Analyze This

The charm of this movie is in the concept and perfect casting. Robert De Niro satirizes his past performances as a Mafia boss. And Billy Crystal as the unwitting psychiatrist who gets involved in the mess. It's truly funny and entertaining. The movie mostly benefits from very good direction by Harold Ramis and excellent performance by the actors and not just De Niro and Crystal.

The verdict: 4 of 5 stars.

I enjoyed this much more than I expected to. DeNiro hasn't had a part this good in years, and he plays it to the hilt. It will remind you why you liked him in the first place. Billy Crystal is just as good, but it DeNiro's movie all the way. Your life will not be changed by watching this, but you will enjoy it.

ANALYZE THIS / (1999) ***

It has been a long time since I have seen a comic duo form a better shtick than Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal in the mob comedy "Analyze This," a smart, amusing satire from director Harold Ramis ("Multiplicity," "Groundhog Day"). For a movie like this to succeed past a commercial level, chemistry between the main characters must be amiable and spirited. Crystal and DeNiro indeed mold amiable incentive between themselves, therefore quite a few hilarious moments emerge from their perception of the well-written script by Kenneth Lonergan, Peter Tolan, and Ramis himself.

"Analyze This" details the lives of two very different individuals. The first person is played by Billy Crystal, a calm, cool, and collected psychiatrist named Ben Sobol, who is divorced with a young teenage son and is engaged to soon wed a resigning TV reporter named Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow). Ben is currently dealing with a emotional patient (Molly Shannon) distressed because her spouse left and filed a restraining order on her. This woman's problems will seem like nothing when Ben obtains his new client.

Robert DeNiro plays the second person this movie examines, the most powerful mobster in the city of New York, Paul Vitti. He and his accomplices, including a chubby and clumsy bodyguard named Jelly (Joe Viterelli), are in the process of significant business when Vitti experiences an anxiety attack. On the road to a nervous breakdown, this emotionally vulnerable man comes to Ben after Jelly briefly encounters the therapist during a minor car accident. Ben is very nervous with his new patient, who forces compliments and demands upon him.

The first confrontation sequence between Ben and Paul is quite engaging. There is an instant odd couple chemistry among the two characters. The witty sessions Sobol and Vitti consummate are also very imaginative and smart. The scenes also have the intelligence to take Vitti's emotional problems seriously.

The setup accurately introduces both the gangsters and the psychiatrist's family. We understand the mob boss's feelings of stress and depression; this picture is not all shallow slapstick comedy, there is a dimensional human touch. The film takes its conflicts seriously, but executes them in a cute humorous style. The audience can also relate to Billy Crystal's character, who is an average Joe with a typical American family in a complicated situation in which he is not entirely sure how to handle.

Both external and internal conflicts are interestingly accomplished, well structured, presented, and written. The film does a good job of convincingly bringing the world of mobsters to life with well-cast actors and their rich, stylish accents.

Paul Vitti's sexual life needed more exploration; although his adulterous intentions do induce a few laughs, the story could have gone somewhere with his infidelity. Vitti's family is also irresolute. The film almost never portrays them on screen and seldom does Paul himself discuss his children and wife. The Lisa Kudrow character is furthermore underwritten, never thoroughly examined and very shallow. The lack of chemistry amid Kudrow and Crystal leads to the unconvincing relationship Ben occupies.

Robert DeNiro is the perfect option for the comic role of Paul Vitti, who is a more difficult character than it may appear. DeNiro triggers a sharp comic edge and gives the right amount of exaggerated sentimentality to Vitti. Lisa Kudrow is fun to watch, producing a dim-minded character whimsically similar to the one in her hit TV sitcom "Friends." Chazz Palminteri and Joe Viterelli contribute different but energetic supporting roles.

"Analyze This" is unmistakably the right kind of movie for Billy Crystal. I am unaware of another Hollywood comedian who could have conquered his role with more proficiency and mirth; he is one of the main components that makes "Analyze This" work well. Harold Ramis's comedy obviously borrows ideas from past comparable films like "Grosse Point Blank" and "Mafia," but as this production proves, just because it was done before doesn't mean it cannot be successfully accomplished again with the right casting.

This wasn't "hilarious" as everyone told me it was, but it was still very enjoyable and pretty solid entertainment. Although a comedy, it has violence and a lot of profanity.

Robert De Niro, as usual, is excellent and once again surprises viewers with his comedic talent. He plays a mobster (familiar territory) but one who needs psychiatric help. He's hilarious when he's crying! His "shrink" is played by Billy Crystal, in an untypical low-key character role. My favorite in this film was Joe Viterelli, the fat guy-mobster who has a few very funny lines. Viterelli is one of these guys you see in a ton of gangster movies and is always interesting.

The female lead in here, Lisa Kudrow ("Laura") was not appealing to me, character-wise. Overall, a funny movie and much better than the sequel.

Overall, I found "Analyze This" a very amusing comedy, well worth seeing. There are a number of laugh-out-loud lines, a screamingly funny parody of "The Godfather", and a well-chosen cast that's very funny. Movie is also very well photographed, and is never boring for an instant.

Some minor objections, though:

(1) Robert DeNiro was funny and believable - except for his crying scenes. These scenes came across as somewhat forced.

(2) Forgotten subplots. There are a couple of subplots - one with Crystal's relationship with his father, encounters with some FBI agents - that are started up, and then dropped and forgotten about. I strongly suspect this version we saw was cut from on originally longer print.