Would a person who had everything result to a life of crime if it was all taken away from him? Would a person who was used to a life of crime succeed if everything was given to him? When Randolph and Mortimer Duke, two multimillionaire, bickering brothers, make a wager, Louis Winthorpe and Billy Ray Valentine have no idea they’re in the crosshairs. After Louis loses everything and Billy Ray becomes a hotshot commodities dealer, the pair soon realize they’re in the middle of a game. Here are a few movie mistakes to look for in “Trading Places”.

· Randolph and Mortimer climb into their car to go to work. In the close-up, Randolph is seated on the left and Mortimer is seated to the right, behind the chauffer. When the two get out of the vehicle at the office, it’s Randolph who climbs out first, having been seating behind the chauffer, and Mortimer is on the other side.

· Winthorpe brings the payroll checks for Randolph and Mortimer to sign. In the wider view, Mortimer takes his pen out of his jacket pocket and is signing the checks with his right hand. In the close-up, when Mortimer complains, “We seem to be paying some of our employees an awful lot of money”, he’s now signing the checks while holding the pen in his left hand. The scene cuts to an overhead view of the table and the pen is in his right hand again. It’s still in his right hand in the next wide view when Randolph questions the Clarence Beeks check, but it’s in his left hand when he asks about Penelope.

· Billy Ray, Mortimer and Randolph are having dinner with a group at the restaurant. Randolph is sitting to Billy Ray’s left at the table. In the first close-up view of Billy Ray, when the other man starts to tell his escargot joke, Randolph is holding his fork in his right hand. It cuts to a wider view of the table and Randolph is picking up his glass with his right hand. They’re also shown eating their dinner. But, in the close-up view of Randolph and Mortimer, when the other man mentions the “Big S”, they each have dessert—cake and strawberries—in front of them. Their dinner plates have returned when the man says the punch line and asks Billy Ray his opinion.

· A drunken Louis gets off the bus after crashing the Christmas party. In the front view, Louis’ Santa hair falls in front of his right shoulder. It cuts to a close-up view and his hair falls behind his shoulder.

· Ophelia is putting tinsel on the Christmas tree when Louis walks in. In the wider view, she’s holding the tinsel in her left hand and is almost finished putting it on the tree, when he growls and walks by. It cuts to a closer view and her hand is full of tinsel again.

· Billy Ray knocks on the restroom door to hand Louis the briefcase. The two baggage handlers pass him in the hallway. It cuts to a view of the New Years Eve party in the bar cart and the same baggage handlers are shown sitting, covered with confetti.

“Trading Places” (1983) Eddie Murphy, Dan Aykroyd, Denholm Elliott, Jamie Lee Curtis, Ralph Bellamy, Don Ameche, Robert Earl Jones, Paul Gleason, Frank Oz, Bo Diddley, and Jim Belushi. It runs 116 minutes and is rated R for sex and nudity, profanity, and alcohol, drugs and smoking.


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