Product Description

A college student and his friend are accused of murder in the depths of the South, and law school graduate cousin Vinny comes to the rescue. The trouble is, Vinny passed the bar on his sixth try and has never appeared in court before.
Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 4-FEB-2003
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #985 in DVD
• Brand: PESCI,JOE
• Released on: 2000-07-25
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Anamorphic, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD-Video, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English, French
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 120 minutes

Amazon.com
When two Italian-American boys from New York are falsely accused of murder in a small Alabama town, they call for a lawyer--but the only lawyer they know is their cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), who made six attempts before he passed his bar exam. My Cousin Vinny is a classic fish-out-of-water comedy; the flimsy plot about clearing the two boys and solving the murder is just a hook to support a lot of culture-clash humor. Thanks to the strong cast of character actors like Fred Gwynne, Austin Pendleton, and Lane Smith, it's pretty funny--even old-hat jokes about Brooklyn versus Southern accents come to life. Pesci has played a few too many schticky characters, but this time it works. There's just enough humanity in his caricature to make Vinny likable and entertaining. When the movie was released, there was controversy about whether Marisa Tomei, playing Vinny's big-haired and black-leather-wearing fiancée, deserved to win the best supporting actress Oscar (she beat out Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, and Vanessa Redgrave); but seeing her performance on its own, it's a comic marvel and worthy of honor. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

One of my favorite comedies
"My Cousin Vinny" is a real gem, a perfect, funny, smart comedy, a very rare kind that I can watch and enjoy over and over again no matter how many times I've seen it and from what scene I watch it. This is one of my three all time favorite English language comedies along with "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and "A Fish Called Wanda". When I think of it, all three share the same concept - playing the differences between the cultures, mentalities, ways of living, talking, doing things, even cooking - Europeans versus Americans, particularly British and Americans or New Yorkers versus Southerners in My Cousin Vinny. They also have in common a flawless, witty script with all pieces falling into right place, all guns firing, all characters developed and interesting. As with Scoundrels and Wanda, performances in "My Cousin Vinny" are simply terrific. Joe Pesci as a lawyer with no legal experience from Brooklyn whose first case just happened to be defending two "youtz" in a first degree murder trial, and Marissa Tomei in the dresses that are so magnificently out of place in the muddy Wahzoo City, Alabama but so deliciously fit her like a glove, make one of the best screen couples ever but I like the supporting characters and small cameos, too. Everyone shines in this delightful comedy. I remember three witnesses for prosecution - grits loving Sam Tipton (Maury Chaykin), the guy with seven bushes (Raynor Scheine), and sweet Mrs. Riley who just may need a thicker pair of glasses. Austin Pendleton as a stuttering public attorney was hilarious. Fred Gwynne, sadly in his last performance as Judge Chamberlain Halle, made his every scene (each of which he shared with Pesci) the double delight. Ten years after the film was released, Film critic and historian Mick LaSalle wrote in his article, "Half of what made Joe Pesci funny in this comedy was the stream of reactions of Gwynne, as the Southern Judge, a Great Dane to Joe Pesci's yapping terrier." The film made me root for Vinny, wishing him victory in his first case, and he won gloriously with the help of a lovely, lovely expert in the general automobile knowledge in this lovely, lovely comedy.

Wife's Favorite
This is one of my wife's all time favorites. It is a classic well worth having in the library for friends that have not seen it and to watch over and over again yourself.

ONE OF PESCI'S FINEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What can I say about this movie? I absolutely LOVED IT! It was so entertaining- I own it and I have to watch it at least twice a year. I loved the main characters from the scene when they cruised into town (oh yeah...you blend) to near the end when Tomei thrills us with her expertise about cars on the witness stand. The late Fred Gwynne was dead on as the typical southern judge (once again - the communication process has broken down.) Pesci and Tomei were at their best throughout. I always laugh every time I see this one! It is loaded with laughs and charm!!!! Don't miss it - It will put a big grin on your face that will stay there all day. This movie is a MUST HAVE for your home collection! ONE!!!!!!