ANALYZE THIS *** (R) (out of four)
Paul Vitti: Robert De Niro Ben Sobel: Billy Crystal Laura MacNamara: Lisa Kudrow Jelly: Joe Viterelli Primo Sindone: Chazz Palminteri
Directed by Harold Ramis. Written by Peter Tolan, Ramis & Ken Lonergan. Running time: 106 minutes. Rated R (for language, a scene of sexuality and some violence).
BY AARON MICHAELS
Analyze This stars Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri who have both used up a good amount of their film careers playing mobsters. It just seems to be the characters they are offered. This time around they get to put a little satire into the mix to produce one funny mobster picture.
Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) is a psychiatrist who is having a tough time in life. He can't stand how pathetic and uninteresting the people who come to his office are. His son spends all his time listening in on his conferences with the patients also. The only bright spot in his life is his upcoming marriage to his girlfriend Laura (Lisa Kudrow).
Don Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) is also having a tough time. He is having problems with anxiety attacks and crying at sappy TV commercials. This is horrible because people can't be afraid of a crying mobster. He calls upon Ben to cure him. This messes up Ben's wedding plans and turns his life upside down.
Robert De Niro does a wonderful job playing his usual mobster character with a twist. His crying scenes caught me very off guard and got quite a few laughs. Billy Crystal also does a good job and redeems himself after My Giant and City Slickers 2: The Search For Curly's Gold.
Director/Co-Writer Harold Ramis does a fine job highlighting many scenes and not over doing them. He has done this before with the very good pictures Groundhog Day and Caddyshack. Other directors would have overused the comedy or gangster parts of the movie and seem lopsided, but Ramis balances them very well. The pacing of the film is also very well done and the film is over before you know it.
The film does however overuse a couple of scenes dealing with the FBI trying to track down Vitti. This type of sub-plot has been used over and over again for a long time. Also the film, although has a good many solid laughs, isn't hysterically funny like Ramis past pictures. Maybe it was hard to make more fun of the mobster business though.
Analyze This is a fine comedy that, although a little predictable at times, does offer some comedy greats teaming together and is quite enjoyable.
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