Continuity mistake: When Edward is walking through the forest and the trees grab him the key he is wearing falls off his neck, but in the next couple shots you can still see it hanging on his neck.
Continuity mistake: When the young Edward Bloom is in church and is growing at a quick pace, you see his buttons fly off and hit the woman in front of him in the back of the head. She then turns around and his buttons are back. (00:19:25)
Factual error: When Edward Bloom hits the winning shot in the basketball game, a three-point line is visible at his feet. The three-point line was not introduced until the 1970s in the newly formed ABA. It did not reach high school basketball gyms until the late 80s. (00:20:55)
Continuity mistake: When Edward is reading Norther's poem there is a close-up of the book. When it cuts we can see the way the book is folded that he isn't reading in the same book. (00:32:55)
Continuity mistake: While robbing the bank, Norther pulls out a drawer which falls to the floor, you can see some notes on the counter in front of him. When it cuts from the other side of the counter and Norther sticking his head up the notes are gone. Then they reappear again. (01:21:45)
Factual error: When Ewan McGregor's young wife is hanging clothes in her backyard, a small digital satellite dish is visible on the rooftop of one of the houses in the background. This isn't something that should seem out of ordinary, except for the fact that the events in the scene were supposed to be taking place during the Korean War. These dishes weren't commonly seen on rooftops until the mid to late 90s. (01:14:00)
Continuity mistake: At the bank when Edward and Norther are about to rob it, Norther says "My associate's gonna handle the vault." At that time Edward has passed a pole. When it cuts, Edward starts walking and passes the pole again. (01:21:20)
Continuity mistake: When Specter's poet hands Edward the poem in the close up, the poet is leaning against the tree. Then it cuts to a different camera angle and the poet is sitting out from the tree. (00:34:05)
Continuity mistake: Right after Jenny throws Edward's shoes on the line, the three other characters put their hands out to pull him back into town. The woman puts her hand on his back in one shot, then it's on his shoulder in the next, then back to his back in the next. (00:33:35)
Continuity mistake: When Will enters Edward's room and hands him a glass of water, Edward's grip on the glass change between the shots from under the glass to the middle of the glass. (00:14:55)
Factual error: When Edward Bloom and Norther are about to rob the Texas bank, you can see the Texas flag over Bloom's shoulder. The flag is upside down, the white should be on top while the red is on bottom.
Continuity mistake: At the dinner table when Josephine tells about her article about Morocco Will's mother says "We have to pick up a copy", Will is holding a fork and his other hand is under the table. When it cuts the way he holds the fork change and his other hand is resting on the table. (00:39:55)
Revealing mistake: When the house is burning at some points we can see the flames inside the house are fake. If you look at the window you can see some of the flames are actually outside the house. The flames are just reflected in the window. (00:20:35)
Continuity mistake: When Jenny is getting Edward's shoes when he is in Specter, it shows a shot of the poet, with one hand above the table and one below (and he's not rocking). Then it immediately cuts to a shot of him rocking with both hands holding a cup of coffee. (00:32:40)
Continuity mistake: As Will sleeps beside his unconscious father in the hospital, some papers are visible on his lap. In the next shot, he wakes to tend to his suddenly conscious father, and the papers disappear. No sound suggests they fell to the floor, Will makes no movements to account for them being on his lap, and in later shots, they are missing from the scene altogether. (01:48:50 - 01:49:45)
Continuity mistake: When Edward catches up with Karl after leaving Specter, Edward is standing on the side of the road. When it cuts to them starting to walk he is almost standing in the middle of the road. (00:39:15)
Continuity mistake: The young Edward Bloom has blue eyes and the old Edward Bloom has brown eyes. (00:03:50 - 00:06:10)
Continuity mistake: When Will is at his office he is sitting on the phone. At first we see him holding his hand by his chin. When it cuts he is suddenly playing with the phone chord. (00:04:50)
Continuity mistake: After Edward has received the letter from the army he gives the letter to Sandra. Then he reaches out for her shoulder and about to lay his hand on her shoulder when it cuts to him reaching out for her shoulder again. (01:04:50)
Continuity mistake: After Don is done beating Edward he grabs him by the jacket and lifts him up. First he grabs him by the chest, but when it cuts he is holding him by his arms. (01:02:45)
Chosen answer: Deregulation of the U. S. savings & loan industry in the early 1980's greatly reduced the restrictions on which federally-chartered S&Ls could invest their money. Since the depositors' money was insured by the federal government, the S&Ls had no incentives to minimize risk. This resulted in a major political scandal by the end of the decade, to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars being lost through questionable investments, with taxpayers picking up the tab. Many of the most egregious violators were based in Sun Belt states, including Texas. The fashions do appear to be a bit out of date, however.