ANALYZE THIS A film review by David N. Butterworth Copyright 1999 David N. Butterworth
*** (out of ****)
With its fondness for slick Armani wardrobes, Caddies with ample trunk space, and Italian family restaurants, the Mob is a prime target for parody. Filmmakers willing to make a mockery of organized crime have a relatively easy task, but it takes a certain skill to rise above the ordinary.
Recently, "Jane Austen's Mafia!" used the gag-a-minute technique (first unleashed on the unsuspecting public in "Airplane!" by the team of Zucker, Abrahams, and Zucker) to lampoon "The Godfather" and its many cinematic wannabes. In "Analyze This," director Harold Ramis ("Groundhog Day") and his screenwriters have found their own secret weapon to ridicule the Mafiosi in Robert De Niro.
De Niro, himself an alumnus of the influential "Godfather" series, has played a mobster on innumerable occasions. Yet with "Analyze This," Hollywood's most prolific of actors proves that, even after all these years, he's still capable of something a little different.
De Niro plays mob boss Paul Vitti and at times in the film you'd swear you were watching a sequel to "Goodfellas": De Niro is unsparing in his portrayal of a ruthless, tough-as-nails gangster, from his dress sense, to his Brooklyn patois, to his everyday behavior (not all of it good). But Vitti has a problem. He's starting to go soft. He worries a lot, and is experiencing these so-called panic attacks. Oh, and he bursts into tears at the slightest provocation. Not something someone in his profession would be wise to admit.
But when he does confess to needing help to his bodyguard, the terrifically dumb Jelly (Joe Viterelli) just happens to be carrying an appropriate business card. Earlier that evening psychiatrist Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) rear-ended Jelly's limo and was quick to provide insurance information.
Vitti meets "da shrink" and realizes, much to Sobol's chagrin, that he's the man to solve all his problems. Soon to be married (to "Friends"' Lisa Kudrow, who fails to add much to the proceedings), Sobol tries valiantly to sever his blossoming relationship with Vitti, but instead succeeds in winning the confidence of the uncompromising mobster. Winning in the sense of:
Vitti: "Do you know who I am?" Sobol: "Yes." Vitti: "No you don't." Sobol: "No I don't." Vitti, sporting De Niro's knowing wink and pointing an appreciative finger at his analyst: "You... You... You're good." Sobol: "Well, I wouldn't..." Vitti (voice raised threateningly): "You're good!"
Crystal *is* good, but he's a comedian first and an actor second, which causes him to exhibit some annoying smirkiness in "serious" scenes. De Niro, on the other hand, is an extraordinarily versatile actor who can nail comedic roles, and that's the significant difference between the two performers. The script does require Crystal's character to stand in for De Niro's during the big meeting of the mobs, thus allowing Crystal to deliver his virtuoso gangsta shtick in the face of Vitti's rival, played with well-dressed menace to society by Chazz Palminteri.
Unfortunately, the film's subject matter necessitates some large doses of violence in and amongst the couch trips, but De Niro and Crystal work so well together that the inevitable whackings seem almost forgivable in context.
A slightly bent cross between "Midnight Run" and "What About Bob?," "Analyze This" is a successful product of casting. The movie overreaches its conventional "*You* try telling him his 50 minutes are up" promotional campaign by delivering two deft, on-the-money performances that bring down the house. Crystal is good, and De Niro is even better.
-- David N. Butterworth dnb61@hotmail.com
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