Analyze This (1999) 1 1/2 stars out of 4. Starring Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow. Directed by Harold Ramis.
The key to comedy is pacing and timing.
And the creators of "Analyze This" need to have their watches repaired.
"Analyze This" is slow, uneven and only intermittently humorous.
The movie is unoriginal, predictable and cliche-bound. Worse, you can see the actors working at trying to be funny.
Robert De Niro plays Paul Vitti, a powerful New York mobster who is having a mental crisis. He's under a lot of stress. His best friend has just been killed and he has to prepare for a big meeting of all the mob bosses from across the country.
Billy Crystal is Dr. Ben Sobel, a suburban shrink with a comfortable practice, a smart-aleck son and an insecure fiancé.
Fate takes a hand when Vitti's and Sobel's worlds collide - literally. Before you can say "GoodFellas," Vitti is unburdening himself to Sobel, much to the uptight doctor's dismay.
Vitti cannot take "no" for an answer, even though Sobel continually tries to discourage him from becoming a patient.
The comic possibilities of such a plot are unfulfilled in "Analyze This." It's flat and slow.
Unlike the new HBO series, "The Sopranos," which is an expanded version of the same premise - conflicted mobster unloads his psychic garbage on a sympathetic shrink - "Analyze Thi"s cannot sustain or take advantage of the possibilities of such a situation.
De Niro and Crystal seem lost, as if they cannot get a firm grasp on their characters. Crystal mostly frowns or looks scared, while De Niro does a lot of cursing, finger pointing and crying.
And lovely Lisa Kudrow is wasted in the thankless role of Crystal's frustrated fiance.
The only time the movie seems to come alive is when Sobel fills in as Vitti's representative at the big meeting and begins transforming it into a giant therapy session.
Other than that, "Analyze This" just plods along, hoping that the personality of its stars will carry the weight. Unfortunately, there is no strong script to bolster them.
"Analyze This" is a major disappointment, unworthy of the talents of its two stars.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind. He can be reached by e-mail at bloom@journal-courier.com or a cbloom@iquest.net
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