# My Cousin Vinny: a British class comedy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2009, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348 "2009-09-08T23:35:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/21 "2009-09-10T05:57:59Z")
> [@Bijou\_Drains](#): > > Do they mention the silly rumor that Marisa Tomei won the Oscar because they read the wrong name during the ceremony? Of course that’s an urban legend, but just in case someone out there lurking doesn’t know, such a thing is impossible. Impossible. The two employees of PriceWaterhouseCoopers have memorized all of the winners. They stand offstage, one on each side of the stage. They listen to the announcements, and if someone did read the wrong name, they have full authority to walk out on stage, stop the show, and announce the real winner. If one didn’t do it, the other would. That’s never happened because no one has ever read the wrong name. The only possible reason they wouldn’t is if _both_ were killed or kidnapped, but in that case the show would have ended early because they hand out the envelopes with the winners’ names as the presenters go onstage. It’s not just a silly rumor, it’s a stupid and ignorant rumor. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/22 "2009-09-10T06:11:37Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > …The only possible reason they wouldn’t is if _both_ were killed or kidnapped,… The only person who could manage that is Joe Pesci. ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/23 "2009-09-10T12:41:51Z")
We frequently use the line “What a fuckin’ nightmare!” in Tomei’s accent to describe any minor inconvenience. Out of Parmesan cheese for the spaghetti? _What a fuckin’ nightmare!_ ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/24 "2009-09-10T14:00:51Z")
Our oft-used line is Tomei’s “Dey wuh!” (translation: They were!) ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/25 "2009-09-10T14:47:36Z")
I love, love, love this movie. My favorite parts are: (i) the way Marisa Tomei touches the rail around the witness stand and arches her wrists, etc., at the end of her testimony, and (ii) the line, “I’m finished with this guy,” in that inimitable Pesci style, and you know he’s misquoting the standard line, “Your Honor, I’m finished with this witness.” Below these, the rest of the script and acting rates a 100-plus. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/26 "2009-09-10T15:29:01Z")
A glorious movie. 🆒 And Marisa Tomei shows real character. Like Sandra Bullock in ‘Speed’, I was very attracted to the character. > [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > (apparently the English invented everything that is good and right in the world:dubious:). Yes indeed (after all, we ‘invented’ America ;)) ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/27 "2009-09-10T15:48:16Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > … the sheriff is a good ol’ boy but he’s not corrupt, and they have every conceivable reason to arrest “the two yoots”- it’s not just a railroading of two Yankees. I know what you’re saying, but the sheriff did deliberately misconstrue the two yutes’ original high-pitched in-custody surprised “WE KILLED SOMEBODY” statements as confessions, when taken in context they were certainly not confessions. It was a very funny scene, but it was also railroading. ---
**Author:** ![Humble\_Servant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/47e85d/32.png) [@Humble\_Servant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Humble_Servant)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/28 "2009-09-10T16:10:29Z")
> [@](#): > > Vinny Gambini: What about these pants I got on? You think they’re okay? > > Mona Lisa Vito: Imagine you’re a deer. You’re prancing along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water - BAM. A fuckin’ bullet rips off part of your head. Your brains are lying 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? That’s all I wanted to say. ---
**Author:** ![Blaster\_Master](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cab0a1/32.png) [@Blaster\_Master](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blaster_Master)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/29 "2009-09-10T17:24:21Z")
> [@zamboniracer](#): > > I know what you’re saying, but the sheriff did deliberately misconstrue the two yutes’ original high-pitched in-custody surprised “WE KILLED SOMEBODY” statements as confessions, when taken in context they were certainly not confessions. It was a very funny scene, but it was also railroading. Perhaps he just wasn’t picking up on the tone. Consider that someone he at knew in some capacity was murdered, he’s dealing with two people that come from a different sort of culture and have different mannerisms, and they were seemingly caught red-handed. Don’t also forget that, up to that point, he WAS confessing and it wasn’t until he actually mentioned that he was being charged with murder and not theft that he wasn’t consistent with confessing with what he thought he was confessing to. IOW, I think it’s actually quite natural that he was expecting to hear, wanted to hear, and up to that point was hearing, a confession, so it really isn’t surprising to me that he didn’t pick up on it. Hell, they probably did a lot of practice trying to come up with a line that could believably be said and misconstrued as a confession. I’d probably have said something more like “Whoa, you think I shot the clerk?” So really, the only people who I think had the proper context were those two characters and, of course, the audience. And since we’re discussing favorite scenes, I think mine is when Ralph’s character is telling Vinny that he’s going with the public defendant and Vinny uses the cards as a prop and, during the conversation, performs a magic trick. It’s really quite subtle, and not necessary to the plot by any means, but it just adds a nifty little bit of depth to the character and to his point. Then again, I’m all into that sort of silly extra stuff in movies. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/30 "2009-09-10T17:58:06Z")
I tend to overuse the line “Oh yeah, you blend.” > [@Humble\_Servant](#): > > That’s all I wanted to say. You beat me to it, but [here’s the video of that great scene](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pq2EurArgDk&NR=1). This is one of the reasons she won the Oscar. Comedic timing like this is a gift. Here’s [the trailer too](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL4HdaZXuOw), which includes the foot stomping scene. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/31 "2009-09-10T18:13:39Z")
Such a great, quotable movie. Along with all the others that have been mentioned I’ll often say “don’t be afraid just shout 'em right out when you know 'em” a la Mr. Pesci questioning the guy with dirty screen and the trees in his yard. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/32 "2009-09-10T18:41:52Z")
Great movie. It’s on the approved list of law-related films for the students in my legal advocacy course. My favorite line (after the disdainful “a suit of some kind of… cloth”) was when the two yoots are stocking up on junk food. One asks if it’ll make him fart, and the other scoffs, “So what? We’re in a convertible!” ---
**Author:** ![Sigmagirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c89c15/32.png) [@Sigmagirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigmagirl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/33 "2009-09-10T18:46:16Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Such a great, quotable movie. Along with all the others that have been mentioned I’ll often say “don’t be afraid just shout 'em right out when you know 'em” a la Mr. Pesci questioning the guy with dirty screen and the trees in his yard. But he really was very sweet with the myopic old lady who realized she needed new glasses. (After he finished giving the judge a smackdown for telling the court reporter how many fingers Vinny was holding up.) ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/34 "2009-09-10T19:42:24Z")
> [@5-4-Fighting](#): > > I love, love, love this movie. > > My favorite parts are: (ii) the line, “I’m finished with this guy,” I loved when he’s interrogating Tipton (Maury Chaykin’s character): > [@](#): > > Vinny Gambini: So would you say you got a better shot of them goin’ in and not so much comin’ out? > Mr. Tipton: You could say that. > Vinny Gambini: I _ **did** _ say that. Would _you_ say that? And of course the entire Grits Deconstruction: > [@](#): > > Vinny Gambini: Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit faster in your kitchen than anywhere else on the face of the earth? > Mr. Tipton: I don’t know. > Vinny Gambini: Well, I guess the laws of physics cease to exist on top of your stove. Were these magic grits? Did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans? ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/35 "2009-09-10T19:55:30Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > To me the most unrealistic thing about the movie is the deus-ex-machina ending with the other “two yoots” being arrested in the 63 Cutlass with the .357 magnum. Lynn said he actually disliked that as well, _but_ the studio wanted it put in because they felt it wouldn’t be nearly as satisfying an ending without the real bad guys being caught (even though this isn’t a who-dun-it) and because without something that “smoking gun” the prosecutor probably wouldn’t drop the charges. That’s the thing about the ending. It should not have been necessary to get the info about the other two guys in a similar car who were arrested with the right caliber weapon. Vinny pretty much demolished the testimony from the three eyewitnesses, and then Mona Lisa showed that the protagonists’ car could not have made the skidmarks. Surely all of that should have been enough to secure an acquittal. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/36 "2009-09-10T20:02:36Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > That’s the thing about the ending. It should not have been necessary to get the info about the other two guys in a similar car who were arrested with the right caliber weapon. Vinny pretty much demolished the testimony from the three eyewitnesses, and then Mona Lisa showed that the protagonists’ car could not have made the skidmarks. Surely all of that should have been enough to secure an acquittal. This is correct, but you still have to address the ticking time bomb of the Judge discovering the Callow/Gallow ploy. With that set in motion you need the case to end immediately after Mona Lisa and the tire guy’s testimony and having the cop come up to verify the apprehension gives the prosecutor a reason to immediately drop all the charges. A bit over the top I guess, but moves things along nicely. It also gives the cop character a chance at redemption. A great movie - and my overused line is “I-DENTICAL” complete with the clap and hand gesture. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/37 "2009-09-10T20:34:26Z")
There’s some talk in this thread about a few things that didn’t really advance the plot but were funny. The thing that impresses me about this movie is that, IMO, there is not one shot, not one word of dialog, not one iota of anything, that doesn’t advance the plot. Not a wasted shot anywhere in it. Take the scene in the diner. Funny enough on its own, but it totally set up the testimony about the grits. Or the scene where Vinny and Lisa arrive in town. A passerby comments on the mud in the tires. That sets up the scene where Vinny’s suit gets messed up and he has to rent the tux. And that scene sets up the slip differential evidence that exhonorated the yoots. There are probably a lot of movies this efficient, but the only other one I can think of is Ruthless People. ---
**Author:** ![corkboard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9bcb4/32.png) [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/38 "2009-09-10T20:45:13Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > A great movie - and my overused line is “I-DENTICAL” complete with the clap and hand gesture. No! That’s mine! I do that!! Damn. You called it first. (kicks dirt) ---
**Author:** ![Jumpbass](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jumpbass/32/147_2.png) [@Jumpbass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jumpbass)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/39 "2009-09-10T20:59:20Z")
Jonathan Lynn also directed The Whole Nine Yards. That movie also has a great commentary track. ---
**Author:** ![Roadfood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@Roadfood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roadfood)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2009, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348/40 "2009-09-10T21:00:00Z")
I, too, love this movie. The question I’ve always wondered about, though, is the accuracy of Mona Lisa’s final testimony. I don’t remember it well enough to quote it, but the whole thing about what kinds of cars could have made the flat and even tire tracks going over the curb, which models came in metallic mint green, etc. Any car-knowledgeable Dopers that can comment on whether all of that was true or not? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-cousin-vinny-a-british-class-comedy/509348.md?page=3)