Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 26-September-04
Spoiler Rating: Medium

My Cousin Vinny (1992)

In the comedy "My Cousin Vinny," a New York couple travels to Alabama to rescue two kids from their neighborhood who have been falsely accused of murder. With their strong accents, loud clothing, and complete ignorance of the South, they stick out like sore thumbs and find it difficult to adjust to the environment (the mud, the grits, the slow-as-molasses communication, etc.). In addition, the man, Vinny, is an improbable lawyer on his first real case, which makes his fish-out-of-water situation more pronounced. City dwellers in Hickville, vulgar Italians in the courtroom, jokes about death row and dropping the soap: "My Cousin Vinny" could have deeply, even offensively sucked. But happily, it absolutely doesn't.

The movie owes its success as a sweet, feel-good affair to the fact that the two stars, Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei, are allowed to extend their characters beyond the realm of stereotype, and they both do so very well. Vinny and his longtime fiancée, Lisa, initially appear to be just another pair of loudmouthed Brooklynites blustering through life, but before long they both divulge a degree of intelligence and affection that sets them apart and makes them extremely likable. Despite the comedic revelation that it took Vinny six tries to pass the bar, it doesn't require a huge effort to believe that he knows his non compos mentis from his habeas corpus; nor is it hard to imagine Lisa, painted nails and all, being an ace mechanic who knows cars (like her man) inside and out. The backdrop of the rather ridiculous murder trial brings out the best and worst in their relationship, revealing them to be perfectly matched if sometimes contentious lovers. Not every couple turns up the heat by discussing a Craftsman Model 1019, laboratory-edition, signature-series torque wrench, but these two are not your average couple: they are, in fact, a lot more charming.

Movie buffs may recall that Tomei suffered backlash after winning a supporting actress Oscar for "My Cousin Vinny," but the overall lightness of the film is the only thing that can be argued against her; she brings the spitfire Lisa to life in a way that truly merits commendation. That said, she could not have made such an impression if Pesci had not opened up his caustic persona to let in a little heart and brains. (I particularly like the scene where Vinny relates how he got into the law.) The rest of the cast acquits itself respectably as well, including Fred Gwynne (aka Mr. Munster) as a hard-nosed, old-school judge; Lane Smith as a competitive but gentlemanly prosecuting attorney; and Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield as the poor kids who were in the wrong place at the wrong time. (Admittedly, their dramatic requirements are slight, since the script never takes the possibility of their conviction and execution too seriously.)

"My Cousin Vinny" uses clichés to create unlikely and amusing circumstances, but it bolsters this conventional humor with uncommonly enjoyable leads. It's worth taking home as a rental; heck, it might even be worth having in your family.

Copyright © 2004 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.