My Cousin Vinny
There are times where a movie comedy is made that right from its very conception can be seen by many (including those who made it) as something that will be a forgettable, time filling programmer from the get go, an effort that will bring some smiles and chuckles before being filed away as something that might bring a little light to a rainy day. But then the game changing variable turns out to be one or maybe two truly standout performances that suddenly makes people sit up and pay strict attention, something that’s not unheard of for sure, but even more extremely rare when one of those standout performances in a comedy of all things results in an actual Oscar win. But that was exactly the case with this 1992 release and would be franchise, the key word being would be because after reaping the initial financial and awards success, a sequel immediately started being put together that saw star Joe Pesci get an up front pay or play deal of $20 million to reprise his title role only for Pesci to stipulate straight out that one of his terms and conditions was to guarantee the returning participation of his Oscar winning leading lady Marisa Tomei or else he would literally take his money and back out of doing the film. Tomei’s people would respond by demanding the exact same type of monetary deal which Pesci received ($20 million up front pay or play) and when the producers realized that they had already spent $40 million on the budget for a sequel that had not yet even been written (the first film had been made on an $11 million budget), the creative process started to slow down quite a bit and when Tomei exercised her option of pulling out of the projected sequel entirely (while still keeping her money), that was pretty much the death knell for any kind of a “Vinny” franchise except for a ridiculous music album released by Pesci (in character) where Vinny would sing a number of songs in an attempt to entertain us. As for the original movie (as good as it is), it’s clear that Tomei’s win for such a comedy was a once in a lifetime fluke (although she is great) as any other number of scene stealing performances in various great comedies could have gotten that sort of accolade, but here Tomei did exhibit so much charm, sex appeal, charisma and crack comedic timing that she couldn’t help but get noticed, not that Pesci was any kind of a slouch himself, having just come off of his own Oscar win for Goodfellas (reportedly he paraded the award around onset in front of everybody) and (especially based off his infamous “funny like a clown” scene in that movie) was seemingly itching to sink his teeth into a fully fledged, unapologetic comedy role instead of merely playing a murderous psychopath who had an amusing sense of humor. So, despite a 22 year age difference between its two stars (Pesci was 49 and wearing obvious plugs under his hairline to stretch his skin out and help make him look younger whereas Tomei was only 27) playing an engaged couple, they still made a good enough team here playing two tough talking Italian Brooklynites who head on down south to Alabama and wind up culture clashing with the local yokels. The film begins with the character of Pesci’s cousin (Ralph Macchio, proudly slumming his way through this one after years of Karate Kid sequels) and his college friend (Mitchell Whitfield) driving through the rural south on a scenic road trip and openly laughing at all of its little quirks as they roll past when they are suddenly pulled over and arrested for what they initially think is the rednecks having a little Deliverance style fun with The Yankee Boys. But it turns out to be much more serious than that as they are charged with murdering a good ole boy store clerk in a holdup attempt with some solid evidence against them including several witnesses who saw a car resembling the one which they were driving speeding away from the scene of the crime. With no money and no other options legally, Macchio calls back home and learns that they already have a lawyer in the family in the form of his cousin (Pesci) and is told that Vinny will immediately be on his way to help them out any way that he can. Next thing you know, Vinny and his girlfriend Lisa (Tomei) have arrived in the small, ultra rural Alabama town (although it was filmed in Georgia) and immediately draw stares from the local rubes based solely on their clothes and the type of car which they’re driving. Vinny sits down to meet with his clients only for them to learn to their dismay that he’s only been practicing law for six weeks after passing the bar on his sixth attempt and has absolutely no courtroom experience whatsoever. Nonetheless, Macchio still retains him out of family loyalty while his friend Whitfield (a classic example of a whiny beta male bitch) panics and goes with the local public defender played by Austin Pendleton in what is of in itself practically a scene stealing performance, coming across as being all confident going into the trial itself and then once in open court, turning into a stuttering, stammering embarrassment of a litigator (possibly a subversive statement on the real life public defender system) and making the utterly inexperienced Vinny actually look pretty good in comparison. However, Vinny has a much bigger obstacle to overcome in terms of the trial judge (Fred Gwynne, a fantastically underrated character actor in what was his last and arguably most famous role) who privately tells Vinny early on that he is an absolute stickler for proper procedure, something that doesn’t work out too well for Vinny when he strolls into court on the first day wearing a leather jacket and almost immediately gets hit with a contempt charge by the judge (Vinny consistently winding up back in jail along with his clients for various contempt charges is one of the better running gags of the movie). But as little as Vinny knows about proper legal procedure, he wonderfully comes into his element when it gets down to the theatrics of arguing a case in open court or as Macchio explains early on, Gambinis (i.e., Italians) just LOVE to argue as borne out by the frequent arguments between Vinny and his beautiful girlfriend. As we get treated to the various subplots and side stories regarding Vinny’s interactions with the rest of the redneck town including a hulking bully and his formal introduction to eating grits, Tomei is right there by his side to match him one attitude to another, a self styled, glamorous, Brooklyn toned Italian Bitch Princess, only her bitchiness actually turns out to be just so adorable and fetching that we can not only forgive it from a male perspective, but even kind of wonder what it would be like having somebody as cute as she is giving us a hard time about nearly everything. And yet the heart of the film remains the battle of wills between Vinny and Gwynne’s old fashioned Southern judge, ably determined to not only NOT allow Vinny to make a mockery of his courtroom, but to also complete a full background check on him in order to decide if he’s even fit and qualified enough to be in said courtroom (with obvious consequences if he isn’t), which brings us to yet another (very ironic) positive component of the film which is reportedly in its actual, very realistic depiction of courtroom procedure, a fact borne out by a literal endorsement that it received from the American Bar Association (it is said that the film is shown in law school classes to demonstrate such proper procedure) and the fact that journeyman director Jonathan Lynn himself had a law degree and thus strived to make everything as authentic as possible. The film stumbles a bit towards the end as Vinny is somehow not only depicted as having solved the actual murder case (think coincidence) but in order to do so also manages to enlist the town sheriff (whom along with the prosecutor has already proven himself to not be above using underhanded tactics in order to bolster his own case) to help him out to which the character readily agrees to despite having already lied in open court about drawing a fake confession out of Macchio, all topped off by Tomei herself (complete with cute little squeaks) being literally dragged into the courtroom by Vinny to testify as an “automotive expert”, an extremely contrived bit at least only partially redeemed by her own excessive cuteness. But in the end, it gives us a satisfying conclusion where justice wins out, everybody gets to laugh a little bit, and nobody really gets hurt except for the aforementioned murder victim…
8/10