My Cousin Vinny

Name: My Cousin Vinny
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Released: March 13, 1992
Duration: 120 min
Rating: 68
Cast: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei

1992

METASCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 23 Critic Reviews

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USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Ratings

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7.6

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7.6	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 39 Ratings

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My Cousin Vinny

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Movie Details & Credits

Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation | Release Date: March 13, 1992 | R

Starring: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei

Summary: Two young New Yorkers are accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college, and one of their cousins--an inexperienced, loudmouth lawyer (Joe Pesci) not accustomed to Southern rules and manners--comes in to defend them.

Director: Jonathan Lynn

Genre(s): Comedy, Crime

Rating: R

Runtime: 120 min

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Critic Reviews

100

Mick LaSalle

Taken a little too seriously, My Cousin Vinny can be seen as a celebration of the breadth and richness of the American landscape. Maybe the movie isn't exactly about that, but to enjoy it is, in a small way, to celebrate that richness. [13 Mar 1992, p.D3]

Staff (Not Credited)

My Cousin Vinny is a terrific variation on the fish-out-of-water/man-from-Mars story formula. Starring Joe Pesci as a slicker in the land of grits, My Cousin Vinny should tickle funny bones in every region and ring out a green spring for 20th Century Fox at the box office. Read full review

Jay Boyar

My Cousin Vinny is a hoot. Read full review

Desson Thomson

The movie, however, is Pesci's. In that courtroom, he gets on a roll and stays rolling until the end. There's no one better with that New York-New Jersey corridor accent. Read full review

Roger Ebert

My Cousin Vinny is a movie that meanders along going nowhere in particular, and then lightning strikes. I didn't get much involved in it, and yet individual moments and some of the performances were very funny. It's the kind of movie home video was invented for: Not worth the trip to the theater, but slam it into the VCR and you get your rental's worth. Read full review

Jay Carr

My Cousin Vinny is a cement-handed courtroom comedy that somehow lands on its feet when it should fall on its face. In fact, it does fall on its face, more than once. There isn't a single thing in it that you don't know isn't coming. But the chemistry between Joe Pesci as a wiseguy-out-of-water and Marisa Tomei as his shrewd and adorable Brooklyn girlfriend, adrift in the Alabama legal system, keeps it worth watching. [13 Mar 1992, p.28]

Richard Corliss

Nothing makes a moviegoer feel more isolated than sitting stony-faced through a comedy that makes the rest of the audience laugh and cheer. Am I blind? Or are they seeing things? Read full review

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User Reviews

ahmedaiman9999

Aug 27, 2018

“Ridiculous! All this over a can of tuna!”

This movie is HILARIOUS! I haven't laughed this hard in a while. In the surface, My Cousin Vinny seems to be a small easy-going comedy movie with a fish-out-of-water/mistaken identity story, and that's exactly how should you see it to enjoy it, but“Ridiculous! All this over a can of tuna!”

This movie is HILARIOUS! I haven't laughed this hard in a while.
In the surface, My Cousin Vinny seems to be a small easy-going comedy movie with a fish-out-of-water/mistaken identity story, and that's exactly how should you see it to enjoy it, but that doesn't mean it's just that kind of a movie. This movie doesn't just have some smart jokes, and funny characters, but it's a clever, and kinda profound movie at its core. The way the sub-plots are connected to the character arc of Vinny, and how they reflect his development, and express his feelings, reminded me of the Coen Bros. quite a bit, but, of course, in a much lighter way. The funny misfortunes of Vinny are purely Coen-esque! And of course that means that the movie has a moral, and it's really an impressive, and sorta useful, one. It's a message about changing for better; a message about the indifference and how it's unprofitable, and even harmful.

As I mentioned that it's better to watch the movie as a comedy and nothing else, I did that and I think My Cousin Vinny almost excels on so many levels as a comedy. From the clever jokes, to the comical slap-stick direction style, to the both oddball and reasonable characters, I found myself enjoying every moment in the movie, and laugh constantly throughout its runtime.

Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei's chemistry is just unparalleled! Needless to say that they delivered some of their best performances in their rich career bringing their already well-composed and well-designed characters to life. Especially Mona Lisa Vito, played by Marisa Tomei that I found she really has some depth that can rarely be found in comedy movies. She's a round character; stubborn, kinda sassy, yet smart and sensitive... and she's cute, too!
Mitchell Whitfield and Ralph Macchio, who played the two young New Yorkers, are also very good; they have a good chemistry as well, and their reactions to the misunderstanding at the beginning are hysterically funny.

The third act that take place in the courtroom is more serious, but that definitely doesn't mean it doesn't contain jokes or lack of humor. In addition to that, it has prepared for it very well. What surprised me is that I found the third act could be the most intriguing part of the movie. Due to the smartness of the script, the dialogue is pretty sharp, the denouement is surprisingly convincing, and the jokes this time is more clever because they rely on the writing and the acting, not the direction. I mean in a large part, obviously.

The dramatic moments at the let-downs, however, seem very forced, and didn't work for me at all. They really could have been balanced with the comical tone of the movie way better than that. The plot could seem a bit familiar, but the content, and many details feel so fresh you almost can't notice this familiarity except when the credits roll.

I want to praise Jonathan Lynn's classic visual style of comedy, but it's better to be seen to be appreciated. Please do yourself a favor, and watch this hidden, underappreciated gem.

(9/10)… Expand