All the screenshots in this post were taken directly from the movie by me.
"My Cousin Vinny" is one of those movies that I've heard good things about throughout my life but never really taken the time to give it a chance.
[Source](https://m.imdb.com/es/title/tt0104952/)
And, in a way, I'm grateful that it's the first movie I've seen in this newly arrived 2025, a year in which I plan to lighten up a bit my dense list of pending films on Letterboxd.
Although whenever Joe Pesci is mentioned to me, my mind inevitably immediately goes to the great gangster movies he starred in under the direction of Martin Scorsese (Casino, Goodfellas and the relatively recent Irishman), the truth is that on several occasions the New Jersey actor demonstrated his ability to adapt to basically any genre, and what better example at this time than the iconic Home Alone and its sequel.
However, aside from the dense dramas I just mentioned, I don't feel there's a better work to showcase his talent than My Cousin Vinny, a 1992 comedy directed by Jonathan Lyn that stars alongside Ralph Macchio and the talented Marisa Tomei (who, by the way, ended up winning an Oscar for her performance).
In a nutshell, My Cousin Vinny is the story of an inexperienced lawyer who looks for a way to get his cousin and his best friend out of jail, after they are wrongly accused of a murder they didn't commit.
My Cousin Vinny is a perfect example of one of those comedies that seem to be less and less common, characterized by excellent direction, great performances, and a script that knows how to keep us hooked even though the premise they are executing is extremely simple. In less than 10 minutes the plot is established and all that's left to do is enjoy.
In its two hours of duration (which by the way end up feeling quite short) we become accomplices of all Vinny's actions to try to free his cousin, working together with his fiancée and thus facing the judicial system of rural Alabama.
And despite being a "comedy", it is gratifying that its way of representing a legal/criminal procedure is so successful, something that we could think ends up making viewing a boring task, but quite the opposite: it is one of the main engines for the funniest moments of the entire film.
My Cousin Vinny is an undeniable classic, and represents a type of film that I would like to see more regularly today, simple but with an undeniable artistic value.
Lead Actors: Joe Pesci (as Vincent Gambini--Vinny)
Marisa Tomei (as Mona Lisa Vito)
Ralph Macchio (as Bill Gambini)
Fred Gwynne (as Judge Chamberlain Haller)
Recently My Cousin Vinny played on a local cable station. As I watched the film, it felt as though I was visiting old friends--not because the movie was familiar, but because I knew those characters, or at least the models on which they are based. For Brooklyn is as much a part of this movie as any of the lead characters.
Bay Parkway Elevated Train Station, Bensonhurst BrooklynJim Henderson. Used under CC 1.0 license This was my train stop. Whenever we went 'to the city'(Manhattan was 'the city') we would get on a train at this station. It was my portal to the world outside of Brooklyn.
I lived in Brooklyn for twelve years--my entire adolescence and young adulthood. I didn't just live in Brooklyn, I lived in a neighborhood rich in Italian American culture. Vincent Gambini--Vinny (Joe Pesci) and Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tormei) come straight out of that culture. They could have lived on 18th Avenue in Bensonhurst, Benson Avenue in Bath Beach or 13th Avenue in Dyker Heights.
Of course their characters are exaggerations, maybe even caricatures, but they hit close enough to the mark to be recognizable.
Spoiler Alert The end of the movie will not be revealed here, but a lot of the juiciest, funniest parts will be discussed.
The premise of the film is simple: two young men--in fact, everyone from Brooklyn--are fish out of water in a Deep South town. The men, Ralph Macchio as Bill Gambini and Mitchell Whitfield as Stan Rothenstein, are arrested for murdering a store clerk. They feel guilty when they are taken into custody because they've forgotten to pay for a can of tuna.
This one disconnect, between the tuna and a murder, can represent the whole film. Miscommunication, a clash of cultures, fuels the comedy.
Food Vendor at the Feast of San GennaroCredit: Jazz Guy from New Jersey. Used under CC 2.0 license. The San Gennaro Festival does not take place in Brooklyn, but it might as well. Little Italy, in Lower Manhattan, is just across the Brooklyn Bridge. The gentleman cooking sausages in the picture is hamming it up much as Joe Pesci does inMy Cousin Vinny--and the sausage cook would be just as out of place in a Deep South courtroom.
When young Bill Gambini and Stan Rothstein are arrested, Bill calls his mother. Of course he does. A young Italian American man (according to the cliche) will call his mother every time. And of course she recommends someone from the family. This is what the movie is about, as much as it is about Brooklyn. It is about family, and the close family ties in an Italian American community.
Brooklyn Bridge, Looking across the East River at ManhattanCredit: Elisa.rolle. Used under CC 3.0 unported license.
After Vinny's first disastrous appearance in court, Stan wants to dump him. Bill can't do it. He explains that his mother is in poor health and he can't fire Vinny because, "He's family."
Obviously the film wouldn't work so well without contrast, without the irreplaceable Fred Gwynne as Judge Chamberlain Haller. He is as much a caricature as are Joe Pesci and Marisa Tormei. I don't think he gets enough credit for how much he adds to this film.
While Pesci and Tormei get to literally strut their stuff, he sits in a chair. We rarely see him standing. It is his face and his intonation that create the contrast for us. In a way, he controls the courtroom scenes by providing a counterpoint and prompt for Pesci. Take a look at this scene, on Youtube, for example, by Zahn Man.
Of course Joe Pesci dominates the scene, but watch the small things Gwynn does as Pesci performs and as Maury Chaykin impeccably times eye blinking. Besides the notorious "youts" exchange, Gwynn looms in the background as Pesci grills the witness. The expression on Gwynn's face is a perfect, though mute commentary on the proceedings.
At the top of this page I posted a picture of Brooklyn Law School. That means something to lower and middle class people in New York. It is the only accessible pathway to the law profession for many in the working class. It is to Harvard Law what a hot dog is to fillet mignon.
As their website explains, Brooklyn Law School offers a part-time program: "Part-time learning allows one to obtain a degree or qualification even if one cannot attend school on a full-time basis". Vinny came to law by the back door. But he's a fighter. He doesn't give up. This, more than anything, has us rooting for him throughout the film. Everybody loves an underdog.
I looked up the CVs of the people responsible for this film. The only lead participant who actually came from Brooklyn was Marisa Tormei. But the others have a feel for the people they are depicting. Pesci comes from a working class family in nearby Newark New Jersey. Macchio comes from nearby Huntington Long Island (NY). His father owned laundromats. Launer bounced around various low-paying jobs while struggling to break into script writing.
The comedic timing in My Cousin Vinny is magic. Probably a fortunate elixir of a great script, actors that work well together and practiced touch of Jonathan Lynn, who has a nose for comedy.
Without giving away the end of the film, I'll just say that Brooklyn comes through for Vinny at a crucial time in the film. Just as a phone call summoned Vinny to the Deep South, it is the phone that connects Brooklyn to the Fred Gwynn's courtroom throughout the film.
Catch this movie if you have a chance. It is funny, no matter what part of the world you live in.
Please note: demographics of the neighborhoods I reference in this blog have evolved over the years. But that's Brooklyn. It's vibrant. It responds to the environment. But, no matter what life throws at it, the borough somehow survives.
Thank you for reading my blog. Happy New Year to all, and of course, Hive on!
Attribution: JosephBarillari at the English-language Wikipedia. Used under 
Jim Henderson. Used under 
Credit: Jazz Guy from New Jersey. Used under 
Credit: Elisa.rolle. Used under 
Credit: Aaron Barlow. Used under 