My Cousin Vinny(1992)
"There have been many courtroom dramas that have glorified the Great American Legal System. This is not one of them."
Overview
Two carefree pals from Brooklyn traveling through rural Alabama on their way back to college are mistakenly arrested, and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a cousin who's a lawyer - Vincent Gambini, a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. When he arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend, to try his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!
Jonathan Lynn
Director
Dale Launer
Screenplay
Top Billed Cast
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Written on June 26, 2020
"My Cousin Vinny" was a hit when it was released in 1992. Two youths from New York are wrongly accused of murder while traveling through Alabama and one of them (Ralph Macchio) calls on his inexperienced lawyer cousin, Vinny (Joe Pesci), to defend them. Vinny roles into town with his hot fiancé (Marisa Tomei) intent on winning his first big case.
I've heard a lot about this movie over the years, but never got around to seeing it till the other night and was pleasantly surprised. It's part fish-out-of-water comedy and part courtroom drama. The hulking Fred Gwynne plays the staunch judge, an amusing performance. It was Gwynne's last film.
The movie is filled with laughs throughout, but it's more than just a goofball comedy. At some point early in the second act I strangely found myself liking Vinny and wanting him to succeed. I also found myself warming up to Vinny & his fiancé as a couple. They're an odd couple, but somehow click. I guess this is where Marisa got the reputation for liking short, stocky men.
Speaking of Marisa, she's just stunning here, although I prefer her more as she gets older, e.g. 2008's "The Wrestler.”
The film was shot in Georgia and runs 120 minutes.
GRADE: B+
