Мой кузен Винни

1992 film directed by Jonathan Lynn

My Cousin Vinny was a critical and financial success, with Pesci, Gwynne, and Tomei praised for their performances. Tomei won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Attorneys have also lauded the film for its accurate depiction of criminal procedure and trial strategy.

Driving through Alabama, Bill Gambini and Stan Rothenstein, college students from New York, shop at a convenience store. After they leave, the store clerk is robbed and killed. Due to circumstantial evidence, Bill is charged with first degree murder and Stan as an accessory; Bill and Stan had assumed the police were questioning them because Bill accidentally forgot to pay for a can of tuna. Because they can't afford a private lawyer, Bill and Stan contact Bill's cousin, Vinny Gambini, a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, who agrees to represent Bill and Stan for free. Vinny is newly admitted to the bar and has no trial experience. Vinny arrives in Alabama with his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito, who comes from a family of mechanics. Vinny fools the trial judge, Chamberlain Haller, into believing he is an experienced lawyer. However, Haller repeatedly holds Vinny in contempt for his abrasive attitude and ignorance of courtroom decorum. To the alarm of Bill and Stan, Vinny does not cross examine any of the witnesses in the preliminary hearing. Though he lacks the murder weapon, the district attorney, Jim Trotter III, has a strong case. After Vinny's poor showing at the hearing, Stan fires him and hires the public defender, John Gibbons. However, Gibbons's nerves and severe stutter assist the prosecution's case. Vinny makes up for his inexperience with an aggressive and perceptive questioning style. When he cross examines the first witness, Vinny uses his knowledge of the cooking time of grits to force the witness to admit that his perception of time was inaccurate, meaning he cannot corroborate the prosecution's timeline. Stan fires the public defender and rehires Vinny, who discredits the next two witnesses by questioning their ability to make a positive identification due to obstructions in their sightline and impaired vision. Trotter produces a surprise witness, the FBI analyst George Wilbur. Vinny objects, as Trotter failed to inform him ahead of time, but Haller spitefully overrules the objection. Wilbur testifies that the pattern and chemical analysis of the tire marks left at the crime scene are identical to the tires on Bill's car. In cross examination, Wilbur admits the tires on Bill's car are the most popular in America. Haller orders a lunch recess after Wilbur's testimony. Vinny asks for a full day's continuance to properly prepare for cross examination, but Haller refuses. While struggling to prepare, Vinny lashes out at Lisa, but realizes that one of her photos holds the key to the case: the flat and even tire marks over the curb reveal that Bill's car could not have been used for the getaway. After asking the local sheriff for a favor, Vinny drags an angry Lisa into court to testify; Lisa has an encyclopedic knowledge of cars. Lisa testifies that only a car with an independent rear suspension and Positraction could have made the tire marks, which rules out Bill's 1964 Buick Skylark. One model of car with these features is the similar looking 1963 Pontiac Tempest. Because both Buick and Pontiac are owned by GM, the Pontiac Tempest was also available in the same metallic mint green finish as Bill's car. Vinny recalls Wilbur, who confirms this information, discrediting his own testimony. Vinny then recalls the sheriff, who testifies that two men who fit Bill and Stan's descriptions have been arrested in Georgia for driving a stolen metallic mint green Pontiac Tempest, and were in possession of a gun of the same caliber used in the murder. In light of these revelations, Trotter dismisses all charges. Bill, Stan, the sheriff, Trotter, and even Judge Haller (who is now convinced that Vinny is legally practicing under the name Jerry Callo) congratulate Vinny and, as they drive away, Vinny and Lisa bicker about their wedding plans.

Screenwriter Dale Launer came up with the idea for My Cousin Vinny as a college student, after hearing about a lawyer who had finally passed the bar after their 13th attempt. Launer thought it would be funny to have someone traveling through the Southern United States run into legal trouble and end up being represented by that type of lawyer. Launer did not develop the concept until after he had written a few successful screenplays, including Ruthless People and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. He was inspired by the comedy of Sam Kinison, particularly his approach with hecklers, in developing Vinny, and he based the relationship between Vinny and his fiancée on two dating friends who would argue frequently.

With a budget of $11 million, My Cousin Vinny was more successful than anticipated, grossing $52,929,168 domestically and $11,159,384 internationally, bringing its overall worldwide total to $64,088,552.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a rating of 87%, based on 60 reviews. The site's consensus reads, "The deft comic interplay between Joe Pesci and Marisa Tomei helps to elevate My Cousin Vinny predictable script, and the result is a sharp, hilarious courtroom comedy." On Metacritic the film has a score of 68 out of 100 based on reviews from 23 critics. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film a grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times gave My Cousin Vinny 2.5 stars out of a possible 4. He declared that despite Macchio's co star billing, the actor was given little to do, and the film seemed adrift until "lightning strikes" with the final courtroom scenes, when Gwynne, Pesci, and Tomei all gave humorous performances. Ebert's television partner, Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune, liked the film more, singling out Dale Launer's screenplay for praise.

In an interview on March 14, 2012, the film's screenwriter, Dale Launer, talked about a sequel he had written involving Vinny Gambini practicing law in England. Marisa Tomei dropped out. The studio hired another screenwriter to rework the script without Tomei's character. Eventually, the project was shelved.

In 2017, author Lawrence Kelter began a My Cousin Vinny novel series with Back to Brooklyn, which is intended to be in the spirit of The Thin Man series. With the setting updated to contemporary times, the series depicts the further cases of Vinny Gambini with Mona Lisa operating as his investigator. After additionally writing a novelization of My Cousin Vinny alongside the first sequel, a third book, titled Wing and a Prayer, was published in August 2020.

Pesci reprised the Vinny Gambini character for his 1998 album Vincent LaGuardia Gambini Sings Just for You, which contains the song "Yo, Cousin Vinny". The album cover portrays Pesci in a red suit similar to the usher suit he wore in the film.