Revealing mistake: In the opening close-up of adult Gracie, her eyes are looking over the faux book entitled 'Essentials of Russian Grammar'. There is a camera lens through the binding of the book in the center of the letter 'o' in the word 'of'. In the next close-up and semi close-up of Gracie, the camera lens is not in the binding, it's just the title of the book. One giveaway, the diameter of the lens in the first shot is greater than the diameter of the 'o' in the subsequent shots. (00:02:20)
Revealing mistake: At the Russian restaurant, on the agent's surveillance monitor in the van we see the blonde Russian start to sit in the first shot. Yet in the next shot in the restaurant we now see the blonde Russian is just pulling his chair out to sit. A surveillance camera CANNOT see what has NOT even happened yet. (00:03:20)
Revealing mistake: Gracie hugs the Russian waitress in order to have a better view of the disc hand-off appear on the monitor. As she raises her left hand that holds the book/camera lens, we see that the digital feed that appears on the monitor stays steady and level, even though she is raising the book/camera lens higher and closer to her face. Obviously the feed that we see on the monitor is not taken from the book/camera lens. (00:04:10)
Revealing mistake: In the opening shootout in the kitchen, the bad guy fires off a few rounds at an officer, the last of which has a delayed reaction, the squib does not detonate til about half a second after the gun is fired. (00:06:20)
Revealing mistake: When Gracie is speeding towards Starbucks in Manhattan, before she crosses the intersection to make the U-turn, an aerial view of the block in the background is seen. The parked cars are spaced with small islands in between and are parked perpendicularly to the sidewalks. These shots are very obviously not taken in Manhattan, but rather in Austin. (00:10:05)
Revealing mistake: Matthews and Gracie are walking and talking on the street when they get to the door and Matthews says, "Alright here we are," and in the next shot they're in Kathy's office. However, they were walking down E. 55th St. and the door they reach is for Lespinasse, St. Regis Hotel's fine dining restaurant. The exterior can also be seen when Vic tries to teach Gracie to glide outside of the restaurant. This shot should precede Gracie's meeting with Victor at Lespinasse, it's in the wrong place! (00:22:40 - 00:29:15)
Revealing mistake: When Vic and Gracie are inside St. Regis Hotel's Restaurant Lespinasse, there are windows in which the view outside can be seen. The street traffic seen through the window is obviously not Manhattan and the cars are heading the wrong way down E. 55th St. The exterior of the real restaurant is seen when Vic tries to teach Gracie how to glide. The interior shots are filmed at another restaurant in Austin. (00:25:35)
Revealing mistake: During the scene when Victor (Michael Caine) tries to teach Gracie (Sandra Bullock) how to walk gracefully, look towards the back and you can easily see people behind Manhattan's street barricades watching the filming. (00:28:35)
Revealing mistake: When Gracie (Bullock) and Victor Melling (Caine) are leaving the restaurant, Victor is teaching her to walk, if you watch the people walking past them, between shots (front view and side view) you can see the same people walk by several times, in some cases in different directions. There are also people near them that smile, laugh or point at the two actors as they walk past. (00:28:55)
Revealing mistake: The shot from inside the bus showing the grounds outside of the hotel, including people, cars, flower planters, etc. differs from the next shot outside the bus as it pulls away. Also, when Gracie and Vic stand near the taxi, when Gracie boards the bus and when she is on the bus, many of the same extras walking around outside do repetitive or even contradictory actions in these shots. (00:36:10)
Revealing mistake: Miss Missouri is seen boarding the bus first and she is a white woman, with dark short hair. Later onstage, when Miss Hawaii says, "World Peace," to her left is Miss Missouri and she is a very tall African-American woman who is seen quite a few times during the pageant with the entire Missouri sash showing prominently. The white woman is actually Miss Kentucky later at the orientation breakfast. (00:36:50 - 01:04:35)
Revealing mistake: While alone with Gracie, Kathy says, "I've been fighting all my life against your type..." She then says, "Intellectuals...ugly women..." and Kathy's hair is noticeably longer at her shoulders than it was in all the previous shots. Gracie's left braid with red ribbon that sticks straight out differ between these shots too. Obviously this was shot in pickups. (00:55:55)
Revealing mistake: Kathy Morningside sits at her desk, puts on her tiara and recalls her own pageant win. Her hair is short, reaching the collar of her jacket and her earrings the same length as her hair. When Frank walks into the room, she shows him the other fake terrorist letters and her hair is now much longer. This was obviously shot later in pickups. (01:15:45)
Revealing mistake: During the Miss United States Pageant, there are close-up shots of the audience and it is very obvious that in the balcony and back part of the audience, especially when seeing the 'men' with bow ties, they are fake - mostly cardboard cut outs. (01:22:50)
Revealing mistake: The Pageant Announcer says, "The Top 10 have been chosen and we'll be right back with tonight's Swimsuit Competition." Behind her the women can be seen live on stage and to her right they can also be seen on the live monitor. Gracie comes offstage behind her, yet on the monitor Gracie waves and heads off stage towards Kathy and Stan on the other side of the stage. The other contestants movements are also vastly different behind her and on the monitor. (01:24:50)
Revealing mistake: During Cheryl's flaming baton performance, it's very apparent that it's a double doing most of the tossing and twirling. (01:26:50)
Revealing mistake: At the pageant, Cheryl performs with the flaming batons and she tosses a baton into the air. Cheryl's reflection is seen on the stage floor but the baton's is not because she really tosses nothing, this particular baton is entirely CG. Also, in some shots when her reflection and the reflections of bulbs, etc, is seen on the stage floor, the reflections of the flames are not. The flames were real in some shots and digitally augmented in others. (01:26:55)
Revealing mistake: Cheryl is the second one called in the Top 5 and she stands with Miss California at the front of the stage. Stan calls Miss Nebraska and as he says, "A theatre major", Cheryl is seen in front of Gracie with the other Top 10 that haven't been called. (01:32:30)
Revealing mistake: When Gracie throws the crown up towards the Liberty prop, it does not fly normally. It's very obvious that it's a CG crown leaving her hand and flying through the air. Especially enjoyable if it's seen frame by frame. (01:39:55)
Revealing mistake: The morning after the pageant, Matthews' voiceover says, "You gotta admit, a part of you is gonna miss this" as we see a shot of the front of the hotel. We see the contestants milling around outside wearing the same outfits and sashes as the morning of the pre-pageant orientation breakfast. Obviously this shot does not belong here at all. We then see those same women, dressed completely differently, inside surprising Gracie! (01:42:45)
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