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The Movie: Recently I found myself as part of a jury on a fairly major case. I was lucky enough to have a judge with a sense of humor. He started the proceedings with a statement: "this isn't like what you've seen on television or the movies - this isn't "My Cousin Vinny"." The film is nothing outstanding, but certainly a comedy far above the average, providing some very solid laughs. Joe Pesci is Vinny, a "lawyer" from New York who comes to the rescue of his cousin, along with a friend, is falsely accused of murder in Alabama. The film doesn't have as much to do with the plot, which is not really anything that new. Instead, the material is taken to new heights by the performances, a couple of which are close to brilliant. He comes into town looking extremely out-of-place along with his girlfriend Mona(Marisa Tomei). The two bounce verbal insults off one another like a tennis match, but they certainly seem like they love one another in their quiet moments. The film is funny and even hilarious at times, but there are some gaps between humor where the film could have used a little bit of editing - director Jonathan Lynn's recent Whole Nine Yards wasn't quite as sharp as this film, but it never slowed in its 96 minutes. It's all about the performances, though. Pesci is wonderful, and Tomei deserved to win the best Supporting actress award at the Oscars. Not a perfect film, but very successful when it's at its best. The DVD VIDEO: Although it's not qutie as stunning as their efforts for White Men Can't Jump(also out this week), Fox has done a really fine job for their anamorphic transfer of "My Cousin Vinny", presented in the film's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio. Sharpness is consistently very good, and detail is solid as well. Colors are very well saturated without any instances of bleeding, and there are some outdoor scenes that display rich colors that look beautiful. The courtroom scenes aren't particularly colorful, but certainly look accurate and nicely rendered. Black level is strong, and flesh tones are natural. Flaws are minimal and include a couple of extremely minor instances of marks on the print used and a tiny bit of shimmer. These are hardly noticable though, and the majority of the presentation looks very good. Both this and White Men Can't Jump show that Fox is commited to providing solid efforts on their catalog releases. SOUND: There's nothing wrong with the Dolby Surround audio provided for "My Cousin Vinny", but there really isn't much going on in terms of sound during the film. The score has a nice presence and sounds extremely clear, but other than that, the film is almost completely dialogue-driven. MENUS:: Fox has done fine work again with their menus for "My Cousin Vinny"; although it doesn't look like too much when the menu opens, more is revealed. The main menu is the courtroom scene, with the only animation being a small TV playing scenes on one side - when the viewer makes a selection, the menu smoothly slides to part of a desk in the room to show sub-menu options. EXTRAS: Commentary: This is a commentary from director Jonathan Lynn, who also contributed a commentary to the recent edition of The Whole Nine Yards. This commentary is pretty similar to how I felt about that one. When Lynn is actually talking, he does offer quite a lot of interesting information about the production, but again - that's when he's talking. Like his other commentary, there's occasionally some pretty noticable gaps of silence between talking. I found what the director had to say informative and entertaining, although I would have liked less gaps. I suppose the fact that the film happened 8 years ago does make it hard to remember the details of the production, and with that in mind, he does a respectable job. At the very least, the addition of the track is an appreciated addition to the DVD. Also: 2 TV Spots, 2 Trailers. Final Thoughts: Fox's treatment of this popular title will likely please the film's many fans - picture and audio quality are pleasing, and the addition of a commentary and a few other materials definitely makes this worth a look. Purchase: My Cousin Vinny DVD @ Amazon.com 
Film Grade The Film B+ DVD Grades Video 90/A- = (360/400 possible points) Audio: 83/B = (332/400 possible points) Extras: 80/B- = (240/300 possible points) Menus: 85/B = (170/200 possible points) Value: 83/B = (249/300 possible points) TOTAL POINTS:1351/1600 DVD GRADE:B/84% FILM GRADE: B+ DVD GRADE: B |