Look, maybe I could have handled the preliminary a little better, okay? I admit it. But...

Vinny Gambini: Look, maybe I could have handled the preliminary a little better, okay? I admit it. But what's most important is winning the case. I could do it. I really could. Let me tell you how, okay? The D.A.'s got to build a case. Building a case is like building a house. Each piece of evidence is just another building block. He wants to make a brick bunker of a building. He wants to use serious, solid-looking bricks, like, like these, right? [puts his hand on the wall] Bill: Right. Vinny Gambini: Let me show you something. [he holds up a playing card, with the face toward Billy] Vinny Gambini: He's going to show you the bricks. He'll show you they got straight sides. He'll show you how they got the right shape. He'll show them to you in a very special way, so that they appear to have everything a brick should have. But there's one thing he's not gonna show you. [turns the card, so that its edge is toward Billy] Vinny Gambini: When you look at the bricks from the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. His whole case is an illusion, a magic trick. It has to be an illusion, 'cause you're innocent. Nobody - I mean nobody - pulls the wool over the eyes of a Gambini, especially this one. Give me a chance, one chance. Let me question the first witness. If after that point, you don't think that I'm the best man for the job, fire me then and there. I'll leave quietly, no grudges. All I ask is for that one chance. I think you should give it to me.

Maybe I could have handled the preliminary a little better. But what's most important is winning the case. I could do it. I really could. Let me tell you how, OK? The DA's gotta build a case. Building a case is like building a house. Each piece of evidence is a building block. He wants to make a brick bunker of a building. He wants to use serious, solid-Iooking bricks, like these, right? - Right. - Let me show you something. He's gonna show you the bricks. He'll show you they got straight sides. He'll show you how they got the right shape. He'll show them to you in a very special way... ...so that they appear to have everything a brick should have. But there's one thing he's not gonna show you. When you look at the bricks at the right angle, they're as thin as this playing card. His whole case is an illusion, a magic trick. It has to be an illusion, cos you're innocent. Nobody, I mean nobody, pulls the wool over the eyes of a Gambini. Especially this one. Give me the chance. One chance. Let me question the first witness. Lf, after that point, you don't think that I'm the best man for the job, fire me then and there. I'll leave quietly. No grudges. All I ask is for that one chance. I think you should give it to me. You should give it to him? What was he before he was a lawyer? A fuckin' comedian? If he doesn't ask the right questions, your lawyer will. No, he can still fuck things up. Cross-examination is about knowing what to say and what not to say. Let's say he asks all the possible questions, and the witness has all the answers. He ends up proving the prosecution's case! How did he ever talk you into it? At my cousin Ruthie's wedding, the groom's brother was that guy Ali Kazam. - You know who I'm talkin' about? - The magician with the ponytail? Right. He did his act, and every time he made something disappear, Vinny jumped on him. He nailed him. It was like "It's in his pocket" or "He's palming it." Or "There's a mirror under the table." He was like "Wait. It's joined in the middle and there's a spring around it." "It pops it open when it's inside the tube." It was like Ali Kazam's worst nightmare. But he was just being Vinny. He was just being the quintessential Gambini. There goes the quintessential Norton. Lookee here, JT. Hey, hey, little Yankee boy. Look here what I got. - What is it? - $200. Bring it here. Let me see it. Hm. How do I know that's not a bunch of ones with a 20 wrapped around it? - It's 200 bucks. - Fan it out. Show it to me. Yeah, right.