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| Familiarize yourself with legal procedure, and these facts about My Cousin Vinny—the classic 1992 comedy in which a very green, fish-out-of-water lawyer defends two “yutes” mistakenly charged with murder in his first court case. .... 10. THE LEGAL SYSTEM IS PORTRAYED VERY ACCURATELY IN MY COUSIN VINNY. Lynn has a law degree from Cambridge University, and, he said in DVD commentary, “I get terribly irritated when I see films in which the legal procedure is obviously wrong.” In addition to Launer’s research, Lynn made adjustments to make sure the legal proceedings were correct. “I’m very pleased with the fact that, although this is heightened for comedic purposes, everything you see legally in this film could happen and is approximately correct,” he said. “Which, by the way, makes it the more frightening.” Lynn even sat in on a murder trial in the Monticello, Ga. courtroom that served as the inspiration for the Vinny courtroom set. “Some of the lines in the [Vinny trial] came directly from that trial,” he said, including Lane Smith’s pronunciation of heinous (“high-a-nus”) and his line about “our little old ancestors” in the opening remarks. ..... 23. MY COUSIN VINNY WAS PRAISED BY THE LAW COMMUNITY. “The movie is close to reality even in its details,” lawyer Maxwell S. Kennerly wrote on his blog, Trial and Litigation. “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.” Professor Alberto Bernabe of The John Marshall Law School, who hands his students a list of law movies organized by category, puts Vinny under “Education,” not just because “it provides so much material you can use in the classroom. For example, you can use the movie to discuss criminal procedure, courtroom decorum, professional responsibility, unethical behavior, the role of the judge in a trial, efficient cross-examination, the role of expert witnesses and effective trial advocacy.” The film has also been praised by a Seventh Circuit Court Judge; referenced by Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia; and made it into a legal textbook. |
'Imagine you're a deer. You're prancin’ along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put ya little deer lips down to the cool clear water...bam! A fuckin’ bullet rips off part of ya head! Your brains are layin’ on the ground in little bloody pieces! Now, I ask ya, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son-of-a-bitch who shot you was wearing?!'
Funny that you should say so - that role was played by Maury Chaykin, who was born and raised in NYC.
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all the leads in Vinny were perfect for their parts... even the guy who said ‘no self respecting southerner would ever eat instant grits’ ...
Funny that you should say so - that role was played by Maury Chaykin, who was born and raised in NYC.
Funny it is ... when I first moved to Raleigh 25 years ago, I met a guy, a ‘good ole boy’ at work who had the best drawl ... he was also a big deal at a local state university, head of their alumni, etc ... years later I ran into him and his wife and as soon as she said hello, I asked whether it was Brklyn or Jersey? Turns out they were both from Jersey and his drawl was ‘learned’ and perfected over the years ...
As an aside, I play golf near West Point, and a few years ago I shared a round with a pair of retired Verizon engineers, and their cousin, Vinny. Ever since, I have had “Cousin Vinny” in my contacts. When I scroll my phone, it always makes me smile if I run across his listing.