Awesome / My Cousin Vinny

• Lisa mixes this with Funny Moment and Precision F-Strike when she presents the deer scenario to Vinny, using the shock value to put him in his place for worrying about his appearance.
• Vinnie's final stemwinder of a speech when he cross-examines Mr. Tipton, who witnessed the crime while he was cooking his breakfast:
  Vinny: Is it possible the two defendants entered the store, picked 22 specific items off of the shelves, had the clerk take money, make change, then leave... Then two different men drive up in a similar - [sees Tipton is already shaking his head] Don't shake your head. I'm not done yet. Wait till you hear the whole thing so you can understand this now... [continues] Two different men drive up in a similar looking car, go in, shoot the clerk, rob him, and then leave?
  Tipton: No. They didn't have enough time.
  Vinny: Well, how much time was they in the store?
  Tipton: Five minutes.
  Vinny: Five minutes? Are you sure? Did you look at your watch?
  Tipton: No.
  Vinny: Oh, oh, oh, I'm sorry. You testified earlier that the boys went into the store, and you had just begun to make breakfast. You were just ready to eat, and you heard a gunshot. That's right. I'm sorry. So obviously, it takes you five minutes to make breakfast.
  Tipton: That's right.
  Vinny: So you knew that. Uh, do you remember what ya had?
  Tipton: Eggs and grits.
  Vinny: Eggs and grits. I like grits too. How do you cook your grits? You like 'em regular, creamy or al dente?
  Tipton: Just regular, I guess.
  Vinny: Regular. Instant grits?
  Tipton: [chuckles] No self-respectin' Southerner uses instant grits. I take pride in my grits.
  Vinny: [Walks over to Jury, as he prepares his next question] So, Mr. Tipton. How could it take you five minutes to cook your grits, when it takes the entire grit-eating world twenty minutes?
  [Tipton falls silent for a moment. Lisa smiles excitedly, and the entire courtroom stares at Tipton apprehensively, realizing Vinny has him stumped]
  Tipton: [nervously] I dunno. I'm a fast cook, I guess.
  Vinny: I'm sorry, I was all the way over here. I couldn't hear you. Did you just say you're a fast cook? That's it!? Are we to believe that boiling water soaks into a grit... faster in your kitchen... than on any place on the face of the Earth?
  Tipton: [faltering] I don't know.
  Vinny: Well, perhaps the laws of physics cease to exist on your stove! Were these magic grits? I mean, did you buy them from the same guy who sold Jack his beanstalk beans!?
  Jim Trotter: Objection, Your Honor.
  Judge Haller: Objection sustained. You can ignore the question, Mr. Tipton.
  Vinny: [advancing on Tipton] You sure about that five minutes?
  Tipton: I don't know.
  Vinny: Are you sure about that five minutes?
  Tipton: I don't know!
  Judge Haller: [banging his gavel repeatedly] I think you made your point.
  Vinny: ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT FIVE MINUTES?
  Tipton: [embarrassed] I may have been mistaken.
  Vinny: I got no more use for this guy.
  [Haller looks shocked by the exchange, while Lisa gives Vinny a proud look, and someone in the public gallery applauds. Stan turns to his public defender]
  Stan: You're fired. [gets up and points at Vinny] I want him!
  • Really, the whole setup and payoff is an extended CMOA. Earlier in the film, we saw Vinny interview each of the 3 eyewitnesses who claimed to identity the defendants leaving the store after the clerk was murdered. Each time, we only hear one question. Each time, it's a stupid-sounding, seemingly irrelevant question. ("What did you have for breakfast?" "What's that stuff on your window?" "When did you last have those glasses prescribed?") When it comes time for their day in court, Vinny starts off each cross examination with the same "stupid" question we saw him ask earlier...and each time it leads to a brilliant demolishing of the credibility of each eyewitness.
    • Which is one of the ways this movie accurately depicts how lawyers are supposed to act: Never ask a question for which you don't already know the answer. Look what happened to the Public Defender when he asked why the one witness wasn't wearing his "necessary prescription eyglasses": "They're reading glasses."
  • The glasses witness deserves a slot here for how it was still in court. Vinny goes to the far end of the court and holds up two fingers, asking the witness, how many fingers he's holding up. The judge hastily states that the attorney is holding up two fingers, which has to be documented and potentially harms the defense. So, what does Vinny do to keep it legal? He simply holds up two fingers again, keeping the process up and legal. The witness still gets it wrong and it effectively shoots her claim and testimony in the foot.
• The entire time that Lisa is up at the stand, providing witness testimony. She and Vinny solve the entire case, just by looking at a picture, and it's her expert testimony that convinces the prosecution that the defendants are innocent.
  • Well, that and the reveal that the real killers had just been arrested by another police department. Still doesn't detract from the awesomeness though, especially when Lisa effortlessly sees through the Prosecution's trick automotive question.
    • Not to mention she correctly predicted what make and model of car the real killers were driving.
    • So did Vinny. Remember that he was the one who asked Sheriff Farley to look into the Tempest. Keep in mind that the reason the sheriff could reveal the arrest of the killers was because Vinny had tipped him off right after realizing the significance of the picture. After that is when he gets Lisa, who's still mad at him for rejecting her help, to cooperate by letting her realize the significance of the picture on her own, show off her impressive knowledge regarding general automotive topics, and setting her up to be able to tell him he's wrong in open court - he resolves the case and their own recent arguments as a couple, all in one scene.
      Vinny: Does the Defense's case hold water?
      Lisa: NO. The Defense is WRONG!
    • This isn't even just Vinny being clever: as one lawyer observed, the point of Vinny's examination of Lisa is that he's not doing a cross-examination but a direct examination. In cross-examination, the lawyer is the star because the whole idea is to cast doubt on the credibility of a witness. But in direct examination, the witness is the star because the whole idea is to have them show off how much they understand and can explain about the case. Lisa is the one person who is in a position to explain how the tire tracks show that the killers couldn't have been driving Bill and Stan's car, and Vinny is happy to let her to do so, not just because in doing so, she defeats the prosecution's case but because it makes her stop being pissed off with him.
  • Probably the only time in cinema history where a lawyer wins a case by defeating his own argument.
  • Lisa besting and kicking the ass of an FBI vehicles expert, and Vinny winning the case against an experienced attorney.
• Also something that's rare in movie trials — even without the tire tracks, Vinny had won. He put so many holes in the prosecution's case, it looked like Swiss cheese. The only reason he's feeling the pressure is because the judge is about to figure out he's lying about his credentials and he needs to get out immediately. Vinny didn't need a Smoking Gun, and he found one anyway. That's awesome.
• The payoff of the "$200" subplot. By the time the guy finally comes prepared with the money, Vinny is particularly pissed off after ruining his suit and simply leaps onto him, laying him out in one punch and snatching the money, as he just lies there wondering what just happened.

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