10 More Movie Special Effects Nobody Believed

When Alexander Payne's The Holdovers was released, there was much discussion about how protagonist Paul Hunham's (Paul Giamatti) lazy eye was achieved, especially as Paul Giamatti revealed that director Payne had made him swear not to reveal the nature of the secret to the press while promoting the film.

This prompted many to assume that the effect, which actually switches eyes for comedic value throughout the film, was probably pulled off in post, with Giamatti and Payne simply trying to create an air of mystery around the film to keep it in the public consciousness.

But Payne eventually relented and revealed how it was done, and in fact, it didn't require any CGI work at all.

In reality, Giamatti wore a specially painted soft contact lens in his eye, but the trade-off was that the actor was unable to see out of said eye while wearing the lens.

While this clearly could have been pulled off in post, it was probably better that Giamatti's co-stars could react to it organically on set, and given the film's mere $13 million budget, they evidently didn't have a ton of cash to toss around on fanciful extras.