My Cousin Vinny

''My Cousin Vinny'' is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, and written by Dale Launer, who also produced with Paul Schiff. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and Fred Gwynne (in his final film appearance). The film was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released on March 13, 1992.

Two young New Yorkers traveling through rural Alabama are arrested and put on trial for a murder they did not commit, and a cousin, Vinny Gambini, a lawyer who had only recently passed the bar exam after five unsuccessful attempts, defends them. Much of the humor comes from the fish-out-of-water interaction between the brash Italian-American New Yorkers (Vinny and his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito) and the more reserved Southern townspeople. The principal location of filming was Monticello, Georgia.

''My Cousin Vinny'' was a critical and financial success, with Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei praised for their performances. Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Attorneys have also lauded the film for its accurate depiction of criminal procedure and trial strategy.

Plot

Driving through Alabama in their metallic mint-green 1964 Buick Skylark convertible, Bill Gambini and Stan Rothenstein, college students from New York who just got scholarships to UCLA, shop at a Sac-O-Suds convenience store and accidentally shoplift a can of tuna. After they leave, the store clerk is robbed and killed, and Bill and Stan are arrested for the murder. Due to circumstantial evidence and a confession to the shoplifting that is misconstrued as one to the shooting, Bill is charged with first-degree murder and Stan as an accessory. Bill's mother reminds him there is an attorney in the family: his cousin Vinny Gambini. Vinny travels to Alabama, accompanied by his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito. Although willing to take the case, Vinny is a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, newly admitted to the bar and with no trial experience.

Vinny manages to fool the trial judge, Chamberlain Haller, that he is experienced enough for the case. His ignorance of basic courtroom procedures and dress code, and his abrasive attitude, cause the judge to repeatedly hold him in contempt. Much to his clients' consternation, Vinny does not cross-examine any of the witnesses in the preliminary hearing. Except for lack of a murder weapon, it appears that the district attorney, Jim Trotter III, has a strong case. After Vinny's poor showing at the hearing, Stan fires him and uses the public defender, John Gibbons, and nearly convinces Bill to do the same. But in questioning the first witness, the public defender turns out to be extremely nervous, with a severe stutter, and his line of questioning actually assists the prosecution's case.

Despite his missteps, Vinny makes up for his inexperience with an aggressive and perceptive questioning style. When he cross-examines the first witness, he uses his newfound knowledge of the cooking time of grits to force him to admit that his perception of time may have been inaccurate, meaning he cannot corroborate the prosecution's timeline, and Bill and Stan's faith is restored. Stan fires the public defender and rehires Vinny, who proceeds to discredit the next two witnesses by questioning their ability to make a positive identification due to obstructions in their sightline and impaired vision.

On the trial's third day, Trotter produces a surprise witness, FBI analyst George Wilbur. Vinny immediately objects to the witness as Trotter failed to inform him properly ahead of time, but Haller overrules the objection. Wilbur testifies that the pattern and chemical analysis of the tire marks left at the crime scene are identical to the tires on Bill's Buick; in cross-examination Wilbur admits the tires on Bill's car are the most popular tires in America. Haller orders a lunch recess after Wilbur's testimony. Vinny asks for a full day's continuance to properly prepare for cross-examination, but Haller denies the request. With only the lunch recess to prepare and unable to come up with a strong line of questioning, Vinny lashes out at Lisa, but then realizes that one of her photos holds the key to the case: the flat and even tire marks going over the curb reveal that Bill's car could not have been used for the getaway.

After requesting a records search from the local sheriff, Vinny drags an angry Lisa into court to testify as an expert witness, since she comes from a family of auto mechanics and has an encyclopedic knowledge of cars. During Vinny's questioning, Lisa testifies that only a car with an independent rear suspension and Positraction could have made the tire marks, which rules out Bill's 1964 Buick Skylark. One model of car with these features is the similar-looking 1963 Pontiac Tempest, and because both Buick and Pontiac are owned by GM, the Pontiac Tempest was also available in metallic mint-green. Vinny recalls Wilbur, who confirms this information, effectively discrediting his own testimony. He then recalls the local sheriff, who testifies that two men who fit Bill and Stan's descriptions were just arrested in Georgia for driving a stolen metallic mint green Pontiac Tempest equipped with the same tires as Bill's car, and were in possession of a .357 magnum revolver which was the gun of the same caliber used to kill the clerk. After Vinny rests for the defense, Trotter dismisses all charges. The judge congratulates Vinny and, as they drive away, Vinny and Lisa bicker about their wedding plans.

Cast

Development

Screenwriter Dale Launer came up with the idea for ''My Cousin Vinny'' as a college student, after hearing about a lawyer who had finally passed the bar after their 13th attempt. Launer thought it would be funny to have someone traveling through the Southern United States run into legal trouble and end up being represented by that type of lawyer. Launer did not develop the concept until after he had written a few successful screenplays including ''Ruthless People'' and '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels''. He was inspired by the comedy of Sam Kinison, particularly his approach with hecklers, in developing Vinny, and he based the relationship between Vinny and his fiancée on two dating friends who would argue frequently. Launer also took a road trip through the south in which he got stuck in the mud and had repairs to fix his car, which became part of the script. He met an assistant district attorney who became the basis of the character of Jim Trotter, including casting Lane Smith for the role. He spent several sessions with an attorney to review the process of legal trials, and learned from him that much of criminal court proceedings aren't taught in law school but come from practice, which worked well to serve for Vinny's character.

For casting, the studio originally wanted Andrew Dice Clay for Vinny, but this did not work out. Other considerations included Danny DeVito, Peter Falk, Robert De Niro, and Jim Belushi, but save for De Niro, none of these were the Italian American they were looking for. They eventually went with Joe Pesci, who had just finished ''Lethal Weapon 2'', was finishing filming in ''Goodfellas'', and was an ideal choice for the role. For Mona Lisa, they had approached Lorraine Bracco and Carole Davis, but both had passed. Director Jonathan Lynn auditioned several other actresses without luck, but found Marisa Tomei when he was invited to the set of ''Oscar'' by John Landis, where Tomei had a minor part. While Fox wanted an actress with more fame, they agreed to Tomei. Ben Stiller and Will Smith were considered for the roles of Bill and Stan but, in both cases, there was concern related to the incarceration of a Jewish and Black person in the South, and Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield were hired instead.

Exterior filming was done near the town of Greensboro, Georgia, as to keep the film authentic to the South; the exterior shots of the courthouse and the surrounding square were shot in Monticello, Georgia (Jasper County) the courthouse scenes were shot in a set in Covington, Georgia, the same set used for '' In the Heat of the Night''.

Release

''My Cousin Vinny'' was released in the United States on March 13, 1992.

Reception

Box office

With a budget of $11 million, ''My Cousin Vinny'' was more successful than anticipated, grossing $52,929,168 domestically and $11,159,384 internationally, bringing its overall worldwide total to $64,088,552.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 87%, based on 60 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The deft comic interplay between Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei helps to elevate ''My Cousin Vinny'' predictable script, and the result is a sharp, hilarious courtroom comedy." On Metacritic the film has a score of 68 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.

Roger Ebert of ''The Chicago-Sun Times'' gave ''My Cousin Vinny'' 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. He declared that despite Macchio's co-star billing the actor was given little to do, and the film seemed adrift until "lightning strikes" with the final courtroom scenes when Gwynne, Pesci and Tomei all gave humorous performances. Ebert's television partner, Gene Siskel of the ''Chicago Tribune'', liked the film more, singling out Dale Launer's screenplay for praise.

Awards and nominations

Continuing reputation

Despite the good-but-not-great initial reviews, ''My Cousin Vinny'' is generally considered to have held up as one of the most remembered and watched movies of 1992. The movie performed well in home video sales and rentals (originally VHS, and eventually DVD) and received frequent play on cable television. The film's catchier quotes became well-known as well.Green, Andy.
'What Is a Yute?': An Oral History of 'My Cousin Vinny'
''Yahoo! Entertainment''. March 7, 2022.

One element that aged somewhat awkwardly was Austin Pendleton's role as a stuttering and ineffective public defender. Pendleton suffered from stuttering in his childhood before overcoming it; during filming he did not enjoy dredging up bad memories from his teenage years and, afterward, he was not pleased to be publicly associated with the character. In a 2022 interview, he said that he felt the role nearly ended his career, and, after receiving angry letters from stutterers, said he regretted agreeing to perform the role at all. Casting director David Rubin said that Pendleton's scenes, while funny, probably would have been changed significantly in a newer movie.

Legal accuracy

Director Jonathan Lynn has a law degree from Cambridge University, and lawyers have praised the accuracy of ''My Cousin Vinny''s depiction of courtroom procedure and trial strategy, with one stating that " e movie is close to reality even in its details. Part of why the film has such staying power among lawyers is because, unlike, say, ''A Few Good Men'', everything that happens in the movie ''could'' happen—and often ''does'' happen—at trial". One legal textbook discusses the film in detail as an "entertaining ndextremely helpful introduction to the art of presenting expert witnesses at trial for both beginning experts and litigators"; furthermore, criminal defenders, law professors, and other lawyers use the film to demonstrate rules of evidence, voir dire, relevance, and cross examination.

Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals judge Richard Posner praised ''My Cousin Vinny'' as being:

In "Ten Things Every Trial Lawyer Could Learn From Vincent La Guardia Gambini", District of South Carolina judge Joseph F. Anderson praised Vinny's courtroom methods as "a textbook example" of Irving Younger's "Ten Commandments of Cross-Examination", and wrote that the film predicted the 1999 ''Kumho Tire Co. v. Carmichael'' ruling on the ''Daubert'' standard. He concluded that Lynn and scriptwriter Dale Launer "have given our profession a wonderful teaching tool while producing a gem of a movie that gives the public at large renewed faith in the common law trial and the adversarial system as the best way to determine the truth and achieve justice". In a 2019 decision, Merrick Garland, then the Chief Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, wrote "In 1992, Vincent Gambini taught a master class in cross-examination.", and further extensively quoted from a cross-examination scene in the film.

John Marshall Law School professor Alberto Bernabe wrote that "Vinny is terrible at the things we do teach in law school, but very good at the things we don't":

United States Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia cited ''My Cousin Vinny'' as an example of the principle that a client can choose his own lawyer, but United States Senator John Kennedy told District Court nominee Matthew S. Petersen that having seen the film did not qualify one to be a federal judge during his failed 2017 confirmation hearing. The authors of ''Reel Justice: The Courtroom Goes to the Movies'' (2006) gave the film its highest rating along with several films based on real trials, such as ''Judgment at Nuremberg'' and ''Breaker Morant''. In 2008 the ''ABA Journal'' ranked the film #3 on its list of the "25 Greatest Legal Movies", and in 2010 ranked Pesci's character as #12 on its list of "The 25 Greatest Fictional Lawyers (Who Are Not Atticus Finch)".

Lynn, an opponent of capital punishment, believes that the film expresses an anti-death penalty message without "preaching to people", and demonstrates the unreliability of eyewitness testimony. Lawyers find the film appealing, according to the director, because "there aren't any bad guys", with the judge, prosecutor, and Vinny all seeking justice. Lynn stated that both he and Launer attempted to accurately depict the legal process in ''Vinny'', favorably comparing it to ''Trial and Error'', for which he could not make what he believed were necessary changes.

Sequels

Proposed film

In an interview on March 14, 2012, the film's screenwriter, Dale Launer, talked about a sequel he had written involving Vinny Gambini practicing law in England. Marisa Tomei dropped out. The studio hired another screenwriter to rework the script without Tomei's character. Eventually, the project was shelved.

Novel series

In 2017, author Lawrence Kelter began a ''My Cousin Vinny'' novel series with ''Back to Brooklyn'', which is intended to be in the spirit of ''The Thin Man'' series. With the setting updated to contemporary times, the series depicts the further cases of Vinny Gambini with Mona Lisa operating as his investigator. After additionally writing a novelization of ''My Cousin Vinny'' alongside the first sequel, a third book, titled ''Wing and a Prayer'', was published in August 2020.

Album

Pesci reprised the Vinny Gambini character for his 1998 album ''Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You'', which contains the song "Yo, Cousin Vinny". The album cover portrays Pesci in a red suit similar to the usher suit he wore in the film.

See also

* Trial film
* ''Banda Yeh Bindaas Hai''

References

External links

*
*
*

Transcript of the trial proceedings

Goodreads entry for ''My Cousin Vinny: Back to Brooklyn''

{{DEFAULTSORT:My Cousin Vinny
1992 films
1992 comedy films
1990s English-language films
1990s legal films
American comedy films
American courtroom films
American legal films
Films about cousins
Films about lawyers
Films directed by Jonathan Lynn
Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance
Films set in Alabama
Films shot in Georgia (U.S. state)
20th Century Fox films
Films with screenplays by Dale Launer
Films scored by Randy Edelman
Legal comedy films
1990s American films