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Actors: Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Fred Gwynne
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| Review Summary and Plot Commentary about My Cousin Vinny |
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This is a hilarious and comical satire of the modern justice system in America. Cousin Vinny is the only option left for two young college students who think they are being held by police for shoplifting a can of tuna but the actual charge is for shooting the retail store clerk in the back. Joe Pesci in the role of the lawyer with no previous court experience trying to save his cousin and his friend, leads us through one of the best directed movies of the 90's.
--Uday Kumar Menon, Resident Scholar
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Bill and Stan, two young New Yorkers, are on a road trip when they are mistaken for guys who held up a store in Georgia and shot the clerk, and are accused of first degree murder. They have no money for a lawyer, so Bill's family sends down his Brooklyn cousin Vincent Gambini (Pesci), a foul-mouthed, sometimes violent, insecure, but streetwise fella who has finally become a lawyer after taking the bar exam six times. He also has a stunning young girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito (Tomei), in tow. Vinny locks horns with both the local prosecutor and the judge (Gwynne, in his very last role). This hilarious 1992 film won a surprise Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role Oscar for Tomei.
--David Loftus, Resident Scholar
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On trial in a southern town for a robbery/murder they did not commit, a young new yorker and his companion rely on his street-smart but judicially inept lawyer-cousin(Joe Pesci) to save them. The good-hearted but inept attorney exasperates the strict, condescending judge (brilliantly sarcastic turn by Fred Gwynn). Cousin Vinny also struggles in his romantic relationship with his wise-cracking and supportive fiancee (an Oscar for Marisa Tomei).
--steve wiehe, Resident Scholar
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Joe Pesci plays Vinny Gambini, a lawyer. He is the uncle of a young man and his friend who are falsely accused of knocking over a convenience store and shooting the owner. Vinny, his fiancee Lisa in town, arrives to a small Alabama town to help get his cousin and his friend out of jail. He doesn't make a big splash when he doesn't show up to court appropriately dressed. And he isn't getting much sleep with the train going by his hotel room every morning at
4 a.m. But somehow he manages to raise a defense for his two friends.
--BethG, Resident Scholar
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"It looked like them".....but was it? Same color car, same year....half blind witnesses, dirty windows; Well, Joe Pesci is called up to rescue his cousin, Ralph Macchio, from the electric chair....
A killer? Now, it's up to Vincent Gambini, new lawyer; former auto mechanic, to save his cousin from the seeming injustice encompassing him in Alabama.
Marisa Tomei received an Oscar/best Supporting Actress for this. It's obvious why.
Made me want to cook up some o' them grits...
--Dorothy Renshaw, Resident Scholar
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| Analysis of My Cousin Vinny |
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Comedy, primarily
Yes
Time/era of movie:
- 1980's-1999
If a parody... of
- law dramas
Main Character
Identity:
- Male
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
Age:
- 20's-30's
Eccentric:
Yes
Is this an ordinary person caught up in events?
Yes
Hair color?
- brunette (Black)
Hair type
- (man) short/standard wavey
Body type
- (man) average
Events of movie makes character more...
- tougher
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- average physique
Secondary Main Character
Identity:
- Female
Hair color
- brunette (Brown)
Hair style
- (woman) medium/shoulderlgn wavey
Body type
- (woman) ample bosom & buttocks
Unclothed?
- very tight clothes
How much in movie?
- 80%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Main Adversary
Identity:
- Male
Age:
- 40's-50's
Profession/status:
- a lawyer creature
How much of work is main antagonist actually present in:
- 20%
Ethnicity/Nationality
- White (American)
Sense of humor
- Mostly serious with occasional humor
Physique
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Southeast
- Deep South
Small town?
Yes
Style
Accounts of torture and death?
- no torture/death
Movie makes you feel...
- full of laughter
- thoughtful
Any profanity?
- A lot of foul language
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Resident Scholar Profiles
TOP SCHOLAR:
 David Loftus
SCHOLARS:
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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