This movie is still a favorite. Joe Pesci delivers the laughs in one of his finest and funniest roles post-Goodfellas as the not-too-bright, overconfident Brooklyn lawyer Vincent “Vinny” Gambini. Vinny gets in over his head after being called to represent his New York cousin and a friend, both college students, who were accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to school in California. It’s a fish-out-of-water story as Vinny learns about the Southern way of doing things and the decorum expected in the courtroom of Judge Chamberlain Haller (Fred Gwynne). Marisa Tomei, who won the Oscar for best supporting actress, plays Vinny’s girlfriend and girl Friday.

Trivia: The comic misunderstanding between Vinny and Judge Haller over the phrase “the two utes” was drawn from a real conversation between Pesci and director Jonathan Lynn, who couldn’t understand Pesci’s New Jersey accent.

See our August 2018 cover story: “The 25 Greatest Legal Movies.”