Showtime/Analyze That

Rating:
Summary: TAKE THE GOOD WITH THE BAD...
Review:
SHOWTIME ****

This is a light-hearted buddy movie that is thoroughly enjoyable. Pairing up two greats, Robert De NIro and Eddie Murphy, was pure casting genius, as they generate great chemistry together, making the film an action-comedy worth seeing. Robert De Niro does a great job as straight man for Eddie Murphy.

Robert De Niro plays the role of LAPD Detective Mitch Preston, a hard-boiled, no nonsense flatfoot, who knows the streets and knows how to do his job. Eddie Murphy plays the role of Officer Trey Sellars, a patrolman who also moonlights as a would be actor, talentless though he may be, as he would rather play a cop than be a cop.

Rene Russo, as gorgeous as ever, plays the role of television executive, Chase Renzi, who needs a hit show. She wants to do a cop reality show, and due to circumstances that present themselves, Detective Mitch Preston and Officer Trey Sellars have been tagged to foot that bill. Forced to work together, followed by television camera crews, the two become instant celebrities, much to Detective Preston's chagrin and Officer Sellars' delight.

William Shatner is in the film, playing himself as the actor who played cop T.J. Hooker on a television series of the same name. Shatner is up to snuff and very funny. Look for Alex Bornstein of Mad TV fame in the small role of the casting director. Look also for Johnnie Cochran in a cameo role.

Taken at face value, this is an action-comedy, buddy movie that is quite enjoyable.

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ANALYZE THAT **

As it was raining out, my twenty-two year old son decided to rent some films from the local video place. Being a huge Robert De Niro fan and, having really enjoyed "Analyze This", the prequel to this film, he rented this sequel, expecting a very funny film. We hunkered down to watch it together, waiting for the film to make us laugh. We had a very long wait.

It is hard to believe that Harold Ramis, the same director who successfully directed the very funny "Analyze This", as well as other successful comedic gems, such as "Groundhog Day" and "Bedazzled", could turn out such an unfunny clunker of a film. Ham handed, leaden, and obvious would best describe this effort. Of course, he is hampered by the material with which he had to work. There is only so much one can do with a script that is torpid, stupid, and just not funny. The director is lucky that he had such an excellent cast with which to work. Who knows how much worse this film would have fared in the hands of less talented and skillful actors.

Reprising their roles in "Analyze This", Robert De Niro, as Mob boss Paul Vitti, and Billy Crystal, as his reluctant shrink, Dr. Ben Sobel, do all they can to raise the material with which they had to work to another level. In the final analysis, they are unable to do so, and the film fails to deliver. In fact, the viewer ends up feeling almost embarrassed for them, so forced and contrived are their performances. They are simply not very funny.

The actual premise of the film is simple. Paul Vitti is in prison, on the cusp of completing his sentence, when he realizes someone is trying to kill him. He feigns insanity by singing show tunes and being seemingly catatonic, at times. The Feds call in Dr. Sobel, who is forced to take Vitti out of prison into his care and custody, with orders to get Vitti in shape for his parole board hearing and onto the straight and narrow. Once free, however, Vitti reveals to Dr. Sobel that his actions were merely part of a ruse to get out and discover who is trying to kill him.

Moving in with Dr. Sobel, Vitti disrupts the doctor's life. He fails to take to holding down a regular job, as he has socialization problems. When Vitti finally hooks up with a gig he can tolerate, as consultant to a TV series
about a mob boss, he uses the job as a front for bringing his old crew together and finding out who is trying to ice him.

Lisa Kudrow, as Dr. Sobel's wife, is not given much with which to work, and the little material with which she has to work is not particularly funny. Cathy Moriarty, who once played De Niro's wife in "Raging Bull", the film about boxing great, Jake LaMotta, is teamed up with De Niro again. Looking none the worse for wear, she appears here as a rival mob boss. She, too, does the best she can do with the hand that she has been dealt. In fact, the only person in this film who is remotely funny is Anthony LaPaglia in the role of the mob boss on the television series for which Vitti is a consultant. Unfortunately, his is but a small role.

Still, this is a film that devoted Robert De Niro or Billy Crystal fans may wish to see. In that case, rent it rather than buy it.