Analyze This
Cast
Robert De Niro as Paul Vitti
Billy Crystal as Ben Sobel, M.D.
Lisa Kudrow as Laura MacNamara
Chazz Palminteri as Primo Sidone
Kresimir Novakovic as '50s Gangster
Directed by Harold Ramis
Rater #2 has description and review
Rater #1
Has Not Seen Movie
Rater #2
5/10. Harold Ramis has directed many of my favorite movies-Groundhog Day,
Bedazzled, et cetera. (He also directed Caddyshack, but I can forgive
him for that) His latest pic (besides the sequel) is Analyze This, a
mobster comedy. Like there haven't been enough already.
Billy Crystal is Dr. Ben Sobel, psychiatrist. He's rather popular.
Robert De Niro is Paul Vitti, gangster. He's rather deadly. However,
when his friend gets killed, he starts getting "conflicted" and can't
kill anyone now. He also can't "perform" with his mistress in bed. So
he goes to Sobel for help. Initially Sobel declines, but "something"
makes his mind. Well, that's about it.
To me, it seemed like everyone tried too hard. Crystal tried too hard
to not act funny, but he's a comedian! He's supposed to be funny.
About the only time he seemed to get into his groove was the funniest
part-at the convention. That's the time I laughed most. Actually,
that was the only prolonged and lingering laugh. The rest of the
time, the script seemed to be self-conscious and wanted us to know
that "we're trying to be funny! Laugh!" Now, I'm not saying that I
didn't laugh at all, there were quite a few "ha!"'s, but I think a
lot of them were forced. I've read rave reviews about it, but I don't
really understand why. De Niro obviously enjoys comedy, and he wasn't
bad, but his crying fits seemed quite fake and I didn't believe them
in a bit. For movies to work, you need to be able to believe what
they're trying to produce. As I was watching this movie, I felt like
I was watching another version of The Whole Nine Yards. Except that
one had certain nebbish believability. I couldn't think that Crystal
could successfully impersonate a gangster or that someone like Lisa
Kudrow would marry him, which brings me to my next point.
Too many thin characters. Kudrow was sadly wasted, with her being
billed as the third one but about three scenes (Jennifer Aniston from
Office Space, anyone?). It would seem like that she would be able to
have a larger role. Crystal's son Michael (Kyle Sabihy) was OK, since
we knew not to expect him later. But, with everyone in the crime
families, I couldn't keep everyone straight. Except, of course, for
Jelly. Jelly, played by Joe Viterelli, is easily the best character
in this movie. Although not much depth, he is great to watch. Also
thrown in there somewhere are Chazz Palminteri and Molly Shannon (?).
Thanks for really letting me get to know the characters, guys!
I do have something good to say about the script, though. It actually
made me like the main characters, no matter how two-dimensional they
may be. Well, maybe not when De Niro was crying, but all the other
times, I was right with them. Lots of scripts nowadays can't do that,
so they resort to tasteless jokes to try to win audiences over. Most
of the jokes were nice and clean (though they snuck a few dirty ones
under the radar).
Analyze This is an occasionally funny movie with lots of down points
but some uppers, also.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie
Rated R for language, a scene of sexuality and some violence.
Running time: 103 minutes
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