A List Of Things Thrown Five Minutes Ago

JUST THE FACTS: I'm one of those people who only likes to read movie reviews after I have seen the movie. And usually, the first review I go back and read is Roger Ebert's. For some time, I've been troubled that almost every time I go back and read an Ebert review there is at least one factual mistake about a plot point in the review. Now, I understand that some days a critic can see three or four films and that a mistake here or there is inevitable. Why, Ebert and other major film critics don't employ an intern or assistant to watch the movies and act as a double-check of the facts, I can't say, other than perhaps the screening rooms are too crowded. (Should any Chicago-area critics, or Roger himself, want to employ me for said purposes, e-mail me a alistaday--SHIFT KEY 2--yahoo.com)

Now I have evidence that the problem might not be limited to Ebert. As a case study, let's examine the Steve Martin family comedy Cheaper by the Dozen. (I have kids, so sue me.) For those who missed it, this except from the Austin Chronicle describes one of the film's plot points:

Things get underway when Tom (Martin), a Division 3 football coach in rural Illinois, is offered the job of his dreams coaching Division 1 ball at his alma mater outside Chicago and moves with his happy family from the countryside to the big city.

And here, like a game of film critic telephone, are those basic facts getting mangled.

First up, Ebert:

He's a football coach for a cow college in Midland, Ill., but is offered the head coaching job at Lincoln University in Evanston.
Actually, Martin's first job is at Lincoln in Midland. The new job is at Illinois Polytechnic University.

Next, the New York Daily News:

The gang-written script...stars Steve Martin and Bonnie Hunt as Tom and Kate Baker, a high-school football coach and an aspiring writer with 12 kids.
Tom, of course, is a college coach.

Now, a two-fer from the New York Post and USA Today:

When Tom makes the reasonable decision to accept a well-paid job as head coach of his alma mater's football team, the family is required to move from their bucolic small town to Chicago.

The family lives a fairly idyllic existence in a small college town until Martin is offered his dream job coaching at a big university in Chicago.
The new job is in suburban Chicago, which is perhaps a minor distinction if we are talking about Denver or Chattanooga, but given that a lot of the film deals with the family's adjustment from farmland to an upscale suburb and not a big city, it's a hard point to miss.

And finally, the Washington Post:

In "Cheaper by the Dozen," the disaster begins when high school football coach Tom gets his dream job: head coach of his alma mater's football team. The job also means moving from their Chicago suburb to a bigger one.
Here not only is Tom's profession wrong (high school vs. college), but the family's rural home can in no way be mistaken as a smaller Chicago suburb.

In the wake of all the journalism scandals of late, this, I know, hardly represents a media crisis, but it's a pet peeve of mine. And given that all these reviews were found online are easily corrected, you'd think someone somewhere might go in and fix the mistakes.

Seen a movie lately? Go to Ebert's new site or a review compendium like Metacritic and try and find mistakes yourself. Use the comments, if you care to share.