My Cousin Vinny

“My Cousin Vinny” was a hit when it was released in 1992, but is remembered today for Marisa Tomei winning the Best Supporting Actress Oscar. What really makes it memorable is that she won it for a comedic performance rather than a dramatic one. She’s is memorable in the film, but movie is actually funny, very charming and holds up very well 30 years after its release.

Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) are driving from Brooklyn to California and decide to take the long southern back road route instead of the highway (it’s a weak decision, but necessary for the story). Shortly after stopping at a convenience store in Alabama, they are wrongfully accused for the murder of the store clerk. Unable to pay for an attorney, Bill’s cousin Vinny, a brand-new lawyer who took six years to pass the Bar Exam, comes to help them, bringing his girlfriend with him.

Vinny, played by Joe Pesci, is from Brooklyn embodying every cliché that someone has heard about Brooklyn. Scott said in his review, “Italian, strong accent, leather coat, gold jewelry and you know he has mob connections somewhere.” His girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei, is equally as stereotypically Brooklyn.

Scott said, “The big city slicker coming to a small town filled with characters who spout homespun wisdom has been done to death in Hollywood and generally the writers pick one side or the other to highlight. Either the small town folk are all inbred idiots or the city slicker is an asshole who learns that life would be better if only they slowed down and smelled the roses. For the most part, My Cousin Vinny manages to avoid that trap. While a lot of the jokes are fish out of water jokes, the townspeople and Vinny are shown to be different without insulting either side, or maybe I should say, by insulting both sides equally.”

Scott continued, “My biggest problem with this movie is that Joe Pesci, while he is very funny in the role, is far too old for this part and he looks it. He's 21 years older than Tomei and was nearly 50 here.” Apparently, Robert De Niro and Danny DeVito were both considered for the role, but both of them would have been too old as well. Besides his age, Pesci does a good job, but the scenes between him and Tomei never really connect. Far better are his moments with Fred Gwynne (in his final role) as the judge (you might remember him as Herman Munster in “The Musters” show). Their scenes together have some of the funniest in the film. It isn’t so much that Pesci couldn’t play the part, but the script should have acknowledged his age.

Tomei is cute and funny and her wardrobe alone deserved an award. Her part is very small sadly, and even though she does a good job with it, if you didn’t know she won an Oscar for it, you’d never guess. Scott said, “I'm glad to see a comedy get an Oscar, but she never has that moment where you think, "Wow, she's amazing." Good? Definitely. Oscar worthy? Ehhh.”

The movie also has nearly a two-hour runtime, which is a bit long for a comedy, but the pacing is so good, it doesn’t really feel that long. Maybe there could have been a little tighter editing, but it’s no big deal.

Cute and funny, “My Cousin Vinny” is one of those quintessentially 90s movies, but it holds up very well today.

This is one of the funniest court room movies ever. If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it because you will love it, I promise. If you’re a fan of any of actors in this movie, then you should check it out. Don’t try to think too hard about whether or not things like this would work in the court room, just enjoy the hilarity.

Look out next week when I review another comedy in “Marisa Tomei Month.”