Continuity mistake: At the beginning, when the president lands in the helicopter, the shots go back and forth between the rotors spinning, and the rotors stopped. (00:02:10)
Continuity mistake: After the President supposedly has his 2nd stroke, he is rushed to the hospital in daylight, yet he arrives at night time. (01:35:15)
Continuity mistake: At the end of the film, Dave Kovic addresses Congress, just before he has his "second stroke." The camera often shows the congressman in their seats, as well as shots which show the balcony, where spectators and the press sit. If you watch closely you'll note that in some shots the balcony is jammed packed with people and in others it is completely empty. (01:31:20)
Continuity mistake: When Dave is taken to the Oval Office for the first time the items on the President's desk shift around from shot to shot, especially noticeably a little glass paperweight. (00:19:20)
Continuity mistake: Duane and his Secret Service colleague wait for Dave at his home to ask him to double for the President. When Dave sees them as he comes out of the kitchen he has a bottle in his left hand. When the camera angle changes the bottle is gone but reappears in the next shot. (00:08:00)
Continuity mistake: In the last scene Dave is giving a speech to both houses of congress, yet he is speaking in the Senate chamber. There is not enough room in the Senate chamber to do a presentation to a joint session of congress. It is always done in the house chamber. [This scene was filmed in the State Capitol Building in one contributor's hometown of Richmond, Virginia. The set was actually the Chamber of the House of Delegates (the local version of the House of Representatives). The unfortunate thing is that it strongly resembles the United States Senate Chambers, so I can understand the confusion. BTW, the full/empty gallery scenes were a mistake. Most of the scene was shot during the day with plenty of extras on hand (including yours truly), but they had to do reshoots a few weeks later. The only problem was that the Legislature was in session, and the shots had to be done at night.] (01:30:15)
Continuity mistake: When the First Lady joins Dave while he is playing with the horse race game they sit down on the far ends of the sofa with at least a meter between them. When we see them from behind they are sitting right next to each other. (01:00:25)
Continuity mistake: When Dave is examined on his bed by a doctor he is rested first against two, later against only one large pillow. (00:26:45)
Continuity mistake: When Dave is thanking his friend the accountant for his help, he puts his hand on the car and when the camera angle changes to a wide shot, his hand is no longer on the car. (00:59:10)
Continuity mistake: After Bob Alexander exposes Mitchell's frauds, Dave and the First Lady have a working lunch with staff members. When they arrive she is wearing a red dress, which has turned into a cream colored dress when she sits down to eat. (01:25:15)
Continuity mistake: When Dave and the First Lady escape from the White House, you can see that she is holding a bag of groceries before they get to the grocery store. (01:07:00)
Continuity mistake: When Dave is under the shower and the First Lady talks to him the handles change positions many times during the scene. (00:47:55)
Continuity mistake: While Dave talks to VP Nance he puts the bead chain down and it gets scattered across the desk. When the camera angle changes it's piled up neatly next to the Burundi hat, and when Dave gets up it's scattered as before. (01:22:25)
Continuity mistake: VP Nance gives Daves some presents from Africa, like a chain of fertility beads. Dave puts his right arm through the chain, and while he walks aroud the desk it switches to his left and then back to his right arm again. (01:21:45)
Continuity mistake: In Dave's final address to the congress, where he declares himself and Bob Alexander guilty of fraud, the papers on the lectern disappear from one front shot to the next, but reappear later. (01:33:00)
Continuity mistake: When President Mitchell arrives at the White House by helicopter someone hands him the leashes of his two dogs. Mitchell winds the leashes around each other almost all the way down. In the next shot the leashes a completely separate again. (00:02:15)
Continuity mistake: When the former First Lady comes to Dave's office they start kissing. She puts her right arm first around his waist, then around his shoulder. Seen through the office door it's down at his hip again. (01:41:05)
Continuity mistake: Dave makes a submarine sandwich for Duane and himself. He is seen shredding some carrot on the still open sandwich, then talking to Duane without moving his arms, and finally there is a close-up where he cuts the closed sandwich into half. (00:40:35)
Continuity mistake: When Dave and the President's wife are going down the elevator to see the real President, right before the elevator stops she unfolds her arms and her hands are at her side. The elevator door opens and her arms are folded again. (01:01:50)
Continuity mistake: When Dave starts working as President Mitchell after his 'illness' and sits down behind the desk the chair topples over backwards. It's a funny scene but, according to even the lowest office furniture safety standards, absolutely unimaginable. (00:28:30)
Chosen answer: Dave and the First Lady snuck out of the White House via a secret underground route which Dave, inexplicably, knew about but the First Lady didn't. The passage led them from inside the White House to an outside location, nearby where Duane of Dave's secret service detail had left a car for them to use. It's still implausible that they could circumvent the remaining Secret Service in making their sojourn, but that is the disbelief that we, the audience, are asked to suspend for the sake of advancing the plot. Upon returning, the couple drive up to the entry gate, where the guard, seeing whom he believes to be the President and First Lady, lets them return to the house. Their only explanation?"The President wanted some ice cream." The MORE implausible question would be how the guard simply trusts that two look-alikes driving up to the White House unattended in a non-government car with a lame excuse would simply let the two pass without consulting the secret service, who should have informed him of the President's comings and goings?
Michael Albert