Le grand chaos

First of all, I've read in other reviews that this movie is a rip-off from 'Analyze This' and 'The Sopranos'. In my view, it's the other way around. This movie was released in 1997, the other ones in 1999. The movie itself is good, but not great. When I watched it, I had a few laughs and I certainly didn't bore myself. I'd give it a 7/10.

This is another success in the long line of National Lampoon comedies. I don't understand why it didn't go to the theaters, because it was a great addition to the name National Lampoon. It has some of the same plot elements that made "Analyze This" a success. The thought of a mob boss seeking psychiatric help is absurd enough, but the way he and the analyst go through the psycho-analytical process will keep you in stitches.

When I sat down to watch this I wasn't sure what it was going to be. Seeing the National Lampoon name on it I'd assumed it was going to be a comedy. After a while I realised that I wasn't laughing very much (if at all) and I assumed it must be a drama about the pressures of family life set in the mob.

As I watched this drama I then realised that the actors were playing mob caricatures with very weak performances and that the plot was lame and boring. So what was I watching!!!?

As the film closed I realised what I had done - I had wasted my time watching an idea that would later be done much better in both "Analyse This!" (for the gags) and "The Sopranos" (for the drama). Unfortunately that's all this seems to want to be, the film honestly has next to no laughs and no drama. I know Analyse This was only so-so itself, but it felt like the peak of comedy once I'd seen this.

It's truly sad that well-known actors such as Kevin Pollack and Sherilyn Fenn get involved with this nonsense. They have nothing to really do and I just felt that they were totally, totally wasted. The rest of the cast just stumble round in various stereotypical characters without any actual personalities or character, they are surprisingly dull and deadly unfunny.

Watching this almost makes me feel insulted that someone in TV land decided that this was all the entertainment I needed for a Friday evening.

The only reason I am commenting is because some guy out here called this "the worst movie he has ever seen". He followed this by saying he watched 20 mins. and returned it to the video store.(?) If you are from the East Coast,or have enjoyed Mafia style pictures in the past,this is a decently funny film,when you consider that it is nothing but a "spoof". It wasn't meant to be taken seriously..it's more like TV's "Married with Children". If you BELIEVE these premises,then I can't help you. I am a 64 year old,well read movie lover,and I actually laughed out loud more than once. So there...

I also must disagree with the guy who only watched 20 minutes of this movie. Being a National Lampoon film, I was expecting this to be pretty lame, but found myself laughing out loud at some points. Robert Loggia's performance was very funny. I would put this into the 'pleasant surprise' movie category.