My Cousin Vinny - 1992

My Cousin Vinny starring Joe Pesci as Vinny Gambini, Ralph Macchio as Bill Gambini, Marisa Tomei as Mona Lisa Vito, Mitchell Whitfield as Stan Rothenstein, Fred Gwynne as Judge Chamberlin Haller, Lane Smith as Jim Trotter III, and Bruce McGill as Sheriff Farley.

My  Cousin Vinny is a story of two "yutes" who stop in a small town for a break and arrested for armed robbery and murder.  Enter Vinny Gambini who is Bill's cousin and is also a lawyer.  Problem is Vinny is very inexperienced and not exactly conventional.  Throw in a judge who isn't exactly fond of his style and don't forget about the North South angle either.  Then there is Vinny's fiancee Mona Lisa Vito.  A classic car expert who ultimately helps Vinny win the case.

Mona Lisa Vito played by Marisa Tomei is why we are here.  Comedies are rarely recognized by the Academy and the actors and actresses that appear in them are also rarely recognized, not to mention win.  However, in the case of My Cousin Vinny that was not the case. 

My Cousin Vinny made its way to our list by way of a Best Supporting Actress nomination for Marisa Tomei.  She was up against the following for the prize.

• Judy Davis as Sally in Husbands and Wives
• Joan Plowright as Mrs Fisher in Enchanted April
• Vannesa Redgrave as Ruth Wilcox in Howard's End
• Miranda Richardson as Ingrid in Damage

If you remove Vanessa Redgrave from the equation, the others have not seen that many nominations.  I have yet to see any of these other movies, so my critique may be a bit uninformed.  Marisa Tomei won the Oscar for her role in what is probably one of the most controversial picks of all time.  There has been tons of debate as to whether she deserved the accolade or not.  Hell my wife and I disagree on it as well.  She likens this win similar to Whoopi Goldberg's win for her role in the movie Ghost.  While I disagree with her on Tomei, I certainly agree that Goldberg shouldn't have won but shouldn't even have been nominated.

I for one think she is well deserving of the Oscar.  She is Pesci's perfect foil in this movie.  Nowhere is it more evident than when Vinny is trying to figure out what to wear to go hunting.  He asks her if the pants he is wearing are ok and what follows is Mona Lisa Vito's reply.  "Imagine you're a deer. You're prancing along. You get thirsty. You spot a little brook. You put your little deer lips down to the cool, clear water - BAM. A fuckin' bullet rips off part of your head. Your brains are lying on the ground in little bloody pieces. Now I ask ya, would you give a fuck what kind of pants the son-of-a-bitch who shot you was wearing?"

Not only is that my favorite line in the whole movie but it is just a little taste of how funny this movie is.  As much as I love lists, I am not sure where this movie ranks on a list of all time funniest movies, but clearly I would rank it very high.  If the movie is really funny, then doesn't it make it right that one of the funnier individuals in the movie should be rewarded.  I think Tomei is so deserving of her Oscar because of this.  Just because this isn't the typical artsy and serious Oscar type flick doesn't diminish her performance in the least.  In fact, I would maintain that your performance must be that much better in a comedy to be praised, because it is so uncommon.  If you haven't seen My Cousin Vinny yet, you really need to, you won't regret it.  5 out of 5 stars.