8 Hilarious Prop F*ck-Ups In Movies
Not every prop mistake is funny, but these ones certainly are! Twin Peaks, Red Dragon & more.
In amongst all the glitz and glamour of Hollywood, there are mistakes trodden under foot or brushed under the rug. Those working in films, no matter how big or famous, are not superhuman - they're prone to mistakes just like the rest of us.
Most of the time the mistakes left in movies are so small that nobody would notice them - unless of course you're the kind of person that scours films for every whiff of error to list on the IMDB page. Aside from factual inaccuracies and inconsistencies in shots, one of the best places to look for little errors is the prop department.
Set-dressing is essential to making your movie world feel real, and films are filled with hundreds if not thousands of carefully selected props. Foreground, background, midground, in a character's hand, in their bedroom, they're everywhere. With so many to keep track of you're bound to let one slide by that probably could've done with a second check over, but luckily for us we get to enjoy the fruits of oversight.
Not every prop mistake is funny but by god some of them are!
8. American Sniper - Plastic Baby
For a movie that takes itself SO seriously, this prop was undeniably absolutely unsuitable. Directed by Clint Eastwood, this biographical war drama tells the story of US Military sniper Chris Kyle. It’s serious subject material, and serious straight dramatic action.
Why, then, did they think they could just whack a plastic baby in there and nobody would notice?
The offending scene occurs when Kyle, played by Bradley Cooper, returns home to be with his wife and newborn child. He cradles the baby in his arms, having a serious-toned conversation with his concerned spouse, and the whole bit is made unintentionally hilarious by the fact that the infant is clearly just a plastic baby doll.
Would it really have been so hard to get a baby for the shoot? It wasn’t some bombastic action scene where they needed a stand-in prop, they’re literally just sitting at home!
All due credit to Cooper, he manages to play his character so well that he almost lends life to the doll but inevitably this isn’t quite enough. Its stationary arms and fixed-pose fingers are just too funny to ignore.