Youngters Bill and Stan accidentally forget to pay for a fish can in Bill's pocket after leaving a store in Alabama. When a police car stops them, Bill immediately confesses the misdemeanour in the police station, but later on realizes the two of them were mistaken for killers and that the police think they confessed to killing the clerk in the store. Bill calls his New York cousin Vinny for help, a personal injury lawyer with no experience in homicide cases. Vinny agrees to defend them at the trial. Initially, Vinny is very clumsy, and judge Haller even fines him 200$ for contempt of court for not wearing a suit. However, thanks to his girlfriend Mona Lisa, a car expert, he manages to free Bill and Stan of all charges when a photo proves the tires of the assualt car are different than on their car, and that two different youngsters were caught in another city.
A light comedy suitable for relaxation, "My Cousin Vinny" owes 90% of its charm to the energetic performances by Joe Pesci and Maria Tomei, without whom the movie may not have reached the threshold of a recommendation. Pesci is particularly memorable in an untypical, refreshing comic role as the title amateur lawyer who, faced with emergency, suddenly rises to the occasion and finds his great potentials. The jokes are mostly lukewarm to only moderately funny, without a single excellent one that stands out, yet due to Pesci's and Tomei's charisma these characters are so sympathetic that the viewers are willing to go along with them on the ride, even during the more boring moments. Many complimented the film for its accurate depiction of criminal procedure, here presented in an entertaining way: for instance, Vinny wants to "bond" with the district attorney in order to get a glimpse into his files for the trial, so he goes hunting with him the whole day, only for Vinny's girlfriend Mona Lisa to ridicule him later on since the prosecutor has to share vital materials and evidence with the other side according to the Disclosure of evidence clause. Vinny also seems to learn as he goes along, and adapts quickly to skilfully question witnesses and establish that their testimony cannot be taken beyond reasonable doubt. He is also funny in the sequence where Mona Lisa laments as to when they will finally get married because of her "biological clock", so she stumps her foot three times on the ground, yet Vinny replies and also stumps on the ground. More could have been made out of this concept, since several jokes are banal, yet Tomei shines in the finale when she proves to have an undisputable knowledge of cars which helps solve the case.
Grade:++
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