Other mistake: When Rowan Atkinson is riding in the train, near the end of the film, he is looking out the window. He is looking forward, then quickly looks backwards. He does this several times in a row, as if trying to see things quickly as the train passes them. But, when the camera pulls back, Rowan's back is facing the direction the train is moving, thus he was looking the wrong way! You can tell by the way the scenery is moving as you look through the window. (01:28:05)
Rat Race (2001)
Plot summary
Directed by: Jerry Zucker
Starring: John Cleese, Cuba Gooding Jr., Whoopi Goldberg, Rowan Atkinson, Seth Green, Jon Lovitz, Amy Smart, Kathy Najimy, Vince Vieluf, Lanei Chapman
A Las Vegas casino owner, Donald P. Sinclair, (John Cleese) sets up a race, giving 9 people the chance to get $2,000,000. He and his bigshot friends bet on the race. Also stars Whoopi Goldberg, Cuba Gooding Jr., Seth Green,
Wayne Knight, Jon Lovitz, Breckin Meyer and Kathy Najimy.
NCTanti
Enrico Pollini: Am I too late-a? Look I won a coin, a gold coin-a, isn't it wonderful? Look at this room, what a beautiful room, have you seen this room?
Randy Pear: Yes! We're IN it.
Question: Besides being played for comedic effect, would getting the coin toss wrong have really mattered?
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: It really would have mattered. This was over time and the winner of the coin toss gets the ball first. In 2001, NFL overtime was sudden death where a field goal wins the game. So having the ball first is a huge advantage. The messed up coin toss seems to be a joke about the 1998 Thanksgiving game between the Lions and Steelers where the ref messed up the coin toss in overtime because he heard the Steeler's player's call wrong. The Lions ended up getting the ball and winning. Not to mention that many people who bet on football games also bet on the coin toss.
Bishop73