Revealing mistake: While Akeem is getting his hair cut, you can see the reflection of the white character he plays in the mirror. It is quite obviously a stand-in, with a fatter face and different glasses. (00:33:45)
Coming to America (1988)
Directed by: John Landis
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Feather, Garcelle Beauvais, James Earl Jones, John Amos, Paul Bates
Continuity mistake: When Akeem and Semmi get their apartment, the landlord says that the room has only one window facing a brick wall. But when Akeem is out on the fire escape, he yells out to a street, not a wall. And there are two windows.
Continuity mistake: In the scene where Semmi and Akeem are cleaning the soap from the window of McDowells the amount of soap on the window constantly changes from less to more and back to less again. (Look at the very top of the window pane).
Trivia: The man who is getting a (fake) haircut as Akeem first enters the barber shop is played by a then-unknown Cuba Gooding Jr.
Trivia: The two bums who get the bag of money from Akeem are actually the rich men who were made bankrupt in the movie "Trading Places" (1983), starring Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd.
Rev. Brown: I got a special treat for ya' this evening, a young man that you all know as Joe the Policeman from the "What's Going Down" episode of "That's My Momma." I want you to put your hands together, and welcome him to the stage. Big round of applauds for Jackson Heights own, Mr. Randy Watson, YES! Randy Watson.
Clarence: Fuck you, fuck you, and fuck you! Who's next?
Reverend Brown: Girl, you look so good, someone ought to put you on a plate and sop you up with a biscuit.
Question: How much money did Prince Akeem give to the homeless Randolph and Mortimer Duke from "Trading Places" (1983)?
Question: How did both Akeem and Semmi get a job at McDowell's without Akeem's parents noticing? Also, wouldn't Mr. McDowell have noticed in doing Akeem's pre-employment background checks who Akeem really was vs finding out when the parents arrived? (00:44:08 - 01:29:34)
Answer: How would Akeem's parents know what they were up to? They think he's taking an American vacation, and in the pre social media days, it was hard to keep track of people. As for McDowell, what sort of background check did you expect him to do on a fast food employee in the 80s? McDowell seems like a guy who would cut corners anyway.
There aren't exactly a lot of people lining up to work at McDowell's, so Cleo gives the applications a once over and hires them on the spot. I'm in my 40's and I've had plenty of jobs that didn't even call my references, let alone perform a background check.
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: Unknown since we can't see the denomination. But at least a couple thousand dollars.
MasterOfAll