Special Exhibit: MY COUSIN VINNY

Year: 1992

Duration: 2 hours, 7 minutes.

Where to Watch: Hulu, Disney+ (Star), Netflix

I wasn't expecting to have such a good time watching this courtroom comedy from the early nineties. But the film is an absolute blast, and works remarkably well within its two genres.

The film starts with two young New Yorkers driving to college. Bill is an Italian-American played by Ralph Macchio (Karate Kid) and his friend Stan, played by Mitchell Whitfield (Friends) is a worrisome Jewish. They stop at a convenience store while passing through Alabama and Bill accidentally forgets to pay for a can of tuna.

When the local cops arrest them, they at first think it's for shoplifting, but we're privy to the fact that the store clerk has been murdered and they're the only suspects. Soon, Bill and Stan face murder charges in a rural town full of angry southerns, some of which seem to have witnessed their car leaving the murder scene.

Without friends of money, they must call upon Bill's older cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci, from Scorsese fame), who has finally become a lawyer after trying to pass the bar for six years. Vinny arrives to the town with his fiancée Lisa (Marisa Tomei, from The Wrestler and the MCU's Spider-Man series), and it's immediately obvious that the pair are hilariously out of place in the conservative town.

Vinny and Lisa are loud, brash and mostly unrefined, but they somewhat manage to remain likeable for the duration of the film. If you are familiar with Pesci's work, you know what type of character he excels at playing, but unlike his gangsters, Vinny has an essentially kind heart, and you instantly root for his crusade, despite his initial apparent incompetence. Indeed, Vinny is, in one hand, a horrible lawyer in matters of procedure. He has no experience and little regard towards form, but he's also shrewder than he looks, and able to see beyond the obvious. As Bill explains, Vinny was the one who always figured every magician's trick just by watching them.

Alberto Bernabe, a law school professor and reviewer of the film, says: "Vinny is terrible at the things we do teach in law school, but very good at the things we don't"

This frequently summons the enmity of the local judge, played with spectacular comedic timing by Fred Gwynne, who is best known for portraying Herman Munster. Sadly, this was his final role before he passed away a year later.

Marisa Tomei is probably the standout of the film, and she did go to win an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role. She steals her scenes masterfully. Like Vinny, there's more to Lisa than it seems at first. Introduced as an attractive but "basic" New Yorker, it's quickly evident that she's quite smart, despite lacking formal education. She's as intuitive as Vinny, and even more capable than he is at understanding certain aspects of the law, as well as an expert car enthusiast and mechanic.

The fish-out-of-water comedy guarantees constant laughs, but what also surprises is how able the movie is at performing its legal aspects. In fact, My Cousin Vinny has become a favorite among lawyers, who consider it depicts a trial in a more accurate way than many other films.

The appeal, however, is broader than just for courtroom fans, as the humor is asequible and good-natured (even if a lot of it is based on stereotypes, the film never comes across as mean-spirited). Though it's a bit longer than usual for a comedy, it goes by quickly without ever dragging.

A definite recommend for every reader.