Goofs

After the night at the Plaza, we see the reporter standing reading a newspaper with "Night at the Plaza" as the headline, and a picture of Charlie and Yvonne exiting the Plaza. The view then pans to the elevator, and we see Charlie and Yvonne exit the elevator, and walk out the front door of the Plaza, where their picture is taken - the same picture that the reporter was just looking at. So, the reporter was looking at a picture in the paper that hadn't been taken yet.

When Charlie and Muriel exit the taxi after the paint-throwing incident, Charlie is carrying her fur coat, which has red paint on it. Muriel is still wearing her hat, which also has red paint on it, but there is none on her face.

When Yvonne files for bankruptcy in the beginning, she files in New York Civil Court. People file for bankruptcy in United States Bankruptcy Court which is a federal court. Civil Court where she filed is a state court. Bankruptcy is governed by federal laws, and therefore bankruptcy cases would be heard in federal as opposed to state court.

At the beginning of the film, the character of Angel Dupree (portrayed by 'Isaac Hayes (I)') states that "The story you're about to see... it's pretty much all true." In fact, the only resemblance the fictionalized account bears to the real story is that it involves a cop and waitress splitting the proceeds of a lottery ticket. In reality, the cop, Robert Cunningham, and the waitress, Phyllis Penzo, had been acquainted for fifteen years, as Cunningham was a regular customer in the restaurant where Penzo worked. One night, Cunningham jokingly offered half interest in the proceeds of his lottery ticket to Penzo, and each chose half the numbers; therefore, the waitress was actually responsible for half the winning numbers, making the lottery money legitimately half hers as opposed to the generous gift it is portrayed as in the film. There was also never a romance between the two; both Penzo and Cunningham were and continue to be happily married to other people, and Cunningham had his wife's full support in sharing the lottery proceeds. While some dramatic license is to be expected in a film adaptation of actual events, the story told in the film could not, by any stretch of the imagination, be considered "pretty much all true."

After taking the kids to the ballpark, they are seen getting off a school bus. However, the door of the bus is on the wrong side. It's shown on the same side as the driver. A real school bus door is on the left side as seen when looking at the front.

At the beginning of the movie, as part of establishing that Charlie is a good guy, he is shown scooping up a blind man who is obliviously crossing a busy street. In reality, blind people know very well how to cross a street relatively safely and would never cross against a light, especially with the sound of vehicles moving all around them. They are visually impaired, not hopelessly stupid. And a long-time police officer would know better than to pick up an able-bodied blind person as a means of guidance, which would be considered very offensive, if not assaultive.

When the movie begins, the coffee shop is called "Ideal". After she buys it, Yvonne changes the name to "Yvonne's". When Charlie comes to the shop to find Yvonne (the first time that they are together after the court verdict), the name of the shop is "Ideal" again. But if you look closely, the Yvonne's sign is still up, just darkened. Obviously with the money awarded to Muriel, Yvonne would had sold the coffee shop back to her original boss, hence it is in the middle of re-doing the sign.

When the police rush to the convenience store robbery, the first policeman slips on the glass, and slides straight past the door.

When Charlie and Yvonne are at Yankee Stadium with the kids, they take their picture 'catching' a fly ball at the outfield wall. The stadium clock stays at 1:20 the entire time, and after. Taking all of those pictures would take more than one minute.

At approximately 1:06 just after the scene when Eddy shows up in Yvonne's apartment, the scene switches to Charlie and Muriel's place. A microphone dips into the picture in the upper left corner and then again just to the right of the first appearance.

The subhead of the "Lottery Cop Hits Wife" front page that is released during the divorce trial reads "Muriel Tell's All," which obviously contains an erroneous apostrophe.

Just before the verdict is announced, a reporter on TV says Muriel's attorney portrayed Yvonne "as a gold digger and nymphomaniac." Although this could have been an attempt to sway the jury in his client's favor, the attorney made a mistake. Nymphomaniacs suffer from a debilitating disease; they do not joyfully run about having sex with everyone. Neither of these conditions apply to Yvonne. She may have committed adultery with Charlie, and that may have harmed her cause in the jury's eyes, but she is not a nymphomaniac.