And Justice for All...

In the parts of the movie I’ve seen so far, I loved it, especially the running gags that stick around throughout the movie. Some of my favorites are the classic fish out of water jokes, like the scene with Vinny trying grits, and how they’re constantly woken up at five. One of the biggest surprises though was how the police spun Bill Gambini’s interrogation. For anyone who had actually seen it take place, it would be obvious that Bill didn’t have a single clue what he’s being asked about. When he said, “I shot the clerk,” he was surprised, almost alarmed, at how he had been testifying the wrong thing, but in court it was a different story. The cop delivered those four words without any emotion. It  turned from a simple exclamation into a false confession. By comparison to law and order, where evidence was removed from the case because the police overstepped, it was surprising to see that the police could use evidence in such a way without context.

As far as realism goes, at first glance I’d go with law and order, but only because it’s in a serious setting. In New York, there aren’t any slapstick gags, but at the same time it’s overdramatic and romanticized. They don’t look for solid evidence, and just grasp at thin air until they catch something. I was especially surprised that they entered the killer’s apartment completely warrantless, and there was no scene where they arrested him. One day, he was just suddenly on trial. Even though My Cousin Vinny may be a comedy, the police and lawyers, aside from Vinny, seem more real. One of the things that stood out to me the most is the judge’s personality. Very often a judge’s personality has a lot to do with how the courtroom functions, and sometimes they will take it to extremes, such as one specific judge in Cleveland threatening jail time for having children while on probation. When Dan mentioned how the one Dekalb judge prided herself on efficiency it made me notice a lot more of how the judge in the movie acted, and how he was more of a real person.