If I had been on the Academy voting board..one for the writer for "..you think I'm 'hostile' now, just wait 'til we get home.". And another for Marisa for how she delivered it.
@@Smileybeeblevroxcurious, out of Husbands and Wives, Enchanted April, Howard’s End and Damqge, which ones have you actually seen and what nominee deserved it over Tomei?
Yes, that is a great movie. Another super-classic courtroom drama/mystery is Billy Wilder's 1957 Witness for the Prosecution, from a story/play by mystery queen Agatha Christie. (I defy anyone to guess the ending.) This has also been made in a movie two other times - one was made for tv and starts Diana Riggs, a scene for scene copy of the '57 film - not bad. The other is ghastly.
20:35 The Sheriff isn't lying, he did actually say "I shot the clerk." However, he asked it as a question "I shot the clerk?" The movie is essentially pointing out the problems that arise when simply reading a statement from text, without the proper context or tone of voice.
I am a criminal defense lawyer in the USA of almost 20 years. Back when I was in law school, during my Evidence course we went over several of the courtroom scenes in this movie because they were very accurate as to the actual rules of evidence (for the most part) and procedure.
Except the parts where attorneys walk into "the well of the court" and question the witnesses face-to-face. The bailiff will tackle you. Unreal in any show or movie. You must question from the podium or your own table.
@@lucasthompson6116 well that was why included "for the most part"; however, I will also add "not necessarily." Every jurisdiction is different, of course, and I have never been to Alabama, let alone practiced there (and then every judge has their own routine for their courtroom). In my own experience, though, all I need do is ask the court "may I approach the witness" and there is no problem. Usually this is done when going over a specific piece of physical evidence with them (like how Vinny was going through the photos with the one witness), but I've done this in both trials and preliminary hearings.
This is the usual comment about this movie. So it's okay to approach the witness with a tape measure and perform a sight-test during court time? Sorry, no defence laywer is going to perform such a test and risk her holding up the correct number of fingers.
@@AndrewJens Probably not, nor would a newly-minted lawyer lie to the judge about who he was or his track record in court. That's just artistic license for the sake of entertainment value in the story. At the same time though if you watch other attorney's reviews of this movie you'll find them grading it high on the legal accuracy scale.
@@drewpamon Pretty sure that closing your eyes and guessing how many fingers I'm holding up is a definition of a gamble (you'd be right one chance in five or six, depending on how you define the experiment). Why take the risk when he could have her sight tested by an optometrist recognised by the court?
One of the funniest movies ever. Everyone in the country fell in love with Marissa Tomei when this movie was released. The way the legal system works between the 50 states (and the capitol, Washington D.C.) is, broadly, the laws and procedures are similar from state to state, but there are differences. Most attorneys are licensed to practice in one, or maybe a few states. In order to represent someone in a state in which you're not licensed, it's traditional to meet with the judge, and be approved. Another great courtroom drama you should watch is A Few Good Men (1992), which takes place in a military court.
I fell In love with her and rdj a year or two before this when I saw them in only you. U could tell how much the two of them actually loved each other, even if nothing ever happened between them. That movie I think is the reason why she got this roll if I remember correctly. It's also why I was so very excited to see them on screen together again in the marvel movies.
It should be noted that Vinny figured out that it was a Pontiac Tempest before Mona Lisa did and even gave the sheriff the exact vehicle to look before before she was even in the court room.
Exactly. And this is a mystery because Vinny was not a mechanical or vehicle expert, he was just a smart guy. Mona Lisa was the automotive expert. So how did Vinny know about the specific car and specs about the posi-traction options on only Covettes and Tempests? Vinny was very smart but nothing explains why he was just as smart about cars as Ms Vito was.
@@eltomas3634 Vinny was in fact a mechanic, he worked in Mona Lisa's dad's shop while he was working his way through law school. He wasn't as good as Mona Lisa, but he knew his stuff.
The joke about Vinny being able to sleep in prison works if you are a complete urbanite, specifically a New Yorker (or a Brooklynite): these are noises that Vinny knows and has been sleeping through his entire life. The lovely, quiet country silence, interrupted with sudden bursts of pigs, whistles, and owls? Oh, not for a New Yorker, no, no! A prison riot? Sheesh, that's nothing.
I'm a Brooklyn native, and this is 100% accurate. Horns, neighbors screaming, just general city sounds were a white noise. I moved to New England, and the quiet kept me awake. It took a while to get used to it getting dark at night (in NYC, we have so many lights, you can't see that much of the night sky) and all of the noises that come with it. Crickets drove me crazy for a while. Eventually, you get used to it, but it takes a while.
We moved to the suburbs back in 2012 and it took me like 6 months to be able to sleep. Between the owls, fox and cicadas...I missed the fire trucks, police sirens and fights at 2 am from drunks outside my building 😂 😂
The scene where he knocks over the chess set was not scripted, he actually accidently knocked it over during the take and they just went along with it. The director liked it so much that they kept it.
That was funny when I learned about that fact. I had wondered in movie if Vinny did it by accident or on purpose as a distraction, funny to find out it was an accident by Pesci not Vinny 😂
I hate to bring politics into this, but that sequence is the first thing I thought of with the Biden interview tapes from the Special Counsel investigation. I not only wonder what was actually said, but how it was said. Is the transcript sufficient? Now that the AG and DOJ are refusing to let us hear it, I am really wondering if they are hiding something.
@@kenf3539They don’t want to release the audio because they KNOW the Republicans will selectively edit bits to make Biden look bad on Fox News, OAN, etc.
Nobody ever gets the sleeping in prison joke...Vinny is a New Yorker (or as one of them would say phonetically, a New Yawker). Having spent many a night sleeping in Manhattan hotels, I can tell you that it's a matter of how noisy the streets there are and how one would get used to it without losing sleep.
And it really works that way. I used to live in a house right by the railroad tracks. At first it was terrible. Eventually we got used to it, and I could sleep right through a train going by without even noticing. But go to a place that I'm not familiar with the type of sounds and a floor board squeaking will wake me from a deep sleep.
Another thing most people don't get is why the judge over ruled Vinny's objection. Trotter set Vinny up by mentioning it to him the night before. He knew that the judge knew that Vinny didn't know the law good enough to come up with that kind of objection on the spot. By Vinny giving a well thought out objection made it look like that he did in fact have prior notice.
It could also be that he was finally SO tired, he would sleep through a tornado. But I prefer the white noise explanation of a riot being like being back home in urban New York!
Growing up, Marisa Tomei said her mother would constantly correct her whenever she used a Brooklyn inflection in her speech. Her mother insisted that her future had no place for that accent and she wouldn't be able to find work if she talked that way. Love the late great Fred Gwynne.
Even though her mom turned out to be wrong, more parents should still instill these values because 99% of the time theyre correct. When people say "I'm finna go the store" and other ebonics type of talk it drastically reduces their chances of getting a good job
Yes the "argument" about the faucet wasn't a matter of one of them needed to go fix it, but that the arguing is their love language, or foreplay, tying back to Machio saying that their family loves to argue, and showing how he has the potential to be a great lawyer. It's their love language/foreplay and also exercising his skills.
So it's okay to approach the witness with a tape measure and perform a sight-test during court time? Sorry, no defence laywer is going to perform such a test and risk her holding up the correct number of fingers.
@@AndrewJens He knew she couldn't see as she answered in the wrong direction so it wasn't a risk if done right. The judge allowed it, as he should have, because eyesight, similarly to an unobstructed view, is rather pertinent in an eyewitness testimony. Even if she had guessed it right by accident, he could have just stayed back there and quickly said "let's try that again just to be sure" or "best of three" and "no guessing this time" and done it again. Somebody pointed out in another reaction that the reason he did two fingers again after the judge screwed up the first try was that he could have later argued in an appeal that the judge screwed it up because now the witness knew the right answer, which he couldn't have done had he shown a different number of fingers. It may have been slim but likely enough for an appeal or a retrial, because there was no murder weapon and the other witnesses admitted on stand they couldn't identify the accused. If the defense can't question the validity of witness testimonies, it's grounds for an appeal or a retrial.
I was introduced to this movie many years ago by a friend of mine who was an attorney. He loved it. He said its depiction of legal procedures was really accurate -- about the only thing he found wrong was they would not have a trial for a capital murder less than a week after the crime had been committed. It'd be several months, maybe years, before it got that far. And my friend and I are both from the same part of the country where this was set and filmed and *that* part is *really* accurate. Lovely reaction to a classic comedy!
I've sat on a jury, and I can tell you that court is very serious and low key. Plus, with discovery and pre-trial depositions, there is rarely the "gotcha" moment that movies love to portray. If you want to watch a great movie that really dives into the jury process, I can't recommend "12 Angry Men" (1957) highly enough!
Fun fact: Marisa Tomei was 22 years younger than Joe Pesci when the movie was made. In order to make him look younger, the make-up crew would use tape to pull back his face and lessen Pesci's wrinkles. The tape was then hidden by makeup. You can actually spot this in profile shots of Pesci where there is a crease in the skin about an inch in front of his ear. Basically, it was an artificial facelift.
@@ptthatswhatshesaid yea, but look at all of the men out there who are dating much younger women and vice versa. Not too many are concerned about that so much more now unless it’s a parent of the younger one. Times change but this movie, took place, I guess when more people did take exception to the wide gap in ages. Well, I still liked the movie and the actors/actresses in it as well as the way Pesci and Tomei spoke and the Judge played by Fred Gynne (also known as Herman Munster, to me) questioned “youts”? :D
in answer to your question, there are about 1.3 million people of Portuguese descent living in America. But if you recognize the actor playing Vinnie's cousin, it was Ralph Macchio, and correct, of Italian descent. You may know Ralph as The Karate Kid.
Wow, that is a lot of portuguese descendents... Just so you have an idea, we have a total of around 11 million people on our country. Yeeeesss! It's from Karate Kid that I recognize him!
@ptthatswhatshesaid in my opinion, this movie and Crossroads were Ralph's best movies. Other good law/investigation movies, A Few Good Men, The General's Daughter, A Civil Action, Mississippi Burning (very loosely based on real events) To Kill A Mockingbird. The genre has a wide area of great movies. (Legally Blonde) God's Not Dead 2. Also, for investigation, season one of Reacher on Amazon is very good.
So pleasurable having watched this reaction video. Thank you! Your reactions and comments are well received. The movie is such a classic, and humor/comedy really needs to be spread and shared, especially in this society that the negative entities are trying to make miserable. Really joyful video here. Nice job!
I know you have watched some older Black & White films, so might I recommend 12 Angry Men (1957) as a great legal drama you should consider. Pretty sure it is ranked in IMDB's top ten movies.
Two items here: 1. Fred Gwynne (the judge) played Herman Munster and this was his last film before he died, and 2. the prison scene with Vinny was indicative of the guy's background; he's from NYC where you have traffic and sirens and all sorts of weird noise going all night long, which he was used to.
This movie's depiction of the trial process is so spot on that many law schools in the US use it as a teaching tool to introduce 1st year law students to trial dynamics.... Much like Back to the Future this is one of the best written movies of all time.
I thought there were two teaching moments for law school students.. 1). the nearsighted lady, where he got out a tape measure and illustrated for the jury, what half the distance she claimed to see what was going on, what that amounted to, and that her vision was inadequate to see what was going on. 2). the man cooking grits. It took 20 minutes to cook grits, so his time estimates were off by several hundred percents. The way Pesci cross examined these two people was something that all law school students should see several times.
@@bobkonradi1027 I thought going through the photos of the gunky window were the point of excellence for teaching. He's not simply introducing the photos as evidence or waving them before the jury and hope the jury gets it. He's getting the witness to describe them carefully, so the point is clearly heard and goes into the record, and is not something the lawyer has to imply or construe. Get the witness to say what you want the jury to notice. Indeed, his whole process is like this. He makes next-to-no statements nor summaries himself (as "hero lawyers" often do in courtroom dramas), but is always asking questions - even stupid questions, what are these green things? magic grits? -- and getting the witnesses to state his points for him.
Grits are very similar to polenta, which I think you are likely to be familiar with. The main difference is the type of corn used; also, grits are typically not ground as finely as polenta.
Corn kernels are soaked in alkaline solution to remove the hulls before they're ground into grits, while polenta is made from whole corn kernels. Other than that, grits are pretty similar to soft polenta.
Ok, I investigated a little bit (had never heard of polenta as well 😅) and we do have an equivalente. Its a typical food from my region of south of Portugal! Its called Xerém and its made from ground corn with clams, smoked ham and chorizos.
Marisa Tomei definitely steels the show with her acting which earned her an Academy Award. 49 states I believe practice a form of English law and Louisiana has French law. Would still like to recommend The Verdict with Paul Newman, lawyers like yourselves would be extremely pleased.
Very interesting 🤔 didn't knew Louisiana followed more a french law model. Here in Portugal you could say we follow the german model. Thank you for the suggestion, that is one that both of us have yet to see 😉
@@yt45204 as far as I remember, the region of the german states already had a legal code older than the french one, but Im pretty sure it was eventually heavily influenced. I know that nowadays there are some big differences, but portuguese and german legal system I do know are almost identical
2 things… Actually, during the initial interrogation, he DID say…twice…”I shot the clerk”. He said it as a question and not a statement. Also, during the trial, the judge was not looking at Gambini with pride but irritation. This is an awesome movie that they use in school to show how to proceed with a trial and how to disarm witness statements.
Yeah, I realize that it was no Pride at all in his face!!!! I had completely forgot that the kid asking about shooting the clerk could be taken as a statement
I disagree. He meant "I shot the clerk" as a question, but he did NOT say it that way. It's the confused look on his face that leads us to know he meant it as a question, not a statement.
LOL! This was a lot of fun, and it was fun rewatching it with the two of you! Glad you enjoyed it too. Pesci & Tomei were magic together. Thanks for sharing this one with us. 🙂
Since you both have law degrees, may I recommend the 1973 movie "The Paper Chase"? It's about a law student in his first year at Harvard Law School (based on a novel by someone who graduated from there). The movie wasn't a huge hit, but it did earn a few Academy Award nominations including for John Houseman, who was 70 at the time, who played a professor (you may recognize him as the driving instructor in "Naked Gun"!) and the movie was even turned into a television show that lasted a few seasons. Very entertaining and I'd love to see your reactions having gone through law school yourselves.
YES! Finally, someone else who knows that movie, too! I have recommended The Paper Chase several times over the years, and no one seems to know what I'm talking about---such an incredible film! :-)
"12 Angry Men", "Runaway Jury", "The Devil's Advocate", "A Few Good Men", "Primal Fear", "In the Name of the Father", "Erin Brockovich", "The Rainmaker", "The Lincoln Lawyer", "Anatomy of a Murder" are some other great court / lawyer movies
Marisa Tomei is fantastic, and deserved the Oscar even though I saw some of the other actresses nominated and they were great too. It was good to see an actress in a comedy finally win something. But that whole interrogation scene with Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid) had me pulling my hair out. Why didn't he ask to talk to a lawyer? I guess he thought they were talking about tuna and didn't know a murder had been committed, but that's why the moment you're arrested, you shut up, comply with police as far as the arrest goes and ask to speak to a lawyer before you talk to anyone. I knew that when I was their age. But the comedy does come from a lot of misunderstanding and I love it for that.
New subscriber from New Mexico… I just saw your Clue video, and now this one, and O Brother next…. Binge watching you two… Your reaction to Vinnie made me literally laugh out loud q few times. Ciao, ✌️
37:15 The prison noise sounded just like the streets of Brooklyn at night. Vinnie got a good night's sleep because he was surrounded by sounds that he was used to.
The legal content on the whole is very accurate. One thing I thought was very inaccurate was during the process of choosing the jurors. If a prospective juror said "Fry 'em" during their interview, I believe they would be weeded out. They don't want people who show a bias one way or the other.
Other than the timeline being compressed (arraignment to trial could be a year or more), this movie is fairly accurate. Other good courtroom movies are: Twelve Angry Men The Verdict (same director). The Rainmaker (based on a book by John Grisham, who is a lawyer). Several of his books have been made into movies. A Time to Kill, The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Firm, and a few others. Good movies that aren't about criminal trials but civil cases are: Erin Brockovich A Civil Action As others have mentioned, a military justice movie is A Few Good Men.
Oh interesting! I didn't know that you guys have a legal background. I'm a criminal lawyer in Georgia. The dean of my law school once told us that "You can learn most of what you really need to know about the rules of evidence from "My Cousin Vinny."" I've found that it was not much of an exaggeration.
Here civil law is waaaaaay more common than criminal (we have little crime) so I think we found Erin Brockovich a more "familiar" kind of law let's say
@@ptthatswhatshesaid That’s true of the American legal system too. Very few (percentage-wise) lawyers have ever tried a criminal case. In law school, very few classes deal with criminal law or procedure.
@@shaggyism Ok, so it is quite similar to here, where the majority of the attention goes to civil law. Which makes sense, crime is really the extreme cases of wrongdoing xD
Each state has its own Bar, the institution that governs the legal profession, administers the bar exam, handles professional discipline, and the granting of licenses to practice law. A lawyer licensed in another state must apply to practice law with either the state bar or with the court hearing the case. The scene with the judge meeting Vinnie in camara and the judge asking him questions was to determine whether he would allow Vinnie to take the case.
Fred Gwynn had a DEAD career until _Pet Sematary_ & this movie made him a killing as a rejuvinated A-lister... great, brief performance in _Secret to My Success_ with Michael J Fox...
This is such a great movie, glad you both enjoyed it! If you are looking for another courtroom movie, I would suggest A Few Good Men. It's slightly different, as it takes place in a US military court but it's a great film and I think you would find it interesting as well as entertaining.
1) Civil & criminal procedure are required classes in every US law school. 2) There is no provision in criminal procedure that would allow Vinny to "covince the judge so you don't have to convince a jury." 3) Juries are carefully instructed by the judge as to the legal principles they are to apply to the case. If they go outside those instructions, that's grounds for appeal.
I’d argue against a couple points: 1. This movie could have been well before those courses were implemented as mandatory courses. I’ve seen many lawyers from the states who have practiced for many years and they seemed to agree that those are things they learned at their firm and by practice in real cases. 2. Both sides have an evidentiary hearing first. In that case, you are absolutely trying to convince a judge to throw the case out (defense) or proceed with trial (prosecution) before it ever makes it to a jury.
@@KandyReneewell, that's not a great idea for you, since you clearly don't know what you're talking about. 1) The movie was released in 1992. I graduated from law school in 1994, and it had already been true for a long time, then. You are simply wrong. Perhaps next time, do some actual research, hmm? 2) Incorrect. "Both sides" do not get their own evidentiary hearing. There is an arraignment, where the judge decides if there is enough evidence to bother with a trial or not, but the defense doesn't put on anything during that process, and if the judge devise there isn't enough to have a trial, yhe only consequence is that the police have to try again to build a stronger case. The whole case does not get dismissed.
First-time viewer. You two are easy to watch and listen to. Y'all's insight into trial procedure added another level of interest in this movie reaction. New subscriber. Keep on r'actin .
2 must see movies if you want to learn about the U.S. court and trial system are. 1: 1979 And justice for all Al Pacino 2: 1956 12 Angry men both classic movies. ✌️❤️
Not enough people mentioned And Justice For All. Great movie. Outstanding performances. I would second your suggestion that it be watched for a reaction.
Actually, Bill DID say "I shot the clerk." Twice. His intention and motive for saying it were not what what comes out in the testimony, but yes, indeed, he did say those words, as recorded. The sheriff is not lying. And as we learn later on, none of the witnesses are lying. They are wrong, but they are not deliberately trying to railroad Bill and Stan.
Alabama is a varied state. There are a lot of lower-income rural towns with smaller populations that subsist on agriculture but also large industrialized cities and nationally-renown colleges. The University of Alabama, Auburn University, Samford University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham are some examples. The University of Alabama and Samford especially have renown law schools.
@ptthatswhatshesaid They've got very successful sports programs. Universities use sports to recruit students. The more successful the sports programs are, the more applications the university gets, which increases revenue.
Great reaction; by far my favorite of the reactions I've seen for this movie! The whole "jury disregard" thing confused me too but a friend explained to me that in law school they went over that with specific regard as to how to argue for a re-trial if you could make a convincing case that what was supposed to be ignored tipped the scales. He said that kind of review often takes the form of a mini mock trial but with established lawyers and they collectively decide whether or not it seems likely the jury were unfairly swayed.
I have watched US lawyers react to this movie, and they said that this movie is often used in law school because it is pretty accurate. One lawyer even gave it an "A" for accuracy.
Awesome! Love everything about this reaction! Trying to get the lawyer to plead guilty or not guilty is so cringe. It's great to get a lawyer's reaction to this one. Love the Pesci / Tomei combo and how their characters make arguing cute 🤣🤣🤣
Are you from Portugal ? I'm italian and it's incredible how we have a similar way of talking and moving, it's like we are cousins. Subscribed, cheeeeeers
At 20:46 it sounds like you guys missed what the movie was doing. It was a callback to this part at 7:31 where he technically said it. They weren’t lying.
This is considered to be one of the most accurate interpretations of the American legal systems portrayed in cinema. My favorite part of the movie is at the end when the girlfriend is on the stand and just nailing it with her cross. She absolutely killed it! "A Few Good Men" is another really good courtroom movie.
Hey guys shout out from the US Marine Corps! what a great reaction to this movie you guys had! this is definitely one of my favorites, like Shawshank Redemption, or Man From Uncle, or Nobody! If you haven't watched those movies, you should definitely check them out! Love u guys and love u guyses reaction so much! I was actually told by a lawyer to go to law school and be a lawyer for him! He's one of the top 10 Lawers in the country and his name is John Calcagni. He's out of Providence, Rhode Island You can look him up if you want! Love you guys!
Thank you so much 🙏🏻 We do have a reaction to Shawshank Redemption up on the channel, Man from Uncle we have both watched (its Guy Ritchie after all xD) and Nobody wevhave never seen
@@ptthatswhatshesaid Thank you guys for replying to my comment! if you guys ever watched nobody, I will be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very excited! keep up the great reactions and positive attitudes you guys have!
Every lawyer based in the US I've seen react to this have all said that court drama films always contain a lot of, as you called it, "movieland" aspects in them, pretty much to make them more dramatized than the real proceedings could ever possibly be. The one I always remember is that lawyers aren't allowed to walk up to the juries or get especially close to them, but films always depict that because it makes the story more dynamic and dramatic. That said, every lawyer also seems to love this movie and say that, in spite of those inaccuracies (which are committed by all over court dramas along with far worse), My Cousin Vinny actually remains one of the *most* accurate court drama films out of them all, in terms of general law, and particularly the use of expert witnesses, and most mention it as their favorite one.
Ralph Machoo was first seen in the movie "THE KARETE KID." He was in this movie after that and he is in the NETFLIX series "COBRA KIA" that is on now and at 50+ he still looks like he is maybe 20!!!! It is incredible!!!!!
OMG...I've watched this movie about four times....such great acting and funny as hell. Joe Pesci is an amazing actor, he played the Mob wiseguys very well, but he was amazing in every role. I love him in this one.
Along with the “12 Angry Men” suggestion, I would like to add 3 other courtroom dramas you might enjoy: “Presumed Innocent,” “Runaway Jury,” and “Primal fear.” I always enjoy your reactions! 🎬❤😊
The channel “LegalEagle” did an excellent video breaking down My Cousin Vinny. His analysis is that the courtroom procedure and scenes are actually very accurate.
A RUclips streamer I adore is Emily D Baker. She is an attorney, and previous assistant district attorney (prosecutor) who now does legal commentary on YT. She loves this movie, and has said that as ridiculous as the story is, it’s actually very accurate from a legal perspective, of the US system. If you are licensed in New York, but wanted to represent a client in another state, the judge would need to allow you to practice in their court or you would need to partner with a local attorney who is licensed in that state. It is not uncommon here for attorneys to become licensed in adjoining states so they can practice there more easily.
Yes, it makes a lot of sense, we tend to forget that the US is basically an aglomerate of smaller "countries" with some different rules 😅 We have to check that youtuber :p
@@ptthatswhatshesaid there is a case currently with the jury in Massachusetts where a woman is accused of hitting her boyfriend with her car and leaving him to die. One witness says the defendant said “I hit him”. Other witnesses say she ASKED “I hit him?” The prosecution says she confessed. The defense says she was confused by the idea she hit him. We have discussed this movie a lot watching this trial!
We've heard of it, although we don't know anything details, except that she is called Karen right? Damn, had no idea how similar it was to the situation on the movie!
@@ptthatswhatshesaid yes, the Karen Read trial. The investigation itself was a complete joke. Absolutely horrific police work. But yes - the “confession “ is extremely similar.
I have not read all the comments, but Ralph Maccio most definitely said "I shot the clerk", several times. In a transcript, voice inflection does not translate. That is why you don't talk to the cops...
One thing that always helped me when I first started learning about our legal system in the United States is that the jury is the finder of fact in a trial, so they don't have to know anything about the law beyond what the judge explains to them. The judge, on the other hand, is tasked to impartially interpret the law in their courtroom. If the judge is doing their job properly, they don't let their opinion of the prosecution or defendant interfere with their ability to be impartial. The jury system is a safeguard against the judge's bias, even though juries can be biased against the defendant. No system is perfect...
I've watched a lot of reaction videos to this movie and it's interesting how often the reactors think the Sheriff is lying when he quotes the defendant saying "I shot the clerk". He really did say that, but he was asking a question without any inflection. Just one of many misunderstandings that led to the trial.
Dear TWSS: Since you both are well acquainted with the legal profession and all aspects of the judicial system, I must highly recommend that you watch what has long been considered to be an absolutely gem of a movie. I refer to the 1957 production of "12 Angry Men." This classic movie takes place entirely within the confines of a jury room and focuses on the deliberations between a group of people, each of whom bring thier own individual life perspectives to the case at hand. I can assure you that both you and your subscribers will thoroughly enjoy this film. The star of the film is Henry Fonda but it is absolutely one of the finest ensemble cast ever assembled for a movie of this type. Thank you for reading this rambling comment and I sincerely hope that you discover this classic film.
Marisa Tomei won a WELL earned Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress in this
agreed.
If I had been on the Academy voting board..one for the writer for "..you think I'm 'hostile' now, just wait 'til we get home.". And another for Marisa for how she delivered it.
Let's agree to disagree. Her competition deserved it more
@@Smileybeeblevroxcurious, out of Husbands and Wives, Enchanted April, Howard’s End and Damqge, which ones have you actually seen and what nominee deserved it over Tomei?
She was amazing
"12 Angry Men" is a classic, and almost the whole movie takes place in the jury deliberation room.
Its a great movie but what happens in the movie would cause a mistrial as explained on LeagEagle's Chanel.
It also provides excellent examples of juror misconduct.
Yes, that is a great movie. Another super-classic courtroom drama/mystery is Billy Wilder's 1957 Witness for the Prosecution, from a story/play by mystery queen Agatha Christie. (I defy anyone to guess the ending.) This has also been made in a movie two other times - one was made for tv and starts Diana Riggs, a scene for scene copy of the '57 film - not bad. The other is ghastly.
I came here to say the exact same thing. It has become my favorite movie of all time.
As long as they watch the 1957 version.
20:35 The Sheriff isn't lying, he did actually say "I shot the clerk." However, he asked it as a question "I shot the clerk?" The movie is essentially pointing out the problems that arise when simply reading a statement from text, without the proper context or tone of voice.
Never speak without your lawyer there. This is the best reason why.
I am a criminal defense lawyer in the USA of almost 20 years. Back when I was in law school, during my Evidence course we went over several of the courtroom scenes in this movie because they were very accurate as to the actual rules of evidence (for the most part) and procedure.
Except the parts where attorneys walk into "the well of the court" and question the witnesses face-to-face. The bailiff will tackle you. Unreal in any show or movie. You must question from the podium or your own table.
@@lucasthompson6116you can approach the witness to hand them an exhibit or show them somethingafter asking permission from the judge.
@@lucasthompson6116 well that was why included "for the most part"; however, I will also add "not necessarily." Every jurisdiction is different, of course, and I have never been to Alabama, let alone practiced there (and then every judge has their own routine for their courtroom). In my own experience, though, all I need do is ask the court "may I approach the witness" and there is no problem. Usually this is done when going over a specific piece of physical evidence with them (like how Vinny was going through the photos with the one witness), but I've done this in both trials and preliminary hearings.
@@lucasthompson6116 ok, that's one thing , in the whole movie.
Interesting 🤔 criminal law is definitely not our expertise (little amount of crime cases in our region, except drunk driving xD)
In terms of the legal system portrayed, this is one of the most realistic portrayals on cinema.
I love how the jury doesn't have to make any decision, because of course logically the prosecution had to withdrawn
This is the usual comment about this movie. So it's okay to approach the witness with a tape measure and perform a sight-test during court time? Sorry, no defence laywer is going to perform such a test and risk her holding up the correct number of fingers.
@@AndrewJens Probably not, nor would a newly-minted lawyer lie to the judge about who he was or his track record in court. That's just artistic license for the sake of entertainment value in the story. At the same time though if you watch other attorney's reviews of this movie you'll find them grading it high on the legal accuracy scale.
@@AndrewJens There was a scene where he is interviewing all the witnesses and knew that her vision was weak. It wasn't a gamble.
@@drewpamon Pretty sure that closing your eyes and guessing how many fingers I'm holding up is a definition of a gamble (you'd be right one chance in five or six, depending on how you define the experiment). Why take the risk when he could have her sight tested by an optometrist recognised by the court?
One of the funniest movies ever. Everyone in the country fell in love with Marissa Tomei when this movie was released.
The way the legal system works between the 50 states (and the capitol, Washington D.C.) is, broadly, the laws and procedures are similar from state to state, but there are differences. Most attorneys are licensed to practice in one, or maybe a few states. In order to represent someone in a state in which you're not licensed, it's traditional to meet with the judge, and be approved.
Another great courtroom drama you should watch is A Few Good Men (1992), which takes place in a military court.
Makes sense, there may be differences pertinent to a specific case or about procedure of course
I fell In love with her and rdj a year or two before this when I saw them in only you. U could tell how much the two of them actually loved each other, even if nothing ever happened between them. That movie I think is the reason why she got this roll if I remember correctly. It's also why I was so very excited to see them on screen together again in the marvel movies.
It should be noted that Vinny figured out that it was a Pontiac Tempest before Mona Lisa did and even gave the sheriff the exact vehicle to look before before she was even in the court room.
Yes, that's right!
Exactly. And this is a mystery because Vinny was not a mechanical or vehicle expert, he was just a smart guy. Mona Lisa was the automotive expert. So how did Vinny know about the specific car and specs about the posi-traction options on only Covettes and Tempests? Vinny was very smart but nothing explains why he was just as smart about cars as Ms Vito was.
@@eltomas3634 Vinny was in fact a mechanic, he worked in Mona Lisa's dad's shop while he was working his way through law school. He wasn't as good as Mona Lisa, but he knew his stuff.
The joke about Vinny being able to sleep in prison works if you are a complete urbanite, specifically a New Yorker (or a Brooklynite): these are noises that Vinny knows and has been sleeping through his entire life. The lovely, quiet country silence, interrupted with sudden bursts of pigs, whistles, and owls? Oh, not for a New Yorker, no, no! A prison riot? Sheesh, that's nothing.
Well, almost nobody ;)
@@flarrfan Almost!!
Ahahah! Ok, now it makes sense!
I'm a Brooklyn native, and this is 100% accurate. Horns, neighbors screaming, just general city sounds were a white noise. I moved to New England, and the quiet kept me awake. It took a while to get used to it getting dark at night (in NYC, we have so many lights, you can't see that much of the night sky) and all of the noises that come with it. Crickets drove me crazy for a while. Eventually, you get used to it, but it takes a while.
We moved to the suburbs back in 2012 and it took me like 6 months to be able to sleep. Between the owls, fox and cicadas...I missed the fire trucks, police sirens and fights at 2 am from drunks outside my building 😂 😂
The scene where he knocks over the chess set was not scripted, he actually accidently knocked it over during the take and they just went along with it. The director liked it so much that they kept it.
Yes, the judge seemed really quite perplexed at that!
That was funny when I learned about that fact. I had wondered in movie if Vinny did it by accident or on purpose as a distraction, funny to find out it was an accident by Pesci not Vinny 😂
I just said that , not knowing anyone else would know that .
Shout-out to anyone who suggested these two watch this one. A good matchup, very enjoyable.
A lot of people suggested it on our To Kill a Mockingbird reaction ☺️ and then our patrons chose it
We're glad they did!!
Unique thing about this movie is there are no bad guys. Everyone is honest is and doing what they think is right.
Yes, we realized that after we saw it 😂 well, Vinny was dishonest with the judge though 😅
What about killers
@@GeogBartylol. Only referred to. Not in the movie.
@@ptthatswhatshesaidlol touché !
I'd argue the pool guy refusing to pay up is a bad guy haha
LOL! The frustration on her face was so funny in the beginning, watching and listening to Vinny as he fumbled his way through the arraignment.
Yes! Frustrating! 😩
He did speak the words, "I shot the clerk", but he said it as a question, "I shot the clerk?".
Exactly! They were the exact same words in the exact same order. But of course a different intonation.
I get it now, I just could not at that moment recognize those as the same words he had said, because it was so clearly a question! 😅
I hate to bring politics into this, but that sequence is the first thing I thought of with the Biden interview tapes from the Special Counsel investigation. I not only wonder what was actually said, but how it was said. Is the transcript sufficient? Now that the AG and DOJ are refusing to let us hear it, I am really wondering if they are hiding something.
@kenf3539 You're soo corny. TRUMP was literally found liable of SA
@@kenf3539They don’t want to release the audio because they KNOW the Republicans will selectively edit bits to make Biden look bad on Fox News, OAN, etc.
Nobody ever gets the sleeping in prison joke...Vinny is a New Yorker (or as one of them would say phonetically, a New Yawker). Having spent many a night sleeping in Manhattan hotels, I can tell you that it's a matter of how noisy the streets there are and how one would get used to it without losing sleep.
And it really works that way. I used to live in a house right by the railroad tracks. At first it was terrible. Eventually we got used to it, and I could sleep right through a train going by without even noticing. But go to a place that I'm not familiar with the type of sounds and a floor board squeaking will wake me from a deep sleep.
Another thing most people don't get is why the judge over ruled Vinny's objection. Trotter set Vinny up by mentioning it to him the night before. He knew that the judge knew that Vinny didn't know the law good enough to come up with that kind of objection on the spot. By Vinny giving a well thought out objection made it look like that he did in fact have prior notice.
@@Logan_Baron Yes, all the other places were dead-quiet until the sudden loud sound. In prison, it was a constant din, almost white noise.
It could also be that he was finally SO tired, he would sleep through a tornado. But I prefer the white noise explanation of a riot being like being back home in urban New York!
100%. As a city person... city sounds are far more familiar and less terrifying than rural sounds.
Growing up, Marisa Tomei said her mother would constantly correct her whenever she used a Brooklyn inflection in her speech. Her mother insisted that her future had no place for that accent and she wouldn't be able to find work if she talked that way.
Love the late great Fred Gwynne.
Here its used to perfection 👌🏻
Even though her mom turned out to be wrong, more parents should still instill these values because 99% of the time theyre correct. When people say "I'm finna go the store" and other ebonics type of talk it drastically reduces their chances of getting a good job
"12 Angry Men"
A courtroom classic
Yes the "argument" about the faucet wasn't a matter of one of them needed to go fix it, but that the arguing is their love language, or foreplay, tying back to Machio saying that their family loves to argue, and showing how he has the potential to be a great lawyer. It's their love language/foreplay and also exercising his skills.
Just loved to see them "arguing" 😂
(fun fact) ... the judge is the same actor as Herman from "The Munsters" (Fred Gwynn)
And in ?Car 54 Where Are You?"
@@stellaandes759 yes, but The Munsters is his BEST role !!
Was he the old man in Pet Semetary as well?
Yeah, and he's not wearing lifts or anything, he's 6 foot 6 inches tall.
He does seem very tall!
I'm a colombian lawyer. For me, this is the most realistic movie about lawyer's work.
So it's okay to approach the witness with a tape measure and perform a sight-test during court time? Sorry, no defence laywer is going to perform such a test and risk her holding up the correct number of fingers.
@@AndrewJens That's true, but I was referring more to learning the profession through practice.
Yes, in here you learn much more after you get your degree and start working for sure!
@@AndrewJens He knew she couldn't see as she answered in the wrong direction so it wasn't a risk if done right. The judge allowed it, as he should have, because eyesight, similarly to an unobstructed view, is rather pertinent in an eyewitness testimony. Even if she had guessed it right by accident, he could have just stayed back there and quickly said "let's try that again just to be sure" or "best of three" and "no guessing this time" and done it again.
Somebody pointed out in another reaction that the reason he did two fingers again after the judge screwed up the first try was that he could have later argued in an appeal that the judge screwed it up because now the witness knew the right answer, which he couldn't have done had he shown a different number of fingers. It may have been slim but likely enough for an appeal or a retrial, because there was no murder weapon and the other witnesses admitted on stand they couldn't identify the accused. If the defense can't question the validity of witness testimonies, it's grounds for an appeal or a retrial.
I've seen Vinny described as "bad at everything law school teaches but good at everything it doesn't".
Ahahah that's great!!
Marisa Tomei won an academy award for best supporting actress for this movie :)
I was introduced to this movie many years ago by a friend of mine who was an attorney. He loved it. He said its depiction of legal procedures was really accurate -- about the only thing he found wrong was they would not have a trial for a capital murder less than a week after the crime had been committed. It'd be several months, maybe years, before it got that far. And my friend and I are both from the same part of the country where this was set and filmed and *that* part is *really* accurate. Lovely reaction to a classic comedy!
Thank you ☺️ its a really great comedy yeah
I've sat on a jury, and I can tell you that court is very serious and low key. Plus, with discovery and pre-trial depositions, there is rarely the "gotcha" moment that movies love to portray.
If you want to watch a great movie that really dives into the jury process, I can't recommend "12 Angry Men" (1957) highly enough!
12 Angry Men is an excellent portrayal of juror misconduct.
Ahahah I suppose those are the exceptions xD
But yeah, usually things are just a lot slower than in the movies let's say!
The Amber - Depp trial we did followed 😂😂
It doesn't get any lovelier than Marisa Tomei in this movie. And she deserved her Oscar. Yup, I said it.
Probably our favourite part of the movie was her and Pesci ☺️
Fun fact: Marisa Tomei was 22 years younger than Joe Pesci when the movie was made. In order to make him look younger, the make-up crew would use tape to pull back his face and lessen Pesci's wrinkles. The tape was then hidden by makeup. You can actually spot this in profile shots of Pesci where there is a crease in the skin about an inch in front of his ear. Basically, it was an artificial facelift.
Oh damn, I started noticing a bit of that when I was editing, but I thought it was just my imagination 😂😂
@@ptthatswhatshesaid yea, but look at all of the men out there who are dating much younger women and vice versa. Not too many are concerned about that so much more now unless it’s a parent of the younger one. Times change but this movie, took place, I guess when more people did take exception to the wide gap in ages. Well, I still liked the movie and the actors/actresses in it as well as the way Pesci and Tomei spoke and the Judge played by Fred Gynne (also known as Herman Munster, to me) questioned “youts”? :D
in answer to your question, there are about 1.3 million people of Portuguese descent living in America. But if you recognize the actor playing Vinnie's cousin, it was Ralph Macchio, and correct, of Italian descent. You may know Ralph as The Karate Kid.
Wow, that is a lot of portuguese descendents... Just so you have an idea, we have a total of around 11 million people on our country.
Yeeeesss! It's from Karate Kid that I recognize him!
@@ptthatswhatshesaid doesn't surprise me, there are more people of Irish descent in America and Canada, than there are in Ireland.
@@ptthatswhatshesaid Ralph has barely aged since the Karate Kid. In My Cousin Vinnie, he was in his 30s and now he's in his 60s and he looks amazing.
@@adamskeans2515 I don't know why I didn't recognized him straight away! 🤦🏻♂️
@ptthatswhatshesaid in my opinion, this movie and Crossroads were Ralph's best movies. Other good law/investigation movies, A Few Good Men, The General's Daughter, A Civil Action, Mississippi Burning (very loosely based on real events) To Kill A Mockingbird. The genre has a wide area of great movies. (Legally Blonde) God's Not Dead 2.
Also, for investigation, season one of Reacher on Amazon is very good.
Have you guys seen "12 Angry Men"? It's old but it's a great look into our criminal jury system. You should put it in a poll if you haven't seen it.
We have it on our to watch list, so not long from now we will react to it 😉
@@ptthatswhatshesaid I really look forward to that one with you two.😀
It's considered one of the greatest movies of all time - - a masterpiece.
@@jillk368 Yes, that's true. Acting, filming, directing and writing are near perfect.
Another masterpiece you might like to check out is It Happened One Night, which is one of only three films to have won all of the “big five” Oscars.
So pleasurable having watched this reaction video. Thank you! Your reactions and comments are well received. The movie is such a classic, and humor/comedy really needs to be spread and shared, especially in this society that the negative entities are trying to make miserable. Really joyful video here. Nice job!
Thank you very much! ☺ We are really glad you had a good time :p
I can watch this movie every day and not get tired of it. When my brother and I first saw this we couldn't stop laughing at the magic grits scene.
That's when Vinny showed how great he was at sniffing out the BS from the witnesses! He is just great in those scenes 😂
@@ptthatswhatshesaid Also I don't mind looking at Marisa Tomei. Have you seen the Seinfeld episode where George is fixated on her? 😂
Well, the truth is... I've never really watched Seinfeld... 😶
I know you have watched some older Black & White films, so might I recommend 12 Angry Men (1957) as a great legal drama you should consider. Pretty sure it is ranked in IMDB's top ten movies.
That one we will react to in the future ☺️
Two items here: 1. Fred Gwynne (the judge) played Herman Munster and this was his last film before he died, and 2. the prison scene with Vinny was indicative of the guy's background; he's from NYC where you have traffic and sirens and all sorts of weird noise going all night long, which he was used to.
This movie's depiction of the trial process is so spot on that many law schools in the US use it as a teaching tool to introduce 1st year law students to trial dynamics.... Much like Back to the Future this is one of the best written movies of all time.
I thought there were two teaching moments for law school students.. 1). the nearsighted lady, where he got out a tape measure and illustrated for the jury, what half the distance she claimed to see what was going on, what that amounted to, and that her vision was inadequate to see what was going on. 2). the man cooking grits. It took 20 minutes to cook grits, so his time estimates were off by several hundred percents. The way Pesci cross examined these two people was something that all law school students should see several times.
@@bobkonradi1027 I thought going through the photos of the gunky window were the point of excellence for teaching. He's not simply introducing the photos as evidence or waving them before the jury and hope the jury gets it. He's getting the witness to describe them carefully, so the point is clearly heard and goes into the record, and is not something the lawyer has to imply or construe. Get the witness to say what you want the jury to notice. Indeed, his whole process is like this. He makes next-to-no statements nor summaries himself (as "hero lawyers" often do in courtroom dramas), but is always asking questions - even stupid questions, what are these green things? magic grits? -- and getting the witnesses to state his points for him.
Grits are very similar to polenta, which I think you are likely to be familiar with. The main difference is the type of corn used; also, grits are typically not ground as finely as polenta.
Grits use white corn
Polenta uses yellow corn
Where I live (TN), grits are typically made from hominy.
Shout out to Shrimp and Grits - both South Carolina and Louisiana variations.... Yum!
Corn kernels are soaked in alkaline solution to remove the hulls before they're ground into grits, while polenta is made from whole corn kernels. Other than that, grits are pretty similar to soft polenta.
@@ChurchOfTheHolyMho Hominy is corn.
Ok, I investigated a little bit (had never heard of polenta as well 😅) and we do have an equivalente. Its a typical food from my region of south of Portugal! Its called Xerém and its made from ground corn with clams, smoked ham and chorizos.
I think both of you look like the two stars of the movie in your eyes! ❤
Never seen that one, hope they looks cute together! 🤞🏻
Marisa Tomei definitely steels the show with her acting which earned her an Academy Award. 49 states I believe practice a form of English law and Louisiana has French law. Would still like to recommend The Verdict with Paul Newman, lawyers like yourselves would be extremely pleased.
Very interesting 🤔 didn't knew Louisiana followed more a french law model. Here in Portugal you could say we follow the german model.
Thank you for the suggestion, that is one that both of us have yet to see 😉
@@yt45204 as far as I remember, the region of the german states already had a legal code older than the french one, but Im pretty sure it was eventually heavily influenced. I know that nowadays there are some big differences, but portuguese and german legal system I do know are almost identical
I agree with you on The Verdict. It is such an outstanding film with top notch performances. Newman should have won an Oscar.
2 things…
Actually, during the initial interrogation, he DID say…twice…”I shot the clerk”. He said it as a question and not a statement.
Also, during the trial, the judge was not looking at Gambini with pride but irritation.
This is an awesome movie that they use in school to show how to proceed with a trial and how to disarm witness statements.
Yeah, I realize that it was no Pride at all in his face!!!!
I had completely forgot that the kid asking about shooting the clerk could be taken as a statement
I disagree. He meant "I shot the clerk" as a question, but he did NOT say it that way. It's the confused look on his face that leads us to know he meant it as a question, not a statement.
@@TallyDrake🤔…disagree with what exactly?
LOL! This was a lot of fun, and it was fun rewatching it with the two of you! Glad you enjoyed it too. Pesci & Tomei were magic together. Thanks for sharing this one with us. 🙂
Thank you!! 🤗
We agree, they were perfect together in the movie 👌🏻
I ❤❤❤❤❤ your reactions !!!
Great movie !!!
Thank you so much! 🤗 And yeah, it is!
Since you both have law degrees, may I recommend the 1973 movie "The Paper Chase"? It's about a law student in his first year at Harvard Law School (based on a novel by someone who graduated from there). The movie wasn't a huge hit, but it did earn a few Academy Award nominations including for John Houseman, who was 70 at the time, who played a professor (you may recognize him as the driving instructor in "Naked Gun"!) and the movie was even turned into a television show that lasted a few seasons. Very entertaining and I'd love to see your reactions having gone through law school yourselves.
Thank you so much for this suggestion, does sound very interesting!
YES! Finally, someone else who knows that movie, too! I have recommended The Paper Chase several times over the years, and no one seems to know what I'm talking about---such an incredible film! :-)
"12 Angry Men", "Runaway Jury", "The Devil's Advocate", "A Few Good Men", "Primal Fear", "In the Name of the Father", "Erin Brockovich", "The Rainmaker", "The Lincoln Lawyer", "Anatomy of a Murder" are some other great court / lawyer movies
Thank you so much ☺️
Primal Fear… do this next.
Marisa Tomei is fantastic, and deserved the Oscar even though I saw some of the other actresses nominated and they were great too. It was good to see an actress in a comedy finally win something. But that whole interrogation scene with Ralph Macchio (The Karate Kid) had me pulling my hair out. Why didn't he ask to talk to a lawyer? I guess he thought they were talking about tuna and didn't know a murder had been committed, but that's why the moment you're arrested, you shut up, comply with police as far as the arrest goes and ask to speak to a lawyer before you talk to anyone. I knew that when I was their age. But the comedy does come from a lot of misunderstanding and I love it for that.
And don't they have to sign if its a confession?
Yes, its great to see comedic performances get recognized for sure!
New subscriber from New Mexico… I just saw your Clue video, and now this one, and O Brother next…. Binge watching you two… Your reaction to Vinnie made me literally laugh out loud q few times. Ciao, ✌️
Thanki you so much, we are very glad you had some fun with us 😜
@@ptthatswhatshesaid (if nobody told you, grits are a type of porridge made from corn & water or milk,
& is popular in the US South, but nowhere else)
This film is used in many american university's law classes because its so accurate.
I wish our teachers had used examples like this! 😂 Would be educacional and hilarious
@@ptthatswhatshesaid The Rainmaker is another great really accurate trial film that stars Matt Damon.
@@russellward4624 I think I know that one, with Danny DeVito right?
@@ptthatswhatshesaid yep.
@@russellward4624 yes, that one was pretty good 👌🏻
My first time seeing the two of you. Subbed. Love both of your personalities. Congrats on the engagement. :)
Thank you so much 🤗
And welcome!
37:15 The prison noise sounded just like the streets of Brooklyn at night. Vinnie got a good night's sleep because he was surrounded by sounds that he was used to.
We just realized that after we saw it in the comments 😅🤦🏻♂️
4:32 I'm sure it's somewhere in the comments, but the guy on the left is Ralph Macchio from the original Karate Kid movies.
Yes, but thank you so much to take them time to let us know 😋
The legal content on the whole is very accurate. One thing I thought was very inaccurate was during the process of choosing the jurors. If a prospective juror said "Fry 'em" during their interview, I believe they would be weeded out. They don't want people who show a bias one way or the other.
But did Vinny even know what a challenge was?
@@flarrfan Yes, I thought that too.
Yeah, we would love to learn a lot more about how the jury system works
37:18 - The sounds of people yelling are normal for him in New York. lol
Other than the timeline being compressed (arraignment to trial could be a year or more), this movie is fairly accurate.
Other good courtroom movies are:
Twelve Angry Men
The Verdict (same director).
The Rainmaker (based on a book by John Grisham, who is a lawyer). Several of his books have been made into movies. A Time to Kill, The Client, The Pelican Brief, The Firm, and a few others.
Good movies that aren't about criminal trials but civil cases are:
Erin Brockovich
A Civil Action
As others have mentioned, a military justice movie is A Few Good Men.
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
That judge is the same actor that played Herman Munster on "The Munsters" tv show.
Oh interesting! I didn't know that you guys have a legal background. I'm a criminal lawyer in Georgia. The dean of my law school once told us that "You can learn most of what you really need to know about the rules of evidence from "My Cousin Vinny."" I've found that it was not much of an exaggeration.
I’m in a paralegal group and they all love this movie and Erin Brockovich
Here civil law is waaaaaay more common than criminal (we have little crime) so I think we found Erin Brockovich a more "familiar" kind of law let's say
@@ptthatswhatshesaid That’s true of the American legal system too. Very few (percentage-wise) lawyers have ever tried a criminal case. In law school, very few classes deal with criminal law or procedure.
@@shaggyism Ok, so it is quite similar to here, where the majority of the attention goes to civil law. Which makes sense, crime is really the extreme cases of wrongdoing xD
Each state has its own Bar, the institution that governs the legal profession, administers the bar exam, handles professional discipline, and the granting of licenses to practice law.
A lawyer licensed in another state must apply to practice law with either the state bar or with the court hearing the case.
The scene with the judge meeting Vinnie in camara and the judge asking him questions was to determine whether he would allow Vinnie to take the case.
I get it, maybe that also happens here in Portugal if a lawyer from another country is involved 🤔
The judge did a great job hiding the bolts in his neck!
Fred Gwynn had a DEAD career until _Pet Sematary_ & this movie made him a killing as a rejuvinated A-lister... great, brief performance in _Secret to My Success_ with Michael J Fox...
I was more of an Addams Family fan than the Musters.
This has been my favorite reaction to this movie. I laughed so hard with you two.
Thank you so much 🙏🏻🤗
This movie was hilarious!
If you like courtroom drama then I recommend "12 Angry Men" 1957. One of the greatest movies of all time. #87 on AFI's top 100 movies.
This is such a great movie, glad you both enjoyed it! If you are looking for another courtroom movie, I would suggest A Few Good Men. It's slightly different, as it takes place in a US military court but it's a great film and I think you would find it interesting as well as entertaining.
1) Civil & criminal procedure are required classes in every US law school. 2) There is no provision in criminal procedure that would allow Vinny to "covince the judge so you don't have to convince a jury." 3) Juries are carefully instructed by the judge as to the legal principles they are to apply to the case. If they go outside those instructions, that's grounds for appeal.
@@yt45204 not that much, really. The classes use the Federal Rules of procedure, and most states follow those, with small exceptions here and there.
Oh, that is different! 😂
I’d argue against a couple points:
1. This movie could have been well before those courses were implemented as mandatory courses. I’ve seen many lawyers from the states who have practiced for many years and they seemed to agree that those are things they learned at their firm and by practice in real cases.
2. Both sides have an evidentiary hearing first. In that case, you are absolutely trying to convince a judge to throw the case out (defense) or proceed with trial (prosecution) before it ever makes it to a jury.
@@KandyReneewell, that's not a great idea for you, since you clearly don't know what you're talking about.
1) The movie was released in 1992. I graduated from law school in 1994, and it had already been true for a long time, then. You are simply wrong. Perhaps next time, do some actual research, hmm?
2) Incorrect. "Both sides" do not get their own evidentiary hearing. There is an arraignment, where the judge decides if there is enough evidence to bother with a trial or not, but the defense doesn't put on anything during that process, and if the judge devise there isn't enough to have a trial, yhe only consequence is that the police have to try again to build a stronger case. The whole case does not get dismissed.
@@TheAlmaward lol the narcissism is strong in this one
First-time viewer. You two are easy to watch and listen to. Y'all's insight into trial procedure added another level of interest in this movie reaction.
New subscriber. Keep on r'actin .
Hey there! Thank you ☺️
"Just rob it."
What?! 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
🤷🏻♂️🤷🏻♂️😂
19:29 - This scene was to show what the kid was saying about the Gambini family knowing how to argue. :)
Ahahah 😋 yep
2 must see movies if you want to learn about the U.S. court and trial system are. 1: 1979 And justice for all Al Pacino 2: 1956 12 Angry men both classic movies. ✌️❤️
Not enough people mentioned And Justice For All. Great movie. Outstanding performances. I would second your suggestion that it be watched for a reaction.
Not a can of tuna, but a cannof worms was definitely opened lol! ;)
Actually, Bill DID say "I shot the clerk." Twice. His intention and motive for saying it were not what what comes out in the testimony, but yes, indeed, he did say those words, as recorded. The sheriff is not lying. And as we learn later on, none of the witnesses are lying. They are wrong, but they are not deliberately trying to railroad Bill and Stan.
Actually, everyone in the movie seems to be pretty honest 😅😅 except Vinny lying to the judge!
@@ptthatswhatshesaid That's right!!!
Loved this reaction and you guys! thanks so much!! more reactions please !!
Thank you so much! 🤗
Alabama mud is really wet red clay. Get that stuff on you and there's no getting it off.
Oh it must be the same one we have here in the south of Portugal! When its very dry it gets super dusty though 😅
Alabama is a varied state. There are a lot of lower-income rural towns with smaller populations that subsist on agriculture but also large industrialized cities and nationally-renown colleges. The University of Alabama, Auburn University, Samford University, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham are some examples. The University of Alabama and Samford especially have renown law schools.
All those university names do sound familiar yes
Alabama is a poor state but it does have quality universities like Auburn and The University of Alabama.
It just sounds familiar to us University of Alabama 🤷🏻♂️ we probably heard it be referencied in some movies
@ptthatswhatshesaid They've got very successful sports programs. Universities use sports to recruit students. The more successful the sports programs are, the more applications the university gets, which increases revenue.
Huntsville, AL is where the Saturn V 'Moon Rocket' was designed and built.
Love you guys!, ans btw, your the prettiest attorney I've ever seen!!!!!👍🙆👏👏😎
Great reaction; by far my favorite of the reactions I've seen for this movie! The whole "jury disregard" thing confused me too but a friend explained to me that in law school they went over that with specific regard as to how to argue for a re-trial if you could make a convincing case that what was supposed to be ignored tipped the scales. He said that kind of review often takes the form of a mini mock trial but with established lawyers and they collectively decide whether or not it seems likely the jury were unfairly swayed.
Very, very interesting 🤔
I have watched US lawyers react to this movie, and they said that this movie is often used in law school because it is pretty accurate. One lawyer even gave it an "A" for accuracy.
That seems to be the prevailing opinion of most people here in the comments (including people within law background), so I think I believe it :p
Awesome! Love everything about this reaction!
Trying to get the lawyer to plead guilty or not guilty is so cringe.
It's great to get a lawyer's reaction to this one.
Love the Pesci / Tomei combo and how their characters make arguing cute 🤣🤣🤣
Thank you! ☺️ Yeah, this one was a real pleasure to record 😜
Are you from Portugal ? I'm italian and it's incredible how we have a similar way of talking and moving, it's like we are cousins. Subscribed, cheeeeeers
We are portuguese yeah. Basically we kinda are cultural cousins I would say 😂 went to Italy a couple of times and felt right at home 😜
There are a bunch of fantastic court room dramas, but my favorite is A Few Good Men, whose ending shall forever be iconic cinema history.
That one is great for sure!!
BTW the sheriff was not lying Ralph Macchio (Billy Gambini) did say, "I shot the clerk" twice, though It was more of a question than a statement.
At 20:46 it sounds like you guys missed what the movie was doing. It was a callback to this part at 7:31 where he technically said it. They weren’t lying.
Yeah, we forgot he had actually said those exact words xD except as a question
20:05
It does matter, quite alot actually.
Lying is perjury which is a felony.
Being wrong is not, thats just being wrong.
This is considered to be one of the most accurate interpretations of the American legal systems portrayed in cinema.
My favorite part of the movie is at the end when the girlfriend is on the stand and just nailing it with her cross. She absolutely killed it!
"A Few Good Men" is another really good courtroom movie.
Hey guys shout out from the US Marine Corps! what a great reaction to this movie you guys had! this is definitely one of my favorites, like Shawshank Redemption, or Man From Uncle, or Nobody! If you haven't watched those movies, you should definitely check them out! Love u guys and love u guyses reaction so much! I was actually told by a lawyer to go to law school and be a lawyer for him! He's one of the top 10 Lawers in the country and his name is John Calcagni. He's out of Providence, Rhode Island You can look him up if you want! Love you guys!
Thank you so much 🙏🏻
We do have a reaction to Shawshank Redemption up on the channel, Man from Uncle we have both watched (its Guy Ritchie after all xD) and Nobody wevhave never seen
@@ptthatswhatshesaid Thank you guys for replying to my comment! if you guys ever watched nobody, I will be very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very excited! keep up the great reactions and positive attitudes you guys have!
Every lawyer based in the US I've seen react to this have all said that court drama films always contain a lot of, as you called it, "movieland" aspects in them, pretty much to make them more dramatized than the real proceedings could ever possibly be. The one I always remember is that lawyers aren't allowed to walk up to the juries or get especially close to them, but films always depict that because it makes the story more dynamic and dramatic.
That said, every lawyer also seems to love this movie and say that, in spite of those inaccuracies (which are committed by all over court dramas along with far worse), My Cousin Vinny actually remains one of the *most* accurate court drama films out of them all, in terms of general law, and particularly the use of expert witnesses, and most mention it as their favorite one.
Yeah, I get it, you need that over dramatization to make everything more exciting of course :)
She won an oscar for this role.
I also agree...12 Angry Men is a MUST for you guys. Don't delay. Watch it immediately.
Not yet, but we will soon! xD
Ralph Machoo was first seen in the movie "THE KARETE KID." He was in this movie after that and he is in the NETFLIX series "COBRA KIA" that is on now and at 50+ he still looks like he is maybe 20!!!! It is incredible!!!!!
I do know Im from Karate Kid! Wasn't able to remember that during the movie though 😅
OMG...I've watched this movie about four times....such great acting and funny as hell. Joe Pesci is an amazing actor, he played the Mob wiseguys very well, but he was amazing in every role. I love him in this one.
It was one of the best surprises we had on this channel! Really great movie 👌🏻
Along with the “12 Angry Men” suggestion, I would like to add 3 other courtroom dramas you might enjoy: “Presumed Innocent,” “Runaway Jury,” and “Primal fear.” I always enjoy your reactions! 🎬❤😊
Thank you! 🤗
The channel “LegalEagle” did an excellent video breaking down My Cousin Vinny. His analysis is that the courtroom procedure and scenes are actually very accurate.
A RUclips streamer I adore is Emily D Baker. She is an attorney, and previous assistant district attorney (prosecutor) who now does legal commentary on YT. She loves this movie, and has said that as ridiculous as the story is, it’s actually very accurate from a legal perspective, of the US system. If you are licensed in New York, but wanted to represent a client in another state, the judge would need to allow you to practice in their court or you would need to partner with a local attorney who is licensed in that state. It is not uncommon here for attorneys to become licensed in adjoining states so they can practice there more easily.
Yes, it makes a lot of sense, we tend to forget that the US is basically an aglomerate of smaller "countries" with some different rules 😅
We have to check that youtuber :p
@@ptthatswhatshesaid there is a case currently with the jury in Massachusetts where a woman is accused of hitting her boyfriend with her car and leaving him to die. One witness says the defendant said “I hit him”. Other witnesses say she ASKED “I hit him?” The prosecution says she confessed. The defense says she was confused by the idea she hit him. We have discussed this movie a lot watching this trial!
We've heard of it, although we don't know anything details, except that she is called Karen right? Damn, had no idea how similar it was to the situation on the movie!
@@ptthatswhatshesaid yes, the Karen Read trial. The investigation itself was a complete joke. Absolutely horrific police work. But yes - the “confession “ is extremely similar.
A classic comedy. I could watch it every day and still laugh. 😂
Oh, we will rewatch it more times, that's for sure!
I have not read all the comments, but Ralph Maccio most definitely said "I shot the clerk", several times. In a transcript, voice inflection does not translate. That is why you don't talk to the cops...
When you said "He looks familiar", I think you were talking about Ralph Machio from "Karate Kid".
Ralph
The judge is the great Fred Gwynne. RIP. In the first movie, Per Cemetery, and the groundbreaking TV show, The Munsters!
One thing that always helped me when I first started learning about our legal system in the United States is that the jury is the finder of fact in a trial, so they don't have to know anything about the law beyond what the judge explains to them. The judge, on the other hand, is tasked to impartially interpret the law in their courtroom. If the judge is doing their job properly, they don't let their opinion of the prosecution or defendant interfere with their ability to be impartial. The jury system is a safeguard against the judge's bias, even though juries can be biased against the defendant. No system is perfect...
Of course its not gonna be perfect, but I get the logic behind it, does make a lot of sense
Great reaction guys! Next up: A Few Good Men for a serious courtroom drama case!
I've gotta say, Lucy, I love your choice of watch :)
She does have good taste 😋 although that one I think was a gift from her dad
The guy on the left is Ralph Maccio... from The Karate Kid.. 80s movie.
You guys seen back to the future?
She hasn't, that I know for sure!
One of my all-time favorite movies!! Some of the greatest belly laughs I've ever had too 😂🤣. You two were great!
I've watched a lot of reaction videos to this movie and it's interesting how often the reactors think the Sheriff is lying when he quotes the defendant saying "I shot the clerk". He really did say that, but he was asking a question without any inflection. Just one of many misunderstandings that led to the trial.
Yes, that's right 🤦🏻♂️ just the certainty he was saying that, I just immediatly thought "he's lying!"
This is a perfect movie. Every aspect of this movie is perfect.
Dear TWSS: Since you both are well acquainted with the legal profession and all aspects of the judicial system, I must highly recommend that you watch what has long been considered to be an absolutely gem of a movie. I refer to the 1957 production of "12 Angry Men." This classic movie takes place entirely within the confines of a jury room and focuses on the deliberations between a group of people, each of whom bring thier own individual life perspectives to the case at hand. I can assure you that both you and your subscribers will thoroughly enjoy this film. The star of the film is Henry Fonda but it is absolutely one of the finest ensemble cast ever assembled for a movie of this type. Thank you for reading this rambling comment and I sincerely hope that you discover this classic film.
Thank you :) and yes, we will react to that film!
the judge is Herman Munster 😁 he was great. RIP