Plot

Two New Yorkers accused of murder in rural Alabama while on their way back to college call in the help of one of their cousins, a loudmouth lawyer with no trial experience.

Bill Gambini and Stanley Rothenstein are two friends from New York University who just received scholarships to UCLA. They decide to drive through the South. Once they arrive in Alabama, they stop at a local convenience store to pick up a few snacks. But, no sooner than they leave the store, they are arrested. They had thought that they were arrested for shoplifting, but they were arrested for murder and robbery. Worse, they are facing execution for this crime. Bill and Stan do not have enough money for a lawyer, so the good news is that Bill has a lawyer in his family, his cousin, Vincent Laguardia Gambini. The bad news is that Vinny is an inexperienced lawyer who has not been at a trial. So, Vinny has to defend his clients and battle an uncompromising judge, some tough locals, and even his fiancée, Mona Lisa Vito, who just does not know when to shut up, to prove his clients' innocence. But he will soon realize that he is going to need help.—John Wiggins

New York friends Bill Gambini and Stan Rothenstein, driving the scenic route to Southern California where they will be attending college, are in rural Alabama when they are pulled over by the police. Thinking they will be charged with shoplifting as Bill had just discovered that he inadvertently left the Sack-O-Suds convenience store without paying for a can of tuna, and confessing to "the crime" when questioned by Sheriff Farley, they find that they are instead charged, in their "confession", of murder and accessory to murder of the store clerk with witnesses claiming to have seen two young men driving away from the store following gunshots, they and their vehicle fitting the description given by the witnesses. With Bill's mother back in New York the only person they know to call, and unable to afford a high-priced lawyer as poor college students, they are advised to have Bill's cousin, Vinny Gambini, represent them. A stereotypical brash Italian Brooklynite, middle-aged Vinny only recently passed the bar and is a proverbial ambulance chaser with no trial experience. Regardless, Bill has faith in Vinny in the Gambinis being experts in arguing. Vinny is even more of a fish out of water than Bill or Stan, as that status is both in locale with the New York gang viewing the Deep South as backward and corrupt, but also in the courtroom, especially in Vinny's dealings with uncompromising Judge Chamberlain Haller. Still, Vinny knows the importance of what he is tasked to do in Bill and Stan's lives being on the line. Added to the mix is Vinny's equally brash girlfriend, Mona Lisa Vito, who wants to help in any way she can as Vinny has told her they will get married after he wins his first case, but with Vinny always putting her to the side in wanting to prove his mettle as a lawyer on his own.—Huggo

Two teenage boys from New York are travelling down south when a series of coincidences lands them in jail charged with first degree murder. They can't afford the $50K for an attorney so they call the lawyer cousin of one of the boys. Vinny is a stereotypical New Yorker who is initially a complete disaster, but can he get them off the hook ?—Rob Hartill

While heading for college, Bill and Stan are arrested in Alabama when circumstances point to them as having murdered a convenience store clerk. Unable to afford an attorney, they turn to Bill's cousin Vinny, a brash New Yorker who took six tries to pass his bar exam. Worse, until now he's only taken personal injury cases, none of which have gone to trial. Dragging along his even more abrasive fiancee Mona Lisa Vito, Vinny will have to straighten up fast, and keep out of jail himself, if he's going to win the case.—rmlohner

While driving through the fictional Beechum County, Alabama, New Yorkers Bill Gambini (Ralph Macchio) and his friend Stan Rothenstein (Mitchell Whitfield) accidentally neglect 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 by the local sheriff, Farley (Bruce McGill) 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 falsely says he shot the clerk (his tone is indignant but taken down as a confession) and 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 "Vinny" Gambini (Joe Pesci), who travels to Beechum County accompanied by his fiancé, Mona Lisa Vito (Marisa Tomei). Unfortunately, although he is willing to take the case, Vinny is a personal injury lawyer from Brooklyn, New York, newly admitted to the bar (after six attempts and six years) with no trial experience.

Although Vinny manages to fool the trial judge, the stoic Chamberlain Haller (Fred 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. When Vinny is ordered to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, he tries to talk his clients way out of the charges without a trial, much to the irritation of Haller, who also admonishes Vinny's attire of a leather blazer and unkempt hair and charges him with contempt of court and has him sent to jail for a night.

Later, much to his clients' consternation, in the initial hearing Vinny does not cross-examine any of the witnesses. As their claims go unquestioned, it appears that the district attorney, Jim Trotter III (Lane Smith) has an airtight case that will inevitably lead to a conviction at the trial. Vinny is again charged with contempt for not dressing properly and is ferried away to the same jail as his clients. On the way, he explains to them both that a trial was inevitable considering the charges and the case being brought in a Southern town.

After Vinny's poor showing at the hearing, Stan has decide to fire him and use the public defender, John Gibbons (Austin Pendleton). Billy isn't quite convinced and meets with Vinny, expressing his lack of faith. Vinny asks for one more chance to prove himself. He shows Billy that Trotter's case is based entirely on circumstantial evidence with little real proof by using a simple card trick and claiming that it's going to be much harder to fool a Gambini than Trotter believes.

The trial then opens with Vinny representing his cousin and the public defender representing Stan. Despite some further missteps, including wearing a gaudy secondhand tuxedo to court when his suit is accidentally soiled in mud and sleeping through Trotter's opening statement, Vinny shows that he can make up for his ignorance and inexperience with an aggressive, perceptive questioning style.

While the public defender is shown to have a debilitating stammer, Vinny quickly and comprehensively discredits the testimony of the first witness. Vinny makes a point of grilling the man until he confesses that he, at least, misremembered some of the details about spotting the crime while cooking grits for his breakfast. Billy's faith is rewarded, and Stan develops newfound respect and confidence for Vinny, firing the public defender.

Vinny's cross-examinations of the remaining eyewitnesses are similarly effective and respectful. He is able to prove conclusively that an elderly woman with poor vision and very thick-lensed spectacles couldn't have seen even half the distance she claimed. A third witness admits that he couldn't have possibly seen the crime happen through a dirty window, rusty screen and several bushes and trees in his line of sight. Trotter shoots back and 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, even the same model of Michelin tire. With only a brief recess at a nearby restaurant to prepare his cross-examination and unable to come up with a particularly strong line of questions, Vinny becomes frustrated and lashes out at Lisa by taunting her about the usefulness of her wide-angle photographs of the tire tracks at the crime scene. She storms out, leaving Vinny alone. Back in court, he has an epiphany that the photo actually holds the key to the case.

Vinny needs Lisa, an expert in automobiles, to testify to his discovery in the photo. After requesting research from the local sheriff (later revealed to be a records search for a stolen automobile) Vinny drags Lisa into court as a rebuttal witness to Wilbur. She is questioned by Trotter about her expertise in automobiles (a procedure called "voir dire") and soundly foils his attempt to discredit her with a trick question. Trotter allows her to testify.

During Vinny's questioning, Lisa comes to the same conclusion regarding the tire marks and testifies accordingly. The tire marks at the crime scene couldn't have been laid by a 1964 Buick Skylark like Billy's, which did not have a suspension and differential system called "Positraction" that would have made two flat and even tire streaks like those in the photo. She also claims that the car that actually made the tire marks must have been a 1963 Pontiac Tempest which is very similar in size and body style to a '64 Skylark and would have Positraction and would be available with the same color paint because both cars were made by General Motors. Vinny and Lisa both relish their victory and seem to have resolved their earlier argument. Trotter and Wilbur have a tense and quiet conversation until the judge loudly interrupts them and Vinny recalls the FBI analyst who corroborates Lisa's testimony.

Next, Vinny calls Sheriff Farley, who has run the records request. The sheriff testifies that two men resembling Billy and Stan were recently arrested in Georgia driving a stolen 1963 Pontiac Tempest equipped with the same Michelin tires as Billy's car and in possession of .357 caliber pistol, the same caliber used to kill the clerk. Trotter then respectfully moves to dismiss all the charges.

Throughout the story, 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 later tells Vinny that Gallo died the previous week, and when Haller learns this, Vinny claims that Haller misheard "Gallo" when Vinny actually said "Callo". Finally, Lisa clears Vinny's standing by calling his mentor, Judge Malloy 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, bickering about their future wedding plans.