My cousin Vinny

Two naive college boys, Billy and Stan, are on a summer holiday driving across Alabama, deep in the American south, when they unexpectedly find themselves accused of murder. Fearing the death sentence Billy calls his cousin Vincent La Guardia Gambini (Joe Pesci), a brassy and inexperienced New York lawyer, to defend him. Continuously charged with contempt of court by Judge Haller (Fred Gwynne in his final film role), Vincent has the odds stacked against his client, and has to learn the manner and quirks of the law in order to win the case. Marisa Tomei plays Vinny’s fast-talking fiancee (clad in a series of garish outfits) whose automobile expertise may be the key to proving Billy and Stan’s innocence. “My cousin Vinny” is a courtroom comedy that pitches abrasive New Yorkers against redneck Southerners, with all the cultural cliches of both sets of Americans broadly drawn on. Directed by Jonathan Lynn (The Whole nine yards, Sgt. Bilko), “My cousin Vinny” is probably best remembered as the film that won Marisa Tomei an Oscar for best supporting actress.