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  1. #1
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    A DVD REVIEW: MY COUSIN VINNY (20th Century Fox)

    "FAST AND FUNNY FROM FIRST JOKE TO LAST!"
    -US Magazine

    You know something, friends? I don't believe I EVER took this disc off my shelf to watch until last night since owning it-----I remember buying this a good few years back as a must-have-for-the-collection title, because it really is a staple of modern comedic cinema, but although the shrinkwrapping was off of it, I don’t recall ever putting it into my DVD player since owning it, probably due to the fact that you can catch this film at almost anytime on cable. Still, it DOES belong in a collection for the fanfare it has garnered as well as the fashion in which it still creates chuckles from an audience to this day.

    You know something else.....there is something about the way Joe Pesci seems "out of character" when he is not playing a violent criminal or misfit of some kind, as witnessed in Scorsese's Casino, GoodFellas and Raging Bull because he plays those roles SO convincingly and all it takes --- regardless of the fact that he was indeed HYSTERICAL in My Cousin Vinny --- is one viewing of Gone Fishin' or Eight Heads in a Duffle Bag to see what I mean.

    1992's My Cousin Vinny, directed by Jonathan Lynn, tells the story of two friends (Ralph Macchio and Mitchell Whitfield) on a road trip from New York to the Southern states during a college campus tour they are going on. Upon stopping at the "Sac O Suds," a local "grocery/convenience store" to pick up some essentials for the remainder of the trip, Macchio pockets a can of tuna fish which he accidentally forgets to pay for. A few miles down the road, he and his friend are pulled over by a state trooper, where they are charged with what THEY think is shoplifting but turns out to be murder as the clerk from the store they visited was gunned down just minutes after they drove away, and apparently, the killers were driving a similar-looking car and had a similar physical appearance as Macchio and his friend. This "misunderstanding" theme runs rampant in Lynn's style for this film, and becomes more apparent as the picture develops.

    Macchio, after phoning is mother in New York, learns that there is an attorney in the family --- his cousin Vincent LaGuardia Gambini (Pesci), who takes the job of defending Macchio and his buddy but what ensues is absolute mayhem and hysterics, as the boys learn just how little law experience Pesci has. Rolling into Wazoo, Alabama in their convertible clunker blasting rap music, Pesci and his fiance (a deliciously cute and sexy looking Marisa Tomei) are immediately and obviously out of place here --- him in his leather jacket, gold chain and cuffed-up, early '90s Cavaricci pants and belt and her in the short mini skirts, black stockings and high heels she runs around in during this film. As they begin to talk to each other once arriving in Alabama and realizing they have "mud stuck in their tires" it is obvious these two are "typical New Yorkers" (as anyone, including yours truly, who has grown up or lived in the Brooklyn section of New York City can attest to); their dialogue back and forth to each other, including Tomei's vile use of the English language, gets downright hysterical in places for those who can relate to the characters.

    Once meeting with Macchio and his friend in their jail cell (following a hysterical "misunderstanding theme" scene once again by Jonathan Lynn where Mitchell Whitfield thinks Pesci has arrived in their cell as an inmate who wants to rape him), the boys learn that Pesci has never been to court in his entire "legal career" and that it took him SIX times to pass the lawyer exam. What follows is a series of absolute hysterics, as Pesci meets the judge for his cousin's case, played by the late great Fred Gwynne, and must make up stories about his legal background in order to cover up the fact that he doesn't have a clue as to what he is doing in a courtroom; from here, all kinds of madness transpires, where Pesci comes into court without a suit on and is demeaned by Gwynne, and thrown in jail himself for arguing with the judge during the arraignment process and not giving him a "guilty" or "not guilty" statement----all due to Pesci's inexperience, which makes it even funnier. After going from motel to motel and getting no sleep because of non-stop distractions, Pesci finds himself falling asleep in the middle of the trial at his own desk in the court, while Macchio's friend decides to go with the State Attorney, who ends up being a stuttering moron and makes the case even worse for the boys.

    Every witness the prosecutor (played by Lane Smith, Prison) puts on the stand identifies Macchio and his friend as the killer of the store clerk, and it seems Pesci needs to learn the system of law as he goes along to try and get these guys off the hook for murder --- because it's clear they didn't do it (according to the beginning of the film). It does indeed seem like a town conspiracy against these two "Yankee" boys, until Pesci finally gets his "**** together" and decides it's time to figure out a way to discredit all these witnesses who seem to be lying; inbetween are hysterical parts involving Tomei and a pool game she plays with a local redneck named "JT" who stiffs her for $200 when she wins the game, and who almost goes punch for punch with Pesci as he enters the pool hall and threatens to kick the guy's ass if he doesn't pay up----the stereotyping of "rednecks" here is downright obvious on director Lynn's part, but is IS funny, as Pesci's New York bad ass attitude just confuses these hillbillies in the pool hall. It's a great scene.

    What also makes the film funny is the way in which Pesci and Tomei need to keep moving from place to place in order to get sleep because of distractions they continue to encounter --- even when they sleep in their own car (which leaks during a rainstorm) and even when they borrow Lane Smith's cabin in the woods (where a loud owl keeps Pesci awake and causes him to fire off a handgun into the woods while in his leather jacket, underwear and sneakers; his character is an absolute riot).

    Great performances here (for a comedy) all around, especially from the late Fred Gwynne, who plays the hard-ass judge constantly putting Pesci through the paces, almost catching him each time as not being an accredited lawyer from New York but with Pesci finding a way out of that each and every time, as well; Marisa Tomei (who won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for this role) being spot-on as Pesci's right-out-of-New York loud-mouthed, hard-attituded, short-skirted fiance....everyone just came together perfect in this comedy, and it's a title that belongs on everyone's shelf in my opinion ---- even if you don't watch it that often because the film itself has become a novelty of sorts in the comedy circles of modern cinema, indeed.

    20th Century Fox has prepared a nice presentation for My Cousin Vinny on DVD, and its characteristics are common for the genre of film this is. With no talk of a "special edition" for this title on the horizon, what we have here seems good enough, with a running director's commentary, theatrical trailers and TV spots to round off the extras.

    VIDEO SPECIFICATIONS:
    ANAMORPHIC 1:85:1 WIDESCREEN TRANSFER

    From start to finish, this was a pretty clean print----I really have little more to say about it. Surprisingly, there were no signs of distracting dirt or grain, and the picture remained color-rich and stable for just about the entire two hour length; at times, the image seemed to get a bit "soft" but then jumped back to life in a very next scene, probably due to the age of the print Fox had to work with for the transfer here. But there was nothing wrong that I could detect that would distract from this DVD presentation of this landmark "modern" comedy title. Letterboxing on my screen, due to the anamorphic enhancement encoding of the 1:85:1 ratio, was nonexistent.

    AUDIO SPECIFICATIONS:
    ENGLISH DOLBY SURROUND, FRENCH DOLBY SURROUND, SUBITLES IN ENGLISH & SPANISH

    No matter what kind of audio scheme is used on a comedy title on DVD --- whether it be Dolby Digital 5.1, Dolby Surround OR DTS --- the results are almost always the same.....not a heck of a lot goin' on, as would be expected. But this Dolby Surround track, once decoded via Pro Logic II on my system, was surprisingly active....the surrounds are definitely used to enhance any music that accompanies a scene, and while there isn't a heck of a lot of front to back panning (if any at ALL), the front soundstage is used nicely to relay trucks and such passing across the screen through the front channels. From the moment the opening song begins with the title credits, the soundstage actually arrives all around you, coming from the fronts mostly, but definitely and nicely spilling into the surround channels for a Dolby Surround mix. The only complaints I had was that the track needed more amplification than most modern-day blockbuster releases (of course) and you're going to find yourself needing to turn that volume up more than you're usually comfortable with when watching this one --- of course, you're not sitting down with the DVD version of My Cousin Vinny for its audio delivery. One other thing I noticed was that there was a very slight "fuzziness" to some dialogue delivery during certain moments --- Fred Gwynne's voice, when raised and booming, caused the audio characteristics of the dialogue channel to get slightly, slightly distorted and "crackly" --- but just slightly. Otherwise, as usual, especially on a Dolby Surround track, dialogue was mixed lower than the remainder of the music and "effects" and needed some volume boosting in places, as this film can get downright quiet in particular scenes.
    Last edited by Lexmark3200; 08-18-2005 at 08:13 PM.

  2. #2
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Great film & review. I saw this for the umpteenth time last weekend. I laughed like it was the first time I ever saw it. Marisa Tomei was as HOT as ever in this flick. Give me a minute while I think back about that........hmmm..... ahhh..... ok, better now. Pesci was about as funny as I have seen him. The only thing is that I still have trouble seeing Fred Gwynne as anyone but Herman Munster. I had the same problem with Pet Cemetery. Not his fault as he put in a good performance. I just watched a little too much TV as a kid. Still do I guess.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
    Great film & review. I saw this for the umpteenth time last weekend. I laughed like it was the first time I ever saw it. Marisa Tomei was as HOT as ever in this flick. Give me a minute while I think back about that........hmmm..... ahhh..... ok, better now. Pesci was about as funny as I have seen him. The only thing is that I still have trouble seeing Fred Gwynne as anyone but Herman Munster. I had the same problem with Pet Cemetery. Not his fault as he put in a good performance. I just watched a little too much TV as a kid. Still do I guess.
    As ALWAYS, G, thank you for your very kind words and for taking the time to read the review!

    My G-d are you right.....is Tomei HOT AS HELL in this or WHAT? Those short skirts, high heels.....damn.....she is just totally on fire, that chick.

    Agreed with everything else you said about Pesci and Gwynne.

    Thanks again for the kind comments, buddy!

  4. #4
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    As ALWAYS, G, thank you for your very kind words and for taking the time to read the review!

    My G-d are you right.....is Tomei HOT AS HELL in this or WHAT? Those short skirts, high heels.....damn.....she is just totally on fire, that chick.

    Agreed with everything else you said about Pesci and Gwynne.

    Thanks again for the kind comments, buddy!
    Yeah, she can help me with my briefs anytime.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by GMichael
    Yeah, she can help me with my briefs anytime.
    LOL. Agreed, G

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    You know something that I forgot to point out in the review that would make for an interesting discussion.....I totally forgot about Pesci's roles in the Lethal Weapon films; to me, after watching him in stuff like GooFellas and Casino, I just couldnt take him seriously in these films.....it was almost like we're watching another PERSON up there onscreen....

    Your thoughts?

  7. #7
    Class of the clown GMichael's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lexmark3200
    You know something that I forgot to point out in the review that would make for an interesting discussion.....I totally forgot about Pesci's roles in the Lethal Weapon films; to me, after watching him in stuff like GooFellas and Casino, I just couldnt take him seriously in these films.....it was almost like we're watching another PERSON up there onscreen....

    Your thoughts?
    A little, but since his role was so funny in this, it was only a small adjustment for me. I just didn't think that he could carry off being the main character until I saw him in this. He did a great job of making me laugh through the whole movie. But I never took his character seriously. It was even Tomei who came through in the end to save the day with her knowledge of cars. He was just there to collect the judgement.
    One more time.... Holy $%&#! she was HOT!!

    Wait, you meant his roles in GoodFellas & Casino? Ooops. Yup, I totaly agree.
    WARNING! - The Surgeon General has determined that, time spent listening to music is not deducted from one's lifespan.

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    "A little, but since his role was so funny in this, it was only a small adjustment for me."

    Yeah I can see that.....

    "I just didn't think that he could carry off being the main character until I saw him in this."

    He definitely was a great lead role in THIS particular comedy; I think he was just ridiculously over the top and silly in the Lethal Weapon films......

    "He did a great job of making me laugh through the whole movie. But I never took his character seriously"

    True; you cant take it seriously----but I still say that he performs better when Martin Scorsese is behind the camera shooting a mob film......

    "It was even Tomei who came through in the end to save the day with her knowledge of cars."

    Yes----I neglected to mention that part of her automobile knowledge in the review.

    "One more time.... Holy $%&#! she was HOT!!"

    YES----SAY IT AGAIN! AND AGAIN! AND........

    "Wait, you meant his roles in GoodFellas & Casino? Ooops. Yup, I totaly agree."

    Yup, I was referring to his roles he playes in those mob films; dont you think he plays that out-of-control-tough guy so well?

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