The Happy Bastard's Quick Movie Review
ANALYZE THIS
How does one do a comedy focused on the mob? Well, a few years ago, there was a sly little comedy called The Freshman, which had Marlon Brando doing a romp of a send-up of his famous Don Corleone character and, recently, the utterly stupid (in a bad way) movie Mafia! failed to really get the joke. This time around, however, Warner Bros. may have gotten it right with Analyze This, a movie that hits its targets more than it misses...and for plenty of reasons.
The story goes like this. A mobster (Robert DeNiro) finds himself receiving several panic attacks as of late, fueled by the stress of an upcoming mobster meeting and a near-death following a drive-by shooting. It's these attacks that prompt him to hire a psychiatrist (Billy Crystal) who's mostly reluctant to take the mobster's case for two reasons. First, of course, he's a mobster, but secondly, he's trying to get married and enjoy a quiet honeymoon with his wife (Lisa Kudrow) and kid. And, of course, he can't rest worth for a moment because the mobster's goons are always needing the shrink for something, be it a quick consultation or dream analyzation.
Fortunately, the movie is played out for plenty of laughs. Director Harold Ramis (who also helmed the comedy Multiplicity, which wasn't half bad) keeps the tone peppy and light, even if it's sometimes sprinkled by slight dramatic moments (shootings can't always be taken for laughs, you know). DeNiro does some of his finest comic work since The King of Comedy, giving off a somewhat similar performance to his role in Goodfellas, but with a bit of a lighter heart. (A scene where he tries to display his anger over the phone and fails miserably is hilarious.) Crystal plays an excellent straight man to DeNiro's character, uplifting him from such bombs as Father's Day and My Giant. Kudrow is also a hoot as Crystal's wife-to-be, who's on the verge of a breakdown thanks to DeNiro's presence.
Is the movie perfect? Not really, thanks to a simplistic ending and some slightly wasted moments with a character portrayed by Chazz Palminteri (he's a comic actor, too, come on, give him some more!), but it is an enjoyable romp that lets DeNiro do something different but same for a change, taking his dramatic act to a new field of comedy. Kudos to Crystal and Kudrow for not just making it his show, either.
Line of the movie: Crystal: "When you said you needed family therapy, this is NOT the family I had in mind!"
RATING: 8 out of 10
The Happy Bastard (You talkin' to me?!)
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