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Analyze This
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by Warner Home Video
Sales Rank: 5228
Price: $9.94
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Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal together in a film and it should be a sucker's bet as to who's going to be funnier and who's going to give the more nuanced performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of the laughs in <I>Analyze This</I>, a buddy action-comedy about a mob boss (De Niro, natch) suffering from panic attacks who makes a nebbishy shrink (Crystal, natch) an offer he can't refuse--actually, it's not really an offer, it's a command. The good doctor is forced to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the brilliant TV series <I>The Sopranos</I> not underscored how thin and watery and shticky director-cowriter Harold Ramis's approach to such potentially rich material actually is, the movie--a hit in theaters and De Niro's biggest film ever--would seem more fresh and kicky. De Niro's definitely a hoot as the ever milder menace, and Crystal actually concentrates on giving a credible performance opposite the acting legend (alas, he doesn't turn his character's fear of his patient into inspired comedy, as Alan Arkin did in <I>Grosse Pointe Blank</I>). The conclusion devolves into the requisite gunplay, and Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow are criminally wasted as an opposing mob boss and Crystal's fiancée, respectively, but overall, it's breezy fun. <I>--David Kronke</I>
Viewer Reviews
I know that "Analyze This" was marketed as a comedy but is a movie that makes fun of a man being thrown out of a seven story window really that funny? Robert DeNiro spoofs his gangster image (four letter words and all) as Paul Vitti the gangster who turns psychiatrist Ben Sobol's (Billy Crystal)life upside down when he turns up for therapy sessions. Director Ramis seems to have had trouble in drawing the line between a comedy spoof and a straight gangster drama. I mean there are brutal murders taking place all over this movie. The situation where Crystal walks into a gangster summit meeting unopposed is hard to believe. These are supposed to be the smartest criminal minds in the U.S. not dumb gangsters. There are some good comedic moments in the film, however one never knows when and where to take the plot elements seriously or lightly.You know the film is in trouble when the best comedic moments are in the trailer. The rest of the cast, with the exception of Joe Viterelli as "Jelly" DeNiro's henchman are largely wasted. Lisa Kudrow as Crystal's love interest hardly has more than a cameo and Chazz Palminteri has little to do as DeNiro's chief nemesis. If you blink you'll miss Bill Macy (of TV's Maude fame). Comedy or Drama? Only Harold Ramis knows for sure.
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Analyze This
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