Mafia Blues 2 : La Rechute

Analyze That is the sequel to Analyze This and again re-unites Robert DiNero and Billy Crystal. The story picks up right where Analyze This left off. Paul Vitti is in jail and when unknown people try and kill him, he realizes he must get out and get to those responsible for the attempts in murdering him, before they get to him. He fakes an illness and gets released into his former shrink, Ben Sobel's, care.

I enjoyed the first one. I thought it had a a few funny moments, great acting, and I just overall enjoyed it. I didn't see the point in a sequel. However, I also enjoyed this one. It wasn't as good as the first, by no means. But it was still alright.

Once again, it had funny moments and great acting, but I didn't buy into the premise, and some of the dialog was a bit hammy. However, I enjoyed it and, if you watch one, you might as well watch the other.

A solid 6/10

"Analyze That", the first sequel to "Analyze This" is just more of the same. Of course, if you liked the original, that would be a good thing. If not...not. Crystal continues as the reluctant shrink while DeNiro continues a the mob boss with issues in this madcap attempt to capitalize on the success of "...This" by punching up "...That" with strippers, car chases, stunts, shootouts, etc. Enjoyable but, like most sequels, lacking the freshness of the original. (B-)

Analyze This had an element of novelty and a generous dose of humor. Lacking the novelty due to its sequelhood, Analyze That tries to compensate by making forays into the psyche of Dr. Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) as well as a little more (very little) analysis of mobster Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro). The psychology angle is not given much time or emphasis, but I suppose director Harold Ramis should get a couple of points for making a token effort.

The film is pretty funny and worth seeing, but doesn't really offer us anything new. This is forgivable, though, because Crystal and De Niro are entertaining enough to carry the picture. Overall, I'd recommend it -- it's funny and watchable and the two leads are very good.

The rise of the producing team of Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer (Top Gun, Flashdance and sundry other subtle works exploring the deepest secrets of the human heart) in the 1980s introduced the High Concept movie - one whose premise and entire raison d'être could be summed up in a single sentence, preferably referring to other hit movies – for example Days of Thunder was `Top Gun with cars.' 1999's Analyse This may have been a High Concept movie – Mafia Don Sees Shrink With Hilarious Results – but it had a lightness of touch that made it seem less like a focus-group product and more like an offbeat little comedy.

Unfortunately for Analyse That, the success of The Sopranos has made Mafioso-psychiatrist relations almost as much a cliché as two cops, one steady and by the book and the other an impulsive maverick, who initially hate each other but bond over the course of several gun battles. More fundamentally, the concept of Analyse This hasn't been taken any further. There could be some entertainment to be had when Robert de Niro's character takes a job as an advisor on `Little Caesar', a Mafia-themed TV drama, but the main joke is that the actor playing the Don is an Australian. It struck me that both actors who played Don Corleone in The Godfather series have now taken the mickey out of the mafia – Brando in The Freshman and now de Niro in the Analyse This and That series (if there's a sequel, what will it be called? Analyse The Other?)

Lisa Kudrow is grossly underused – one gets the feeling that much of her part ended up on the cutting room floor. Both Crystal and de Niro are pretty good (this is called `damning with faint praise' in the trade, if you're wondering) There are some pleasing shots of New York, and David Holmes' soundtrack has its moments (although is nothing to his work for Ocean's Eleven or Out of Sight) Analyse That is not a bad film, just a rather forgettable one. Puts the `sleep' into `sleeps with the fishes.'

As sequels go, this was above average. Which translates into a so-so+ movie. I gave it a 7 out of 10, instead of a 5 or a 6, because there ARE some great laughs in it. Although it pains me to say it, overall, as a movie, "Analyze That" was a bit flaccid, a bit pale, and certainly not as good as the original. It seemed tired and faded, somehow--- kind of like the recent "Men in Black II" sequel to MIB. However, if you are a Billy Crystal-hitting-old-age fan, and if you are a Robert DiNiro fan (and who isn't???--- and if you are gracious enough to be willing to be entertained for a couple of hours, go see it. You'll probably have a pleasant evening!