My Cousin Vinny 1992

Dave Kehr, Chicago Tribune: With such canny scene-stealers as Gwynne, Smith, Pendleton, McGill and Chaykin filling out the cast, it is very hard for My Cousin Vinny to go wrong, and indeed, for the purpose of pleasant Saturday night entertainment, it does not. Read more

Peter Rainer, Los Angeles Times: As Vincent Gambini, a swaggering pint-sized New York lawyer who only recently passed the bar on his sixth try, Pesci modulates his usual psycho-nuttiness and gives it some recognizably human, even melancholy, undertones. Read more

Jay Boyar, Orlando Sentinel: My Cousin Vinny is a hoot. Read more

Desmond Ryan, Philadelphia Inquirer: The movie sags as Vinny sets out to demolish the patently shaky case and dubious witnesses for the prosecution. Pesci does his best, but a lawyer's suit on him becomes a straitjacket. Read more

Michael Upchurch, Seattle Times: The pacing is brisk and the energy of the performances is so palpable that even at its silliest and most contrived, the film is enjoyable. Read more

Richard Corliss, TIME Magazine: Nothing makes a moviegoer feel more isolated than sitting stony-faced through a comedy that makes the rest of the audience laugh and cheer. Read more

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone: You might not remember much about My Cousin Vinny an hour later, but the cast makes the jokes (even the bad ones) go down easy. Read more

Vincent Canby, New York Times: Easily the most inventive and enjoyable American film farce in a long time, even during those extended patches when it seems to be marking time or when it continues with a running gag that can't stay the distance. Read more

Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader: While it's easy to imagine an infinite number of bad courtroom comedies based on this scenario, this movie turns out to be wonderful -- broad and low character comedy that's solidly imagined and beautifully played. Read more

Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly: My Cousin Vinny is the definition of obvious, and it's way too long (do films like this really need an hour's worth of setup?). But Pesci and Tomei make a first-rate team. Read more

Michael Sragow, New Yorker: Marisa Tomei, as Vinny's fiancee, imbues the most obligatory reactions with either a startling ferocity or a farcical ambiguity worthy of her character's name: Mona Lisa Vito. Read more

Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times: It's the kind of movie home video was invented for: Not worth the trip to the theater, but slam it into the VCR and you get your rental's worth. Read more

Wally Hammond, Time Out: It's a small, surprisingly gentle affair, prone to fits and starts, but fun. Read more

Variety Staff, Variety: Tomei, sashaying through the proceedings as kind of a sexy hood ornament, creates a buoyant chemistry with her combative b.f. Read more

Desson Thomson, Washington Post: Joe Pesci is a total screen pleasure. He grabs whatever comes his way -- from GoodFellas to Home Alone</ -- and bullies it into something great. He's charming, menacing, and pitbullish all at the same time, a tenor-voiced imp of ceaseless energy. Read more

Rita Kempley, Washington Post: Weighed down by a dull setup featuring Ralph 'Karate Kid' Macchio, the movie gets a much-needed charge from Pesci, a bundle of bandy-legged impudence as Macchio's lawyer cousin, Vincent Gambini. Read more