A Whole Scene Was Taken from a Comedy Book About the Law
The book included funny things which actually took place in real courtrooms. Launer was inspired by the book when writing the unforgettable scene in which Vinny is talking to a potential juror.
Launer told Abnormal Use, the lawyers “ask them their opinion on capital punishment, and they said something like, ‘I think it should be left up to the victims’ families.’ Then they described exactly what the murderer did, and then the juror actually said, ‘Fry them.’ So I put that right in the movie.”
The Legal System is Portrayed Quite Accurately
Lynn, who has a law degree from Cambridge University, talks about the legal aspects of the film in the DVD commentary, saying, “I get terribly irritated when I see films in which the legal procedure is obviously wrong.” He made additional adjustments to the script which had already been researched by Launer in order to achieve maximum accuracy.
Lynn went as far as to sit in on a murder trial in the Monticello, Ga. courtroom which was the inspiration for the courtroom set. “Some of the lines in the [Vinny trial] came directly from that trial,” he said, including Lane Smith’s pronunciation of heinous (“high-a-nus”) and his line about “our little old ancestors” in the opening remarks.
The Character of Vinny Was Initially Dyslexic
In the first version of the script, when Vinny is questioned about having to take the bar exam six times, he replies, “I’m a little dyslexic.” Launer envisioned viewers literally seeing Vinny’s difficulty reading the enormous book of Alabama Criminal Court procedure, with the camera zooming in on an indecipherable word, which would become clear and readable and then moving on the next word which would again be impossible to read, and the pattern would repeat.
Launer told Abn ormal Use that in the final version, Vinny’s dyslexia was dropped because Lynn said "he did not know how to portray dyslexia. The screenwriter was very unhappy about the omission because it made Vinny seem “not so bright. You don’t know why it took him so long to get through the bar. And then suddenly he starts acting smart. What you have to do is make assumptions that he is actually a smart guy, and the law is just complicated and boring.” In the version of the film, which was ultimately released, there is no explanation given for the fact that Vinny only passed the bar on his sixth try.
The Film Was Shot in a Real Prison
Several days of shooting took place in the solitary confinement wing of a state prison in Gainesville, Georgia. Lynn talks about the authentic experience in the DVD commentary, saying, “It does have a death row, right beside the wing where we were shooting, and I looked all around death row. It was a very frightening building, and we were all pretty scared when we were there, even though we had guards with us at all times.”
The cast and crew had to spend up to 40 minutes just to get from outside the building to the shooting location inside the prison. Whitfield says that the experience of being inside a real prison was actually terrifying.
The Prison Guards Used Are Not Actors
The prison guards which appear in the film are actual prison guards. Real prisoners were also used as extras on two occasions, once shouting in the background as Stan and Bill are being led into the prison, and also for a short scene in which the two play basketball in their exercise time.
Lynn says in the DVD commentary, “The prisoners were all extremely cooperative and did exactly what we asked. I don’t know what incentives or threats were made in order to achieve that.”