25:10)
Continuity mistake: The guy that was only trying to light a cigarette, did not have a cigarette in his mouth until it magically appears right before Grace tackles him. (00:54:10)
Continuity mistake: During the 'One in a Million' opening performance of the pageant, while the contestants are dancing, in the shots behind the ladies the steadycam operator is seen at the front runway. Yet in the front shot, in between the back shots, the entire runway is seen, including the luminous edge bulbs, and the steadycam operator is not there. (01:22:35)
Continuity mistake: Stan announces, "Swimsuit Preliminary accounts for 15%..." and the contestants are seen on stage. Miss NY to the left of the screen and Miss California and Miss Texas to the right of the screen, are walking towards center stage where Miss West Virginia is. Yet in the next shot backstage in the dressing room all four of those contestants are seen backstage with Gracie. (01:03:15)
Continuity mistake: When Gracie is eating the ice cream at the bar, Beth asks her "Do all the women have to wear those really masculine shoes?" and you can see Gracie's spoon empty, but in the next shot it is full of ice cream. (00:14:15)
Continuity mistake: When Ivan, Krashow and the other Russian sit, the unoccupied table between them and Gracie is seen. That table is seen again when the waitress walks over to pick up the tip and clear it. The position of the utensils, used napkins, etc., are different in both shots. This is before she touches any dishes. Also, on the table that Krashow leans on as he's choking we see the bread off the board, and the knife under the napkin, but in the next close-up of the table, the bread is on the board with the knife under the loaf. (00:03:20)
Continuity mistake: In the Laika Restaurant, standing at the back bar, Jerry holds a gun on Ivan's Russian bodyguard with the yellow shirt, seen when McDonald and his men burst into the restaurant. There's a male customer crouched down at Jerry's feet. While Gracie says, "You're not killing anyone, you peanut eating ..." the bar is visible behind them and the man crouching is seen, but Jerry and the Russian bodyguard are not at the bar. Gracie flips Krashow and in the next close-up, Jerry is back at the bar near the crouching guy, with his gun still pointing at the Russian bodyguard, who then shoots Jerry. Then in the next shot, that Russian bodyguard is not at the bar like in the previous shot, only Ivan and another Russian are there shooting at McDonald and his men. (00:05:50)
Continuity mistake: At the orientation breakfast, when Stan Fields begins to speak, a very blonde Miss Arkansas moves between the very front table and the very back table in the subsequent cuts. (00:41:16)
Continuity mistake: When the ladies are on the way to the breakfast and they start to sing the Miss United States song, they show a shot of the ladies seated in the back of the bus and you can clearly see the girls in red that were handing out pamphlets. When they show the shot of the bus taking off, the girls aren't behind the bus as clearly seen in the shot before. (00:38:10)
Continuity mistake: When Gracie walks down and up the stairs, she gives her weapons to Vic. Look at the handcuffs on Vic's finger. First they're around his finger, held in the palm of his hand, in the next shot they're outside his hand, in the next shot they're in his palm again, then in the next shot they're outside his hand yet again. (00:47:15)
Continuity mistake: When Vic is packing to leave the hotel, Gracie rummages through the make-up scattered on the table, yet in the following close-up the make-up is arranged differently and the upright lipstick suddenly appears. Also, when Vic walks out of the bathroom, in the close-up he's already way past the doorway, yet in the wide shot he's just coming out of the doorway. (01:17:55)
Continuity mistake: After Cheryl's fire batons performance she runs off stage and hugs Gracie. In the first shot while hugging, she's holding her batons in her left hand, and she puts her right hand up to her mouth. However, in the subsequent shot Cheryl's left hand is near her mouth, and she's holding her batons in her right hand. (01:27:40)
Continuity mistake: Matthews and Clonsky are in the agents' hotel surveillance room. In the shots facing the monitors, the equipment near the small monitor sits higher than that monitor and there is no equipment on the TV. In the shots facing the agents, the equipment near the small monitor sits lower and closer to that monitor and there is electronic equipment on top of the TV. (00:57:00)
Continuity mistake: As Matthews and Gracie go at each other on the mat, they have each other pinned. He has her face between his crossed feet. In the close-up she says, "Alright let's just suspend reality for a second and pretend I said yes..." The laces on his sneakers/trainers are tied very differently in the close-up than in the previous and following wide shots. (00:21:15)
Continuity mistake: When Gracie is leaping off stage after yelling, "Gun! Gun! Everybody down!" there are two wide side shots of the leap. Those shots are one sequence that was split to put the close-up in the middle. In the 1st, her hand is already on the shoulder of the man in the yellow shirt. Then there's a close-up of Vic's, Kathy's, and Stan's reaction to the leap, but their eyes are still in the air facing towards the stage as we see Gracie flying past their faces. In the 2nd wide shot, she's back to where she was in the 1st shot. (00:54:15)
Continuity mistake: While Gracie is performing with her water glasses, Kathy tells Victor, "I thought I made it very clear you were responsible for making her look credible Victor." However on the Region 1 DVD, the subtitles say, "I thought I made it very clear you WEREN'T responsible for making her credible." (00:53:05)
Continuity mistake: Gracie, Matthews and the rest are planning their operation, and as Harris says, "It's a logistical nightmare," in the close-up Gracie's second blouse button is open. As she walks towards the table, it's closed. In the close-up she says, "...prelims or maybe a TV broadcast," it's open. In the next shot it's closed again. Then when Matthews says, "I got just the girl," that button is open yet again. (00:16:40)
Continuity mistake: When Frank throws the real Miss United States crown into the sink we see where it lands is very visible. In the next shot when Frank is taking the "bomb crown" out of the box, look in the sink and the crown has gone. (00:31:47)
Continuity mistake: When Eric tells Vic at the diner, "Totally on the Bureau", Vic puts his hand on Eric's shoulder. In the next shot, we see Vic doing it again.
Continuity mistake: Gracie as a little girl calls the boy "wimp", and you see her left plait behind her shoulder. Then, in the next shot you see it in front of her shoulder. The same thing happens with her hair tails when she is talking with Victor before she does the talent demonstration. (00:02:05)
Answer: It is an image Victor Melling conjures in an effort to elicit a calm, zen-like state for Grace. He is trying to assist her to focus on the competition, rather than her fear of walking the stage in a two piece swimsuit.
Michael Albert