This scene was the turning point of this case. The smug Mr. Tipton was the prosecution's #1 "witness", and Vinny DESTROYED his testimony! It soon got to an even playing field, up to the "...no, the defense is wrong!.. torpedo scene which ultimately SUNK the prosecution's case!
Humor aside, I've always loved the anger in his face and voice with that last "ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THOSE 5 MINUTES?" It was the point he went from "out-of-his-league lawyer just trying to do his best" to "I will burn the entire state of Alabama to the ground to protect my cousin, don't test me".
And the hint of satisfaction/contempt when the witness says -- UNDER OATH -- that he may have been mistaken is nothing less than brilliant acting. Just brilliant.
@@davidwalter2002 Don't forget, the DA was quite a slickster, so he had the grit guy all coached-up beforehand: two Northern kids think they'll come down here, murder our buddy and avoid the chair?
In high school I literally signed up for a Law class for 1 reason. So during the mock trials we did I could dismiss my witnesses with the epic phrase "I got no more use for this guy."
I defended myself in court against two lying cops. Idiots thought I was bluffing when I said I'd recorded the whole thing (I'd swapped out the memory card before they got a chance to take the camera ... they 'accidentally' erased completely unrelated material, while I still had the other card under my watch strap. One of them took no notes on the day and made his report over month later than his colleague. I pointed out that he had an entire paragraph _verbatim_ from the other guy, and also they both had my co-defendant's date of birth wrong , adding a year to his age (despite it being recorded clearly and correctly in the booking procedure). My last question was to ask him to explain the striking 'similarities' and the shared error to the judge. He sat there with his mouth open, and I said "I have no more use for this witness". The judge would have lost her temper if I referred to the cop as a 'guy', but I was definitely thinking of this scene when I said it.
Sometimes the actor will break character in the heat of the moment, but the director likes the end result better than the planned scene. Those are usually the best parts of a movie or tv show. Golden.
@@caboose.20 It was perjury to say he may have been mistaken when he knew it was 5 minutes, just so that the jury wouldn't think he was eating instant grits.
No. You missed the point of the scene. The point was he did not use instant grits, and it really took him 20 minutes to cook his breakfast, not 5 minutes. He was mistaken about the 5 minutes. That's not perjury.
Was so expertly done! Tipton - who made the public defender look like a jackass - was toast at that point! Vinny handled it with a cool and suave manner, it made you forget he was wearing that maroon tuxedo from someone's prom. I thought it gave him kind of a cool old style looking southern swagger with it! Regardless, Vinny is the MAN!!
His line of questioning here is so brilliant. He gains the witness’ trust by relating to him with a mutual enjoyment of grits, displays a supposed mastery of the topic by asking “regular, creamy or al dente” to intimidate the witness and then curveballs him by asking if they were instant grits, knowing well already that “no self-respecting southerner uses instant grits.” Its a perfect trap that no one in the courtroom even sees coming.
Mr Tipton has no idea what El Dante means as he's not Italian and doesn't cook pasta. PEOPLE, THE ENTIRE MOVIE IS A COMEDY ! AMAZING HOW MANY ARE ANALYZING IT LIKE IT'S A REAL STORY. WOW !
"Regular, creamy, or al dente" also has a practical reason: if he cooked his grits "al dente," then his cooking time might have been less than 20 minutes, and if they were creamy, it might have been more. By locking in to saying he cooked his grits "regular," he can't say that he didn't take so long to cook them because he likes them a little crunchy or something like that.
@@StarUnreachable that is a good point for if it did end up into that line of questioning. Although it’s kinda implied also that the witness clearly doesn’t even know what the hell “al dente” even is. Also I just realized that this could’ve been a cheeky implied joke about the culture differences here 🤣 Vinny being of Italian roots and the witness being a pure Southerner.
As close to perfect as you can get for a movie. Perfectly cast, and the script was brilliant....the wardrobe, the production art, location, direction, even the people who had small roles executed brilliantly. Easily one if the best movies ever made. Just my opinion.
I agree with you. One of the best comedy movies made. The stuttering lawyer gets me everytime. In today's PC society this is probably not acceptable, but oh well.
@@JayJay-me8zk a classic comedy that will always make me laugh by the way I served in the Air Force is that a little Air Force Insignia I'm looking at I'm not wearing my glasses right now I went back for another 8 years when the Saudis decided to fly into the World Trade Center that my brother and my brother-in-law were both working in at that point I was working in the financial district downtown Nassau Street if you're familiar my job was to defend the troops on the ground stayed in my kill box until I was called to do my job I did what I had to do I love my country and I defended my country I can't stand people that stay here and bad-mouth it on a daily basis when I hear people bad-mouthing America I tell them to leave
@blue222blue Virginia isn't the deep south it's more of the Mid Atlantic area, still part of the south but realistically more in common with Yankees then say someone in Georgia or Mississippi.
Omg, before my professor showed us this clip in class, I had never seen the movie. Watched it today and only noticed then that he was wearing something ridiculous 😂
To those who may not know, grits are boiled cornmeal (4 parts water or milk to 1 part meal). It takes a lot for the hard meal to get soft, so yes, Vinny's right.
Yeah, Vinny did his research and asked the locals about this beforehand. Just one more reason why this movie is realistic. Vin knew something was wrong with the guy's testimony before he even got started on his questions. :)
I don't know 2 shytes about grits, but cornmeal & flour & beer & eggs makes a a batter for fried catfish that is worth trying. I don't get compliments much on cooking, mainly because I can't cook...but, it seems my deep-fried catfish is a hit to some.
@@Nomadistar My step-dad was known for the fish fry around his neck of the woods, & I'm positive he used the same or darn near the same recipe for his batter.
Real life lawyers and judges have said Vincent Gambini is godawful at what is taught in law school-but masterful at what is not. In that one cross examination he destroyed the witnesses credibility.
Double plot twist: Mr. Tipton doesn’t know how to actually cook grits. Being a self respecting southerner he’s always been ashamed of himself for this. Well on this morning he went to the SOS to buy some grits so he could try and make them for his breakfast once again for the billionth time. As always, he failed to cook his grits and subsequently ruined his breakfast. Mr. Tipton now enraged at a life of failures went back to the SOS where he shot the clerk in a fit of jealous frustration. You see the clerk was also a blue ribbon winner at the county fair 3 years running for his famous grits. Mr. Tipton then panicked realizing what he had done, he ran back to his house where he called the law and described witnessing a shooting just moments earlier where he described the two “youts”.
“How do you like your grits? Regular, creamy or al dente?” The way he stares at the witness after asking that question, he looked like a spider waiting for its prey to fall in its web. He wasn’t the clown lawyer everyone thought he was, he was showing his skills right there.
@@ianharac5153 I was gonna say the same thing.... a master at argument, a dummy at court procedure. I represented myself in my 2 day custody trial vs. my ex's lawyer. this was my inspiration. I won sole custody. 1st time ever in this county a layman beat a lawyer in a custody trial. Thanks Vinny !
You're right though, its completely a trap. I love how they write this, he gets him to establish the cooking breakfast timeline, then narrows down any arguments he could use to escape after he brings down the hammer. If he just skipped right to the 20 minutes bit, then buddy could say "Oh I only cook mine for 5 minutes, I like them al dente" or "They were instant grits." just like he did to the stuttering boob "They're reading glasses." Vinnie cuts off every avenue of escape, then shoves it up this smug jerks ass.
1:10 when Tipton started his grandstanding about being a "self-respecting southerner" and taking pride in his grits, that's the trap Gambini set up for him to torpedo his testimony!
I love the look on Marisa Tomei's face when he asked the grits question, you could see the pride she felt when he showed what a good lawyer he could actually be.
Notice how he put the witness off his guard talking about how he liked his grits and then sprung the trap of getting him to admit that he needed 20 minutes to cook his breakfast.
larky368 There is a RU-vid channel where a real life trial attorney critiques trial scenes in movies and he did this movie. He gave it high marks and said this movie was very realistic and Pesci’s tactic as a lawyer was brilliant. He specifically highlighted this scene as great.
@@kaleb.7930 I read there was talk about having a sequel to "My Cousin Vinny." In it, Vinny was now practicing law in England. Apparently, Joe Pesci was interested in doing it but Marisa Tomei was not.
I dont know about yall but the final "are you sure" gets me emotional. Like you proud vain creature. These are kids whose lives you are toying with. You better be SURE!
His cluelessness in the film was what made it. He totally accentuated Joe Pesci's performance. Pesci is overbearing, and Gwynne gets to play straight man.
Andrew ! Totally. There’s a reason so many lawyers site this as their favorite legal movie, and is often shown in law school. Classic movie from top to bottom.
@@ChrisStavros it is a cross examination. These witnesses are witnesses for the prosecution. Unless of course you think the defense lawyer called witnesses who believed they saw his defendants commit a murder.
Black, white doesn't matter. It's a matter of self respect for Southerners to not use instant grits. All the small touches that make this movie just so humane and wholesome
How Pesci didn’t win best actor for this role is beyond me. His dramatic ability is on display, but also a comic timing that I never knew he had until this movie.
Well, Denzel Washington played the titular character in Malcom X that year so… wait a minute Denzel didn’t win either! Instead it was Al Pacino getting his apology Oscar for not winning in The Godfather. What a racket!
“I got no more use for this guy” doesn’t just mean he’s finished or the guy was mistaken, it means an idiot’s careless testimony, given the way it was partly for the sake of attention, could have killed two guys who are basically kids.
To get attention?...I don't think that's what they were going for. Think it was just a guy who was incorrectly certain. (It really WAS them who he saw walking in after all)
Vinnie dismissed multiple witnesses this way. It's just his blue collar ineloquent way of doing it, given his lack of court room procedure training. None of the witnesses were there maliciously, they genuinely thought those boys did it. If anything, what this movies shows is how inaccurate "eye witness" testimony really is.
@@KS-xk2so in reality what are the odds that two other people would wear not only the same clothing but look identical with what appears the same vehicle go to the same small town store within a short period of time?
@@toomanyaccounts The point is the possibility, given the circumstances, as well as the fact that the "eye-witness" testimony were those that weren't even *at the store*, but lived near the store, but still a considerable distance away as to not be able to make out facial features and generalized clothing. You could make out, a couple white dudes (*probably white dudes*, but I can't be certain), maybe brown hair, jeans, jacket color, and a car of a certain description. That's about it.
I'm always amazed how versatile Joe Pesci is. It's so funny this is the same guy who played Leo Getz & the physcopaths Tommy Devito and Nicky Santoro. He's an amazing talent.
Don't forget that he showed his comedy skills in the Home Alone films, where he was literally doing slapstick clowning with Daniel Stern and young Macaulay Culkin. Just an excellent all-around actor. He flashed a bit of his intimidation skills as this cross examination proceeds. Just a true talent. Sorry that he seems to have retired, but he's earned it!
@TheSmithersy Ever had polenta, the differences are slight. Traditionally grits uses hominy (corn treated with lime) and polenta doesn't. But nontraditionally they are the same, boiled course cornmeal.
There is a proper response to that. "I use a pressure cooker" Although even then with boil time and pressure release you're still looking at 10 minutes.
I grew up in south Florida, and was once in a Wisconsin restaurant (similar to Denny’s) when I was 14 back in 1974. I asked if they had grits; they asked me what that was lol
I just get into the whole Hollywood star making idea in terms of how there's so many double standards. Soap operas often are accused of using "pretty people" with minimal talent, but then you see the one kind of homely person and you wonder how they "made it" in Hollywood. Here, a short, New York Italian with a VERY pronounced Brooklyn accent can be a star. Most of the time, people with heavy accents are trained to suppress their accents, although some actors I've heard still pronounce certain words a certain way, despite losing the accent. Not only that, but he gets roles beyond the stereotypical Italian mob guy and casting directors take advantage of his being short to put him in broad comedies where his "tough guy" image is used for comedic effect.
The funniest thing about this scene is the suit that Pesci is wearing. I lost it the first time I saw him enter the courtroom wearing that suit...One of the longest and hardest laughs I have ever had during my time on this earth. Absolutely hilarious!!!!
I don't know who came up with the idea for that suit but it was a MASTERFUL idea! Pesci KNEW he was going to get reamed by the judge but he took it like a man! A classic scene!!!
@@sgt.thundercok4704 No, Fred Gwynne, the actor playing straight man to Joe Pesci's antics as the judge, and I think the original comment is right; he doesn't get enough credit.
*R.H. Kingpin* That's the joke. Vinny never saw a grit until a few days before. So he inserts his own experience and applies it to grits. He knows pasta, so he uses pasta terminology which most likely doesn't apply to grits. This just makes him more of an outsider. Love the line. Don't think it was a trick question though.
Yeah...the thought that Southerners in rural Alabama at that time (26 years ago) would use an Italian term to describe the level of doneness in regards to their precious grits doesn't strike me as probable. Maybe now, with the internet and hipsters and foodies using and eating grits in fancy dishes, but I doubt anyone used that term back then in that town, imaginary or not.
*R. H. Kingpin* Still desperate to be right that you have to take down others to puff yourself up, eh? Yeah...I wrote that and then realized my mistake and corrected it. It would not have been cool if I did that after you responded to it, but that's not what happened. I caught the mistake almost right away and corrected it. Since you like repeating things, how about I repeat this: R. H. Kingpin3 days ago Al dente is a common term used to describe something cooked in a manner to keep it firm or firmer. *It is used* for pasta, *grits* and lentils *frequently.* Just wanna dredge up the fact that you never address this lie of yours and now you just want to deflect from it by bringing up part of a post that I deleted that no one has responded to yet. Keep it up, buttercup. It's funny how your bruised ego shines through in your posts. Just admit you fucked up already. Such a petty thing to maintain, this bruised ego of yours.
What I love the most are Marisa Tomei's little expressions that reveal she is completely in character and in this film , other people just tone out, but she is there! that smile and grin is just!!!!!
I don't care how many times I see this (and I own the movie, too!), this and Marisa Tomei with her "defense is wrong" shtick still make me laugh out loud! BUT...in all fairness, Marisa's speech is made twice as funny by Fred Gwynne's facial expressions when Pesci says, "I would LOVE to hear why!!" and the camera turns to Gwynne, and he puts his chin in his hand and says, "So would I!" with a confused expression.
ahhhh! lmfao that was one of my favorite scenes in that movie!! " Were these MAGIC GRITS?! ..did you buy them from the same guy that sold jack his bean staulk beans?! " omg ..too funny!!
It's almost tiring how much My Cousin Vinny is an absolute staple of any criminal law training course...except that it never actually gets old to watch.
This scene shows how a lawyer impeaches a witness. Maury Chaykin who played the witness did a phenomenal job of "falling apart" and projecting humility to the audience.....a lot tougher role to perform than Joe Pesci's role of attacking. Director Jonathon Lynn did a magnificent job on this scene. The consistent theme of this film was about humiliating Alabama and short-sighted southern culture for a careless judicial mishap. The best part was the court's humility and admission of error....a lovable authentic finish that drew respect.
Damn this movie is one of the best. After a few viewings one realizes it’s a rom com. An awesome rom com that’s got a detective mystery parallel storyline with the highest of stakes.
No, that's not how it works. This is just an example of the reliability of eyewitness testimony. If we charged every witness who misremembered something, they'd simply refuse to answer questions, which is a right they have.
@@joncarranzakuh-ran-zah8566 Also Grit = courage, determination There was even a newspaper/magazine galled Grit back when I was a kid, that advertised for kids to deliver for an after school job, making pennies per issue (maybe 5 cents, it wasn't an expensive paper). I remember ads for it in the few comic books I saw as a kid, mixed in with Sea Monkeys and the like; figured it was the 70's version of today's work from home telemarketing scams...
Joe Pesci " are you sure about that five minutes are you sure about that five minutes ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT FIVE MINUTES!?!?! Jack Nicholson" YOU GODDAMN RIGHT I SURE !!!!!"
@@oscar007999 imagine those two tackling each other fighting and in the background you hear Jack yelling "You fucked with the Marines and saw Joe Pesci punch him XD
After watching this movie in the 90s, I once had a 15-minute debate with a friend from Georgia about whether there was such a thing as a singular “grit.” (He said no; there’s “grits” but no “grit”). He was right.
Randall Flagg yes, that’s what I’m saying. It’s a mass or uncountable noun. Like “pants” (it’s not pant for singular). That’s my understanding at least. I’ve never met a self-respecting Southerner who had ever heard “grit” used for a single kernel of grits.
Perhaps the laws of physics ceases to exist on your stove. The way he delivers it with such intelligence and intimidation. Took the guy straight back to his school days. Such a forgotten gem of a film.
I am not a lawyer but have represented myself in court a few times. I will tell you that this movie is a must watch before going into court. Even if you are going in as a witness. Court isn't the "Judge Judy" crap that you see on TV it is like this.
+XtremeBudgetMusician Yeah, you'll notice the glare Pesci gives to Fred Gwynne's character, and Gwynne gives it right back. You could totally fill in your own dialogue there...that whole thing about how a glance can convey meaning even without words.
Such a brilliant lawyer. His question on how he likes his grits was brilliant. That covers the possibility that he may try claim that he eats his grits slightly under cooked which is “al dente” which does lower the time it takes to cook grits fully. So do instant grits
I would have asked him what all dente means to throw him off.When liars oops l mean lawyers are trying to trick you on the stand you have to have a comeback statement for them.
He lived in a small community where the only highlight was when people pulled up at the store. The Utes pulled up to the Sac O Suds and the residents all looked out at the store and saw the defendants. 20 minutes later the shots rang out. They saw the backs of those boys and a similar car.
