Writer: Dale Launer
Vincent LaGuardia "Vinny" Gambini...Joe Pesci
Mona Lisa Vito...Marisa Tomei (Academy Award Best Supporting Actress)
Bill Gambini...Ralph Macchio
Stan Rothenstein...Mitchell Whitfield
Judge Chamberain Haller...Fred Gwyne
Jim Trotter III...Lane Smith
Released: 13 March 1992
Budget: $11 million
Box Office: $64.1 million
And here is your 12th greatest movie lawyer not named Atticus Finch...
Dan (who will say more in our discussion tomorrow) says, "In terms of procedure, it is spot on."
In his blog Litigation and Trial, Max Kennerly writes (14 March, 2012):
My Cousin Vinny is a farce but, as New York Times film critic Vincent Canby noted, “the film has a secure and sophisticated sense of what makes farce so delicious.” That “secure and sophisticated sense” allows it to take the reality of trials — the reality of limited budgets, limited preparation, impatient judges, hostile experts, ruined dress suits, hopelessly mangled questions, completely fruitless arguments, and of real life constantly intruding — and mold it into a comedy.
The movie is close to reality even in its details. Part of why the film has such staying power among lawyers is because, unlike, say, A Few Good Men, everything that happens in the movie could happen — and often does happen — at trial. Every trial lawyer winces when they hear the Sheriff read back deadpan the police narrative where Bill inadvertently confesses “I shot the clerk,” without a hint of Bill’s actual intonation and surprise: “I shot the clerk?!”
I'm going to take Dan and Max's word for the accuracy of this extremely silly and entertaining movie. In fact, my first reaction to My Cousin Vinny is that in its depiction of lawyers and judges and court it is more believable than what we saw in Law and Order. You can disagree, of course. That said, I bought this moment completely.
So: answer the following questions in about 250 words.
1. Your response to the movie...as a movie? Like? Dislike? What scene stayed with you and why?
2. What did you learn about the way the law works that you didn't know before from what you saw today? Or: what surprised you about the way the law works from what you saw today?
3. Manhattan vs. small town Alabama—in other words, Law and Order vs. My Cousin Vinny. Which one did you find most "believable" or "realistic"—I put those in quotation marks because only one of us in the classroom knows what is truly realistc—in the way it shows how the law works? And why? Use some specifics in your response—try to use some detail(s) from both sources in answering this.
Here's the trailer for the film.
See you all tomorrow.
I like the movie. What I found interesting was the difference between the North and the South. While this movie did play into common stereotypes associated with these areas (food, accents, hobbies, etc.) they did not play into personality stereotypes. The southerners seem uptight, more rigid to the rules. For example, the judge following strict protocol. Vinny and his fiance, however, were goofy and seemed less driven and serious. I thought it was interesting how lawyers were allowed to see each others documents. I didn't realize lawyers were allowed to surprise you with new evidence. This movie seemed more realistic than Law and Order because in Law and Order, the lawyers were looking for evidence themselves by going to the crime scene to investigate, and they seemed to be doing more detective work. In addition, the crimes they were dealing with were heinous and less believable than MCV. In MCV, the court was structured, and people followed the rules. There were no outbursts or crazy confessions by the witnesses.
ReplyDelete1. I really seemed to like this movie. I honestly thought that it was going to bore me with lawyer stuff but it didn’t. The movie did a job keeping me hooked on with all the humor. The scene that stuck with me the most was the scene when Vinny exclaimed to his wife about how he didn’t need more pressure about some life clock of hers.
ReplyDelete2. I learned that you were able to view the folders from your opponents. That surprised me to an extent because I didn’t think they could give out information they wrote down themselves.
3. I feel as though My Uncle Vinny was the most realistic compared to Law and Order. The only thing that I saw as unrealistic was how quick they got all their information and how long it all lasted. The trials and hearing seemed to have been happeneing every other day and that seems quite unrealistic. I thought the laws were portaid clearer in My Uncle Vinny compared to Law and Order. The judge really seemed to know his stuff and played a big role while in the judge in Law and Order didn’t really do much compared to the one in My Uncle Vinny
I like the movie because it puts a humorous twist on real ins and outs of the way the law is treated. The scene that stayed with me most was in the very beginning when the cop pulled his gun out immediately on the two men after leaving the store. This seemed unrealistic and risky because there was no evidence in the movie of the cop confirming they had committed the crime beforehand. We know the two men were not responsible for shooting the clerk, nor did they get caught stealing the tuna. It is understandable that the cop pulled them over to possibly question them or take them to the station, but I felt that pulling the gun with so little information of the crime was unnecessary. Something surprising I learned about the law is that anything you say can be used against you without your tone or context being taken into account. For example, when Bill said, “I shot the clerk?” It was portrayed in court as “I shot the clerk." I found the trial scene in My Cousin Vinny more realistic because, although Gambini was completely clueless, the judge and other members of the court were serious, organized, and efficient whereas the trial in Law and Order was too dramatic to be believable
ReplyDeleteMy cousin Vinny, while a comdeic movie, very clearly explains the trial process. It went over parts of trial not seen in Law and Order, like the arraignment. The court scenes that show Gambini as a fool are fun to watch, but also realistic, as Gambini is not only punished, he loses his credibility. The scene that stayed with me was when the police officer twisted Billy's words on the stand, and made it sound like a confession. It showed a good prosecuter making good use of the tools he was given, while also making the audience feel for the overwhelmed Billy. The movie portrayed the prosecution as well organized and strong, without making them dislikable, which Law and Order did a terrible job of. In Law and Order, you are supposed to hate the defense, and in My Cousin Vinny they are just doing their job. The small town Alabama town setting is very interesting, and in some ways it explains the quick trial proceedings. I find this movie extremely entertaining, and if we were not in a class about law in pop culture, I would probably be focused more on the slapstick style comedy, such as Vinny's car getting stuck in the mud, or all 5'3" of Joe Pesci squaring up against some huge guy for $200.
ReplyDeleteI really like this movie because it is humorous and moves quickly. I think that because we, the viewers, know that the two men are innocent, the trial becomes more frustrating and entertaining. A scene that stayed with me was definitely the scene in the courtroom where the prosecutor quotes what the one guy said about shooting the store clerk. This stayed with me because the prosecutor was twisting the defendants words and giving them a whole new meaning, which i find extremely unfair and disturbing. Something I learned from this film about how the law works is that all information that the person working against you has is public information, so anyone can access it. As for which one is more believable—Law and Order or My Cousin Vinny—I think they are both believable, yet I do think My Cousin Vinny is slightly more accurate. For instance, in Law and Order, the trial took place in a huge city, Manhattan, but it only took four months from when the investigation started to when it went to trial. After talking about this in class, I now know that this is very unrealistic. On the other hand, in My Cousin Vinny, the trial started seemingly quickly, although this is actually accurate since they were in such a small town in Alabama. Another thing is that in My Cousin Vinny, the wrong people were being accused of the murder, and in Law and Order, they found the criminal on their first try. Law and Order seems like it should be more realistic because it is less chaotic and laughable than My Cousin Vinny. I think that Law and Order uses a sense of professionalism to portray a more accurate storyline, but My Cousin Vinny does the opposite, and it is more realistic because of that. To conclude, My Cousin Vinny is slightly more accurate because of all the mishaps that occur and the realistic timeline compared to Law and Order.
ReplyDelete1.I really enjoyed the movie. It was much more comedic than Law and Order, and I actually enjoyed the jokes quite a lot. Also, the plot was much easier to follow than the episode of Law and Order we watched yesterday. A particular scene that really stood out to me is the scene where Mona Lisa Vito is reading the book about the alabama laws, and Vinny tells her to put it down. I think she is smarter than Vinny believes, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she ends up pulling the whole case off.
ReplyDelete2. I was so surprised when I learned that anyone can working on a case can access the information. After watching quite a lot of law and order myself, I always thought you could just surprise the court with new evidence the other side had no idea about, but that is not the case. My guess is Law and Order veers away from that for the drama, just like how the serial killer’s wife dramatically revealed in court that she was an accessory to murder.
3. I believe that the timeline of law and order and My Cousin Vinny were both unrealistically fast. I get that My Cousin Vinny was set in rural Alabama so the court schedules are obviously not that full, but the process still moved very quickly. We also talked in class about how Law and Order has an unrealistic amount of serial killers and victims to murder in the show, unlike My Cousin Vinny.
I thoroughly enjoyed My Cousin Vinny. The plot ascended quite quickly but all the humor made it easy to follow and interesting to watch. The scene that stood out to me the most was when the prosecutor was able to take Bill’s surprised exclamation of “I shot the clerk?” to the statement “I shot the clerk” even though that wasn’t what was actually said. This surprised me, along with the fact that the other side could access the prosecution’s evidence against them. This wasn’t apparent in the episode of Law and Order that we watched, and I didn’t know that what could be used as surprise evidence to convict one side, could actually be seen before the trial. As for which portrayal of law on TV we watched that was the most accurate, I’d say that My Cousin Vinny takes the win. The court process in My Cousin Vinny came across as much more straightforward and logical, having much less drama and outbursts than the Law and Order Episode did. Also, this movie incorporated more real life aspects into the way the story progressed, as seen in the relationship between Vinny and his fiancée. The judge in this movie also seemed to play a bigger and more realistic role in the events of the trial.
ReplyDelete1. Personally, so far I really enjoy the movie. I think that it’s funny, witty, creative, and somewhat realistic. It’s realistic in that sometimes, we don’t know what we’re doing. Our mistakes aren’t always closeted or quiet. Sometimes they’re loud or embarrassing or in front of a judge in a courtroom. The scene where the judge told Vinny to come back in different clothing stuck out to me the most. This is because it shows that presentation matters. You must dress for your environment.
ReplyDelete2. Something that surprised me the most was that the prosecutor mentioned the fact that one of the boys said “I shot the clerk??” But that his tone of voice wasn’t taken into account. The prosecutor very quickly changed the view of the boy by ignoring or disregarding the tone of his response and taking it simply at face value.
3. In my opinion, “My Cousin Vinny” is more believable in terms of the lawyer, Vinny, and how quickly being at the wrong place at the wrong time can get you into trouble. Whereas with “Law and Order”, the perps are usually guilty and their crimes are rather gruesome. However, “Law and Order” is accurate in terms of how they portray their victims and the psychology behind perps and victims.
So far I am extremely satisfied with the film. The scenes are engaging and funny, and hasn’t failed to keep me entertained. In my opinion, the funniest part is seeing how Mona Lisa and Vinny interact with the southern culture. Though the stereotypes are exaggerated, they are true in that when a viewer looks at Vinny and looks at the judge, for example, they are able to see the clear contrast in the characters. My favorite scene at this point is when Vinny first arrives at the jail to meet Bill and Stan for the first time, and Stan is uncertain of this mysterious man’s intentions.
ReplyDeleteAt this point, I haven’t seen anything in the movie that was unexpected or I haven’t seen before in a courthouse drama. I was surprised on how procedure supposedly varies from state to state, and even from courtroom to courtroom. Judge Haller implied that his style of procedure and the environment he establishes in his hearings might be different from anything Vinny had ever seen in his cases. I think it’s interesting how its up to the judge sets the tone of the courtroom.
I can’t compare the Law and Order Episode to My Cousin Vinny, however I can compare it to my own thoughts. I don’t think My Cousin Vinny is realistic in that I don’t think that a pair of young boys can somehow frame themselves for murder from stealing a can of tuna. It’s hard to believe that for the majority of a murder interrogation, the fact that murder was involved was a completely avoided topic.
ReplyDeleteI really liked My Cousin Vinny because I thought it was very funny, while also accurately portraying the legal system in a small, rural southern town. The scene that stuck with me the most was the scene when Billy and Stan first got to the police station and slowly realized that they are not just being charged with shoplifting, but murder and accessory to murder. Through the movie and talking with Dan before we began watching, it surprised me that a judge can let you not be posted for bail, but they can’t post an “unreasonable” bail. From the movie, it surprised me that each judge can have his or her own style, and can essentially hold their dislike against a certain representative, which could affect the outcome of a trial. It also surprised me that a lawyer not adhering to what the judge says can be put in jail by the judge. Between My Cousin Vinny and Law and Order, I thought that My Cousin Vinny was much more accurate. I thought it was more accurate because the whole process and trial was much slower and more accurate in that people had their biases and their was a lack of time, evidence and effort put into defending Billy and Stan. I thought Law and Order was not very realistic because every little detail added up perfectly and in the span of five months, the police had arrested, tried and convicted a murderer. It also did not seem accurate that the police would have been able to gather enough evidence and make an arrest so quickly.
I have enjoyed My Cousin Vinny and what we have seen, especially the humor that it contains. I believe we, as people who reside in the southern state of Georgia, may find it especially funny because of the subjects of humor, such as knowing what grits are, small southern towns with extremely “southern-styled” authorities, etc. However, the scene that stuck with me the most was when Vincent returned to the hotel room and found Mona Lisa reading the book about the laws in Alabama. When he explains to her the trip he had with the Jim and how he was able to get access to his files, Mona Lisa responds with an explanation as to why he was easily able to obtain the files and the term that is used. I’m not sure if it occurs later on in the film, but I believe that Mona Lisa might be capable of defending Bill and Stan with the same, if not more, amount of knowledge about the law as Vincent. From the movie, I have learned that the judge is able to set the tone of the courtroom and decide what rules are applicable. I find it interesting how, because everything takes place in the South, the judge is stricter and dislikes Vinny, someone from the North, due to his laid back personality.
ReplyDeleteI personally believe that My Cousin Vinny is more realistic, or believable, in terms of showing how the law works. The proceedings in My Cousin Vinny are more straightforward and less dramatic, except for the comical scenes, than Law & Order. I believe that it shows how anticlimactic some cases can be, even when it has to do with a murder case. Additionally, I believe that it is a good representation of how the law works in regards to witnesses and what they are allowed to say. I also liked the fact that the judge, the person who has the final decision, is much more involved in My Cousin Vinny as opposed to Law & Order which focuses more on the attorneys.
I have really enjoyed watching this movie. I think it does a great job of shedding light on very important topics, being falsely accused, the death penalty, how stressful the legal process is for both the lawyer, and the people on trial, etc., while still being extremely funny. I think the humor in this movie really helps to captivate the audience. The scene that stayed with me the most, was when one of the boys gave up his rights to refrain from speaking to the cop and “confessed” to doing the crime being investigated, unaware that the crime being investigated was murder. When watching this, I couldn’t help but cringe because one misunderstanding, and one bad call to talk to a cop without clarifying the situation or having a lawyer present, could ultimately cost the boy his life. I was slightly surprised by the lack of clarification from the cop. When all of the men were being lined up, so that witnesses could try to identify the killer, no cop told the men that the crime being investigated was murder, which I thought was mandatory. Then, again, when one of the boys was confessing, the cop didn’t confirm that there was a period, rather than a question mark at the end of his sentence. Both of these situations surprised me because I would think that in any case, let alone a murder case, the cop would want to be very careful and confirm what he heard because there is so much on the line—innocent boys possibly receiving the death penalty, and a murderer uncaught. I would argue that “My Cousin Vinny”, though less serious than the episode of “Law and Order” watched in class, is more believable. “My Cousin Vinny” portrays aspects of the process of a court case that was less detailed, or all together left out in “Law and Order”. For example, in “My Cousin Vinny” the audience gets to see the stress and riskiness of not being able to afford a qualified lawyer, the stress and brain racking a lawyer goes through when two lives are on the line, the properness and formality in a court room, the uncertainty that comes with eyewitness testimonies, and how the death penalty can cost the lives of those who are innocent.
ReplyDeleteToday in class I watched the beginning of “My Cousin Vinny.” I thought it was hilarious in all
ReplyDeleteaspects. The actors were funny and so were the situations that they were in. As to the accuracy
of the trial process, I will use the episode of law and order we watched as a reference because I
don't have much other experience with court rooms. From what I have watched I would say that
law and order presented a more accurate depiction of the trial process. For starters at the
beginning of My Cousin Vinny, the police/investigators mistake the two friends as murder
culprits because they are unclear about the crime they are being asked about. From the
detective shows I have seen this could never happen. There is no way to get a real confession,
from what I have seen, without clearly asking about the crime. These informalities in
communication are the same unrealistic qualities I noticed in the courtroom. Although we didn’t
see much of the trial in My Cousin Vinny, we got an idea of the courtroom experience. Aside
from Vinnies obvious lack of formality many of the dialogues held in the courtroom felt very
casual which is not what I would imagine in a real court. Also I am unclear how the judge could
have Vinny jailed over informalities without due process, but this of course could be because of
my lack of knowledge in this area. In addition to this, we have obviously not seen the actual trial,
but all of the court proceedings so far have felt very brief and succinct. I did notice the same
with law and order though. The main difference in realism however that I noticed was the
preparation or lack thereof before the cases. In law and order we saw the detectives undergo a
search for evidence. However in My Cousin Vinny, there was very little investigating. If there
had been an investigation it is very possible that the two boys blamed for the murder would
have been proven innocent.
What I learned about the law is that there is a lot of grey area and that the stakes can be very
high, as demonstrated by both things we watched where a death sentence was brought into the
picture.
It messed up my fromating
Delete