Product Details

• Actors: Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei, Ralph Macchio, Mitchell Whitfield, Fred Gwynne
• Directors: Jonathan Lynn
• Writers: Dale Launer
• Producers: Dale Launer, Paul Schiff
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: 20th Century Fox
• VHS Release Date: March 12, 1996
• Run Time: 120 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (183 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6302516986
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #116,420 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

When two Italian-American boys from New York are falsely accused of murder in a small Alabama town, they call for a lawyer--but the only lawyer they know is their cousin Vinny (Joe Pesci), who made six attempts before he passed his bar exam. My Cousin Vinny is a classic fish-out-of-water comedy; the flimsy plot about clearing the two boys and solving the murder is just a hook to support a lot of culture-clash humor. Thanks to the strong cast of character actors like Fred Gwynne, Austin Pendleton, and Lane Smith, it's pretty funny--even old-hat jokes about Brooklyn versus Southern accents come to life. Pesci has played a few too many schticky characters, but this time it works. There's just enough humanity in his caricature to make Vinny likable and entertaining. When the movie was released, there was controversy about whether Marisa Tomei, playing Vinny's big-haired and black-leather-wearing fiancée, deserved to win the best supporting actress Oscar (she beat out Judy Davis, Joan Plowright, Miranda Richardson, and Vanessa Redgrave); but seeing her performance on its own, it's a comic marvel and worthy of honor. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

38 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars South Brooklyn meets The South, June 23, 2004

By 

Rocco Dormarunno (Brooklyn, NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Cousin Vinny (DVD)

Subtly employing the city mouse/country mouse theme, MY COUSIN VINNY is a light-hearted courtroom comedy. While it occasionally stoops to some stereotyping, the movie doesn't do so mean-spiritedly. In any event, both sides get equal skewering.

Vinny Gambini, brilliantly portrayed by Joe Pesci, is a Brooklyn boy who has finally passed the Bar (after repeated failures) and now finds himself defending his nephew and his nephew's friend against murder charges in the Bible Belt. Along with his too beautiful fiancee, played by Academy Award Winner Marissa Tomei, Pesci investigates the southern style of life, as he fathoms southern courtroom procedures and tries to get some sleep. The resulting clash of cultures is sometimes predictable, but honestly, is very inventive for the most part.

The comedy of the court room scenes is heightened by the late Fred Gwynne who plays the presiding judge. His by-the-book habits and short-fused temper are a perfect foil to Vinny's laconic style. It is their interaction that feeds most of the cultural clashing. But there is also a clash of the sexes that underlies the film, as Vinny stubbornly refuses the help of his fiancee. This confrontation is also highlighted in the courtroom when the DA refuses to believe that she could possibly be considered an expert in automechanics, even though her brothers, her father, her uncles, and just about everyone else in her family are expert mechanics. (The DA becomes convinced in a wonderful cross-interview scene.)

MY COUSIN VINNY was both critically well-received and a huge box-office success. There's a reason for that: it is a well-written, well-directed and perfectly acted comedy that stands up well even after repeated viewings. See it for yourself and you'll understand why, too.

30 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Could have been 5 - had they added anything, August 2, 2009

By 

Steve Kuehl "SLV Video" (Boulder Creek, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Cousin Vinny [Blu-ray] (Blu-ray)

I believe this to be one of those 90s comedies we all love, so the BD transfer was a nice addition to see come over. Playing it in the store today reminded everyone how fun the film was, but the obvious preservation work made for a nice sell on how these older films should be done.

The colors and clarity were actually cleaned up well, with the artifact being random to where there was no real detraction. The credit sequences looked solid, which for some of these 90s block letter credits the BD transfers can leave in horrible grain. With how they did Tomei's makeup in this, there could have been plenty of chances for a dull saturation look, but in actuality it turned out looking great.

The sound is what sold me though. They mixed and re-amplified it into a 5.1 DTS that rocked the channels. The train scenes were excellent and that owl made customers do a double take. The supplements suck though. They included a variety of trailers from theater and TV, but in that it does show how the original stock looked compared to this upgrade. The commentary was fine, but I was hoping for some visual treats. Instead, the film will have to stand alone for buying the Blu. The menu shows a cleaned up reel also and the navigation was simple. Enjoy.

21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Magistrate's Gavel Hits Hard On Lawyer's Forehead!, September 12, 2005

By 

Maximiliano F Yofre "Maxi" (Buenos Aires, Argentina) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: My Cousin Vinny [VHS] (VHS Tape)

First of all: "My Cousin Vinny" (1992), is one of the funniest film I've ever seen! After the first ten minutes you can't stop laughing. You'll be able only to graduate from roaring outbursts to moderate laugh.

Jonathan Lynn has many skills in the cinematographic world: he is actor, director and playwright. As director this is, arguably, his best work. When making this film, it seems he was touched by a magic wand for comedic tempos. It is a pity he hasn't reached the same level with his other films, still there are some quite good as "Nuns on the Run" (1990) and "The Distinguished Gentleman" (1992).

This is the story of two New York youngsters wrongly accused of murder in Alabama. They are broken and endangered but Billy resorts to his Cousin Vinny, who's supposedly an experienced attorney.
Well... he isn't experienced, but he is faithful to family obligation and show up with his fiancée to help his relative.
The Court is commanded by Judge Chamberlain Haller inflexible and punctilious.
The rest of the movie shows the confrontation between Judge & Attorney, giving place to a series of hilarious scenes.

Joe Pesci, Marisa Tomei and Fred Gwynne flesh the three main characters producing outstanding alchemy for audience's delight.
Pesci is a purebred comedian and his characterization of a New Yorker confused by Southern etiquette is just a riot.
Beautiful Marisa Tomei earned an Oscar with her joyful play-acting.
Last but not least Fred Gwynne is a Judge full of irony and subtleties.

This movie is an excellent pastime, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
Reviewed by Max Yofre.