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Jonathan Lynn
March 13, 1992
The tale takes place in rural Alabama where Billy (Ralph Macchio) and his friend Stan (Mitchell Whitfield) cross paths with a murder crime they mistakenly admit to committing. Fortunately Billy’s cousin Vinny is an attorney and agrees to take on the resulting court case. Racing against a death clock the two are praying that Vinny frees them before they have “enough electricity ran through them to light up Birmingham.” But much like the lawful state of Alabama, the duo are starting to believe they too might have the wrong person.
Vinny’s ensemble of black shirt, black leather jacket and gold chain screams outsider in the deep south (if his accent wasn’t already a dead giveaway), proving you can take a guy out of the Bronx but not the Bronx out of a guy. It’s clear he never stepped inside a courtroom before as even general procedure that could be learned from jury duty seemed to puzzle him. But maybe none of it would have mattered if he passed the bar his first five tries. Fortunately the plot doesn’t seem to fail and Vinny learns from his mistakes. Little by little he is able to piece together the making’s of a strong case, convincing the audience that maybe he is pretty good at “dis trial stuff.”
Vinny doesn’t work alone no matter how much he hates to admit it. His fiancée (Marisa Tomei) is one of the most crucial pieces to the puzzle, a street-smart girl who knows cars like the back of her hand. She is eager to get married and Vinny promises to do so when he wins his first case, but ten years later they are still engaged. To streamline the process she helps Vinny in a case where automobile knowledge is crucial, giving the family and family friend the upper hand. Something about having faith in your own family is so comforting.
“My Cousin Vinny” isn’t the first lawyer film and won’t be the last. But it does however spare the viewer of dull and colorless court scenes. The “a-ha” moments that everyone knows is coming are a lot more entertaining because we see how much Vinny has grown. One memorable scene is towards the end of the film when Vinny is hammering the witnesses using clever tactics to win over the Jury. It’s comical but it makes you stop and think how cool it would be in his position, and then brag to your friends about it after.
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