Past Movie Review: My Cousin Vinnie

The movie"My Cousin Vinnie" came out in 1992 and I knew almost from the beginning that this was a rare great comedy. This film also contains that "once in a lifetime" conundrum that I have seen so often in movies, namely a once in a lifetime comedy performance from Marisa Tomei that never happened again in her career. For that matter, Joe Pesci never got another part like this one again, but he has gotten a good deal of great opportunities in other violent movies like Good Fellas and Casino. How could it be that Tomei could be so great a comedy actress and another opportunity like this never came along again? This just shows the precarious and very difficult field being an actor in movies can be. Marisa won a best-supporting actress Oscar in 1993 for this movie and she has been nominated for serious roles in her career. What was so unique about this Oscar win for Tomei was that it was for a comedy role, which is very rare in Hollywood.

The supporting cast in this movie was also great, including Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield as the two young guys who were arrested in the deep south. Lane Smith played the prosecuting attorney and a funny performance by Fred Gwynn in his last movie role. This movie has it all, great lines throughout, a great story and a Rocky-like premise where an unskilled and untested lawyer who barely passed the bar exam winning his case using his street smarts against impossible odds and a Judge that hated him.

Marisa Tomei's performance in this movie is on a par with Meg Ryan's performance in When Harry Met Sally with her great likeability, cuteness, and great comedic acting skills. Like Meg Ryan, it's a shame Marisa Tomei never got a part like this ever again in her career. One can only hope that another miracle like this movie will happen again.

If you have not seen My Cousin Vinnie, which is unlikely due to the many times it's been on TV, you owe it to yourself to see one of the top 5 great comedy movies in the last 40 years.







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