Not to sound like too much of a hypocrite here, because I often knock fish-out-of-water comedies that feel like they're written around one joke, but I really like the 1992 film My Cousin Vinny.
Now if you close your eyes, it's not hard to picture someone pitching this movie to some Hollywood executive "I've got an idea for a movie! Picture this... Joe Pesci... wait for it... in a small town in Alabama."
"Is Joe Pesci going to be attempting a southern accent?" would likely be the follow up question.
"No." says the person pitching the idea "It's just Joe Pesci being Joe Pesci in Alabama, the jokes practically write themselves."
...and that's how I've always envisioned this movie got off the ground.
The film starts off with two college age friends Billy and Stan (played by Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield respectively) who are driving through Alabama and accidentally shoplift a can of tuna while making a pit stop at a convenient store. Shortly after they leave the store, the clerk is murdered and the two friends are mistaken for the killers. Once arrested, they call Billy's mom who informs them that Billy's cousin Vinny is a lawyer. So, Vinny Gambini (played by Joe Pesci) and his fiancee Mona Lisa Vito (played by Marisa Tomei) arrive from Brooklyn and, right away, they're out of there element. Mona wonders why there's not a Chinese restaurant in the small town, their car gets stuck in the mud, they don't know what grits are, etc. Although it's a fairly predictable plot, the dynamic between Vinny and Mona, and between Vinny and Judge Haller (played by Fred Gwynne) provide a lot of laughs.
Vinny has only been practicing law for a few months, failed the Bar exam a handful of times, and has never been to trial so he makes a lot of mistakes that irritate Judge Haller and for a while he losses the confidence of Billy and Stan. However in the end, Vinny, with a lot of help from Mona, wins the case and all charges are dropped. Even though you kind of know early on where everything is going it still manages to be really entertaining. The comedy doesn't feel forced and pretty much all of the jokes hit their mark. Also, the performances in the film are all top-notch, Marisa Tomei even won an Oscar for her role in the movie. (I think. Don't fact check me on that one.)
Overall, it's a really fun movie and if you've never seen it then I recommend checking it out.
I give it a 4 out of 5.
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