My Cousin Vinny
While driving through the fictional Beechum County, Alabama, on their way to visit UCLA, New Yorkers Billy Gambini (Macchio) and his friend Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) accidentally forget to pay for a can of tuna after stopping at a convenience store. After they leave the store, the clerk is shot and killed, and Billy and Stan, who match the descriptions of the murderers given by witnesses, are then pulled over and detained in connection with the murder. Due to circumstantial evidence and a series of miscommunications based on the boys' assumption that they have merely been detained for shoplifting, Billy ends up being charged with murder, and Stan is charged as an accessory.
The pair call Billy's mother, who tells her son that there is an attorney in the family, Billy's cousin, Vincent LaGuardia Gambini (Pesci), who travels to Beechum County accompanied by his fiancee, Mona Lisa Vito (Tomei). Unfortunately, although he is willing to take the case, Vinny is a neophyte personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, New York, newly admitted to the bar (after six attempts and six years), with no trial experience whatsoever.
Although Vinny manages to fool the trial judge, Chamberlain Haller (Gwynne), about being experienced enough to take the case, his ignorance of basic court procedures and abrasive, disrespectful attitude towards the judge gets him into trouble immediately. Much to his clients' consternation, Vinny does not even bother to cross-examine any of the witnesses in the probable cause hearing. As their claims go unquestioned, it appears that the prosecution has an airtight case that will inevitably lead to a conviction at the trial. After Vinny's poor showing at the hearing, Billy and Stan decide to fire him and use the public defender John Gibbons (Austin Pendleton), but Vinny asks for a chance to question one witness to prove himself.
The trial then opens with Vinny representing his cousin and the public defender representing Stan. Despite some further missteps, including wearing a long-tailed polyester tuxedo to court (his suit fell in the mud) and sleeping through the opening statement made by District Attorney Jim Trotter, III (Smith), Vinny shows that he can make up for his ignorance and inexperience with an aggressive, perceptive questioning style. While the public defender stutters through a line of ill-prepared questions that appear to bolster the case against the boys, Vinny quickly and comprehensively discredits the testimony of the first witness. Billy's faith is rewarded, and Stan yells out in court that he wants to retain Vinny after all.
Vinny's cross-examinations of the remaining eyewitnesses are similarly effective, but the DA produces a surprise witness: George Wilbur (James Rebhorn), an FBI analyst who testifies that his chemical analysis of the tire marks left at the crime scene shows that they are identical to the tires on Billy's Buick Skylark. Allowed only a brief recess to prepare his cross-examination and unable to come up with a particularly strong line of questions, Vinny becomes frustrated and sarcastically taunts Lisa about the usefulness of her wide-angle photographs of the tire tracks. She storms out, leaving Vinny alone. Moments later he later realizes that that photo actually holds the key to the case: the flat and even tire marks reveal that Billy's car could not have been used for the getaway. Vinny needs Lisa, an expert in automobiles, to testify to this. He drags her into court, and during Vinny's questioning, they patch up their differences.
Lisa proves Vinny's theory correct, as the pictures show that the getaway car had to have both a limited-slip differential and an independent rear suspension, and Lisa testifies that only two General Motors cars of similar vintage to Billy's Skylark offered both of these features; the Chevrolet Corvette (which, due to its well-known body shape, would not be mistaken for any other car) and the Pontiac Tempest (which is similar in body styling to Billy's Skylark). Vinny then recalls the FBI analyst, who concurs with Lisa that Billy's car did not produce the tracks. Next, Vinny calls the local sheriff, Dean Farley (McGill), who has run a records check at Vinny's request. The sheriff testifies that two men resembling Billy and Stan were arrested in Georgia driving a stolen Pontiac Tempest and in possession of a gun of the same caliber used to kill the clerk. Trotter then moves to dismiss all charges against Billy and Stan.
Throughout the film, Vinny and Judge Haller play a game of cat-and-mouse over Vinny's qualifications. Haller first discovers that, despite Vinny's claims that he tried "quite a few" murder cases, there exist no records of anybody named Vincent Gambini trying any case in New York State. Vinny then claims that he had his name changed during a previous career as a stage actor and continued to use the name when he opened a law practice. Vinny, believing that he should give the judge the name of someone with the kind of resume he claimed to have, supplies the name of a prominent New York attorney, Jerry Gallo. Unfortunately, Lisa reveals the source of Gallo's most recent publicity: he died the week before. Vinny then claims that Haller misheard "Gallo" when Vinny actually said "Callo". Finally, Lisa gets Vinny off the hook by calling his mentor, a judge from New York, who responds to Haller's request by claiming that Jerry Callo has a long and impressive trial history. The film concludes with Haller apologizing for doubting Vinny and praising his skills as a litigator. Vinny and Lisa then drive off together, arguing about plans for their wedding.
