In this enjoyable fish-out-of-water comedy, Joe Pesci plays the Vinny of the title, an extremely inept lawyer (who has never tried a case in court), who comes to the rescue of his young cousin (Ralph Macchio) when the lad runs into a bit of trouble with the law in the Deep South. Pesci has great fun with his role - a huge departure from his Oscar-winning turn as a gangster in GoodFellas - but the biggest surprise is Marisa Tomei, who plays his coarse Brooklyn girlfriend. Although she's great in what was her first major role, there was widespread surprise when she walked off with the best supporting actress Oscar, beating three British nominees, including Miranda Richardson for her role in Damage.

Two carefree pals from Brooklyn traveling through rural Alabama on their way back to college are mistakenly arrested, and charged with murder. Fortunately, one of them has a cousin who's a lawyer - Vincent Gambini, a former auto mechanic from Brooklyn who just passed his bar exam after his sixth try. When he arrives with his leather-clad girlfriend, to try his first case, it's a real shock - for him and the Deep South!