Novel series. In 2017, author Lawrence Kelter began a My Cousin Vinny novel series with Back to Brooklyn, which is intended to be in the spirit of The Thin Man series. With the setting updated to contemporary times, the series depicts the further cases of Vinny Gambini with Mona Lisa operating as his investigator.
The film received generally positive reviews. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 86%, based on 56 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The deft comic interplay between Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei helps to elevate My Cousin Vinny 's predictable script, and the result is a sharp, hilarious courtroom comedy." On Metacritic the film has a score of 68 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A-" on an A+ to F scale.
My Cousin Vinny is a 1992 American comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, from a screenplay by Dale Launer. The film stars Joe Pesci, Ralph Macchio, Marisa Tomei, Mitchell Whitfield, Lane Smith, Bruce McGill, and Fred Gwynne in his final film appearance. It was distributed by 20th Century Fox and released on March 13, 1992.
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, Vinny Gambini, a lawyer who had only recently passed the bar exam after several unsuccessful attempts, to defend them.
My Cousin Vinny was a critical and financial success, with Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei all praised for their performances. Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Attorneys have also lauded the film for its accurate depiction of court procedure and trial strategy.
Vinny travels there, accompanied by his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito. Although willing to take the case, Vinny is a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, newly admitted to the bar and with no trial experience. Vinny manages to fool the trial judge, Chamberlain Haller, that he is experienced enough for the case.
Except for lack of a murder weapon, it appears that the district attorney, Jim Trotter III, has a strong case. After Vinny's poor showing at the hearing, Stan fires him and uses the public defender, John Gibbons, and nearly convinces Bill to do the same.
Patriots coach Bill Belichik referenced My Cousin Vinny during Deflategate. Rudy Guiliani isn't the only person who has randomly referenced My Cousin Vinny during a press conference. “I would not say that I am Mona Lisa Vito of the football world,” Belichik said when asked what he knew about football pressure.
Familiarize yourself with legal procedure, and these facts about My Cousin Vinny —the classic 1992 comedy in which a very green, fish-out-of-water lawyer defends two “yutes” mistakenly charged with murder in his first court case. (Warning: There's profanity in the clips below!)
Robert De Niro was Launer’s first choice to play Vinny Gambini. Grant Lamos IV/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival. After the script was written, a casting meeting was called and Launer met with Fox’s president, vice president, and CEO.
5. Joe Pesci based Vinny on guys from his neighborhood. “There’s a lot of people around like that in smaller neighborhoods, so I put a few of them together and [came] up with Vinny,” Pesci, who grew up in New Jersey, told The Movie Show in 1992. 6. The studio initially wanted to cut Mona Lisa Vito from My Cousin Vinny.
Joe Pesci based Vinny on guys from his neighborhood. “There’s a lot of people around like that in smaller neighborhoods, so I put a few of them together and [came] up with Vinny,” Pesci, who grew up in New Jersey, told The Movie Show in 1992. 6. The studio initially wanted to cut Mona Lisa Vito from My Cousin Vinny.
Will Smith was up for the role of Stan Rothenstein in My Cousin Vinny. Mitchell Whitfield had just moved to Los Angeles from New York when he got word about the My Cousin Vinny auditions—which were taking place in New York. So he flew back to do the screen test.
The screenwriter was very unhappy about the omission because it made Vinny seem “not so bright. You don’t know why it took him so long to get through the bar. And then suddenly he starts acting smart. What you have to do is make assumptions that he is actually a smart guy, and the law is just complicated and boring.