Taglines: This is not one of them.
My Cousin Vinny movie storyline. Bill Gambini and Stanley Rothenstein are two friends from New York University who just received scholarships to UCLA. They decide to drive through the South. Once they arrive in Alabama, they stop at a local convenience store to pick up a few snacks. But, no sooner than they leave the store, they are arrested. They had thought that they were arrested for shoplifting, but they were arrested for murder and robbery.
Worse, they are facing execution for this crime. Bill and Stan do not have enough money for a lawyer, so the good news is that Bill has a lawyer in his family, his cousin, Vincent Laguardia Gambini. The bad news is that Vinny is an inexperienced lawyer who has not been at a trial. So, Vinny has to defend his clients and battle an uncompromising judge, some tough locals, and even his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito, who just does not know when to shut up, to prove his clients’ innocence. But he will soon realize that he is going to need help.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film written by Dale Launer and directed by Jonathan Lynn. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and Fred Gwynne. This was Gwynne’s final film appearance before his death on July 2, 1993.
The film deals with two young New Yorkers traveling through rural Alabama who are arrested and put on trial for a murder they did not commit and the comical attempts of a cousin, Vincent Gambini, a lawyer fresh out of law school, to defend them. Much of the humor comes from the contrasting personalities of the brash Italian-American New Yorkers, Vinny and his fiancée Mona Lisa, and the more reserved Southern townspeople.
About the Story
Driving through Alabama in their green 1964 Buick Skylark convertible, Billy Gambini and Stan Rothenstein, students from New York, shop at a convenience store and accidentally shoplift a can of tuna. After they leave, the store clerk is robbed, shot and killed, and Billy and Stan are arrested in connection with the crimes. Due to circumstantial evidence and a confession to the shoplifting misconstrued as one to the shooting, Billy is charged with murder, and Stan as an accessory.
Billy’s mother tells her son via telephone there is an attorney in the family: his cousin Vinny. Vincent LaGuardia Gambini travels there, accompanied by his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito. Although he is willing to take the case, Vinny is a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, New York, newly admitted to the bar on his sixth attempt, and with no trial experience.
Vinny manages to fool the trial judge, Chamberlain Haller, about being experienced enough for the case. His ignorance of basic courtroom procedures, dress code, and his abrasive and disrespectful attitude, cause the judge to repeatedly hold him in contempt. Much to his clients’ consternation, Vinny does not cross-examine any of the witnesses in the probable cause hearing.
Except for lack of a murder weapon, it appears that the district attorney, Jim Trotter III (Lane Smith), has an airtight case that will lead to convictions. After Vinny’s poor showing at the hearing, Stan fires him and uses the public defender, John Gibbons, and nearly convinces Billy to do the same.
Despite some further missteps in the trial, Vinny shows that he is able to make up for his ignorance and inexperience with an aggressive and perceptive questioning style. The public defender is unprepared, passive, and has a debilitating stammer, but Vinny quickly discredits the testimony of the first witness. Billy’s faith is restored, and Stan fires the public defender.
Vinny’s cross-examinations of the remaining two eyewitnesses are similarly effective, but on the trial’s third day, Trotter produces a surprise witness, FBI analyst George Wilbur, who testifies that the pattern and chemical analysis of the tire marks left at the crime scene are identical to the tires on Billy’s Buick. With only the lunch recess to prepare his cross-examination and unable to come up with a strong line of questioning, Vinny lashes out at Lisa, seemingly breaking off their engagement.
However, Vinny realizes that one of Lisa’s photos holds the key to the case: the flat and even tire marks going over the curb reveal that Billy’s car could not have been used for the getaway. They could only have been made by a car with an independent rear suspension and positraction; Billy’s Skylark does not possess these features, but the similar-looking Pontiac Tempest would.
My Cousin Vinny movie trailer.
My Cousin Vinny (1992)
Directed by: Jonathan Lynn
Starring: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Lane Smith, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne, Bruce McGill, Maury Chaykin, Paulene Myers, Raynor Scheine
Screenplay by: Dale Launer
Production Design by: Victoria Paul
Cinematography by: Peter Deming
Film Editing by: Tony Lombardo, Stephen E. Rivkin
Costume Design by: Carol Wood
Set Decoration by: Michael Seirton
Art Direction by: Michael Rizzo, Rando Schmook
Music by: Randy Edelman
MPAA Rating: R for language.
Distributed by: 20th Century Fox
Release Date: March 13, 1992
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