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EXCLUSIVE - The judges who serve on Judge Judy's "Tribunal Justice" were asked which court case film is the most accurate they've ever seen, and one fan favorite kept popping up over all others.
Judges Adam Levy, son of Judge Judy, and Judge Patricia DiMango were in agreement that "My Cousin Vinny" has all the elements of a near-perfect court movie.
"My Cousin Vinny" is a 1992 comedy starring Joe Pesci as New York lawyer Vinny Gambini as he tries to win his first case. In the hit movie, Alabama authorities charge two innocent New York students for a convenience store murder, and the brash Gambini steps up to defend them.
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The beloved movie also earned Marisa Tomei an Oscar for supporting actress for her role as Vinny's fast-talking Mona Lisa Vito, whose witness stand automobile expertise remains a classic comedy scene.
"'My Cousin Vinny,' bar none," Levy told Fox News Digital when asked to name the most on-point court movie he's ever seen. "Not only is it my favorite movie because - comedy or otherwise - it is one of the most accurate court movies besides the fact that you know, between the arrest and the trial takes all of about a week. Putting that aside, you had police investigations. You had pretrial hearings. You had jury selection. You had discovery issues."
In a legal case, discovery is the process of exchanging information and evidence between parties. And Levy said the film nailed it.
"You know, obviously, the Marisa Tomei line, 'It's called discovery, d---head,'" Levy continued. "You had direct examinations. You had vigorous cross-examinations. You had it all. You had expert witnesses. You had legal arguments. You had difficult judges who appeared to be one-sided. All of those things are exactly the way a trial takes place. At least in my experience."
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DiMango agreed that "hands down, without a doubt," she'd also give the award to the classic comedy.
"The movie itself tracks the statute from the time of arrest until the dismissal of the case," she told Fox News Digital. "And it does so in such a humorous way because there's such a twist to what some of the things that - like him coming to court in that absurd suit because he had to dress a certain way. After the opening statement, he's like falling asleep because he's so tired and they wake him up and he stands up."
"And I think he says, 'everything that guy said is bulls--t,' DiMango quoted Joe Pesci's character, laughing. "'Judge, that's argumentative. Strike that! And the judge says, 'strike everything but thank you.' You know, I mean, there's so much humor involved in it, from the confession, the opening statements, the magic grits. They really do punch holes and make fun of some serious stuff and the letter of the law. It can be distorted and made humorous and still be accurate."
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DiMango found the film so accurate that she actually used it as an instructional tool for the New York State Penal Law and Criminal Procedure law back when she was a college professor.
"The students loved it," she recalled. "They would say, each class I had, they would say, 'Judge, you going to show us 'My Cousin Vinny?' And I'd say, 'yeah,' and you could pause on each different portion of the proceedings and bring them back to the criminal procedure law, bring them back to the penal law and talk about how the law applies and what it is."
Judge Tanya Acker, the third judge on "Tribunal Justice," said she was blown away by the 1990 Harrison Ford thriller "Presumed Innocent."
"I think that was just fire," she said. "Like, Harrison Ford did it right. Jake Gyllenhaal did it right. The plot twists are just so intricate and well-thought-out. I loved it. Loved it the first time. Love the remake."
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"Tribunal Justice" season two is streaming on Prime Video starting on Monday. New episodes stream weekdays.
