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Analyze That (Widescreen)

Analyze That (Widescreen)

List Price: $14.97
Your Price: $13.47
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 1 stars
Summary: How many F_ words can you fit into a movie?
Review: Robert De Niro is my favorite actor, and it pains me to see him in this unfunny, vulgar, insipid movie. The screenwriter strained to insert the F_ word into every sentence, whether the situation calls for it or not. Wit is replaced by vulgarity. I laughed only once throughout the entire movie. A total waste of acting talent and my time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Coming-of-Age Sequel
Review: Despite this sequel's lukewarm reception from audience & critics, I watched this movie for the sake of finding out if it is as bad it claimed to be. I reasoned to myself that maybe, its originality is gone due to Soprano's viewing. Moreover, all of us might get tired of those cliche overweight Italian mafioso with chunky gold necklaces, hair styles that are comparable to bricks in either their track-suits or in tailor-made Italian suits hanging out in a strip joint named Bada-Bing or perhaps, in pizza parlour or traditional Italian restaurant sampling spaghetti or meatballs with over-the-top body & verbal expressions. Yes, "Analyse That" did have those elements but not as significant as in "Analyse This". In this sequel offering, it's about De Niro's character's survival. He would need to weigh his options to outwit, outplay, outdo his opponents. With humour aside, this sequel is actually rather edgy. To put into another perspective, it is a more matured version of "Analyse This", where the characters were not as two-dimensional. Billy Crystal reprised his role as the shrink & this time around, he got to express his rough side as he was coping with the mourning over his love-&-hate father. Along the way, Billy's character realised that there's actually quite a similarity between him & De Niro's character of their complex over their fathers. "Analyse That" also slapped the "Soprano"s series on the face by having Anthony LaPaglia (a truly versatile Australian who played the lead in "Without A Trace", guest starring in "the Frasiers" as Dephany's brother with a rather plonky British accent) engaging De Niro's character as a advisor to his TV series character called Caesar. Naturally, the West Side Story singing by De Niro's character was a highlight but truth to be told, "Analyse That" is a worthy sequel to the original. The chemistry between De Niro & Billy Crystal alone is engaging to watch but the movie itself is well constructed & cohesive all around. Highly recommended & you won't be disappointed.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: They should have analyzed the script first
Review: Shrink Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) receives a call from his former pattient, mobster Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) during his father's funeral. He is brought into prison to treat Vitti; who has been singing songs from Broadway musicals before lapsing into a state of catatonia. This doesn't surprise Sobel who diagnoses Vitti as having "brief psychotic disorder". The problem is that the mobster could become a permanemt schizo if he remains in the prison environment. The solution? Have Vitti released into Dr.Sobel's care- and if Sobel refuses to accept he loses his license to practice psychiatry. So Sobel has no choice but to again work with a guy "with an I.Q just south of a bedroom slipper".
But upon picking Vitti up from prison Sobel finds out that the mafioso's been faking his symptoms because he's been targeted by his old cronies who literally want his head on a plate. So it's up to Sobel to attempt once more to help Vitti go straight. The first job opportunity that comes along seems talior made for Vitti: as a Creative Consultant on a Mob movie, which predictably turns sour. So it's not long before Vitti's back to his old ways, joining crime lord Lou Rigazzi and his "family" to help plan a gold heist, which Ben finds himself dragged into.
With Crystal and Barry Levinson serving as Executive Producers, and again Directed and Co-written by Harold Ramis, the man behind the wonderful GROUNDHOG DAY and the amusing MULTIPLICITY; ANALYZE THAT is a huge disappointment which pales in comparison to its predecessor. Obviously just an attempt to cash in on the success of the first movie, it's lacking that crucial something: A good script.
I laughed maybe twice during the entire movie, which offers less laughs in favor of more violence and ample profanity in pure GOODFELLAS fashion, so parental discretion is advised. Another quibble is that Lisa Kudrow has virtually nothing to do here, leaving you wondering if Ramis only recast her merely as a pretty face to offset tbe wrinkles of the movie's ageing leads.
Even the bloopers during the end credits aren't funny, though the cast and crew seem to think so. Methinks not. Rent this if you must, but don't buy it. If you want a laugh you're better off watching the first movie again. This is just a huge waste of talent.
DVD extras include Director's Commentary, behind the scenes doco, subtitles and a M.A.D.E test (Mafioso Association Degree Exam).

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: A waste of good talent!!
Review: The success of "Analyze This", a sparkling comedy about a "shrink" and his Mob boss-patient, is not duplicated in the sequel, "Analyze That". Crystal and DeNiro have the potential to be a great "ham-and-egg" comedy team, but they're not given much to work with in this snoozer of a plot.

As Crystal's character grieves the passing of his father, DeNiro's character's schemes a way out of prison in order to keep from being the victim of a plot to put him on ice, permanently. DeNiro fakes mental illness in order to get placed in Crystal's custody so he can get out of Sing Sing. The rest of the movie is spent with DeNiro trying to regain his status as mob while trying to figure out who attempting to bump him off. Crystal tries desperately to stay out of the way, but as you can imagine, gets hopelessly involved in DeNiro's affairs. Numerous predictable scenes (as well as copious amounts of gratuitous vulgar language) occur that seem to be part of the movie because of the lack of imagination and skill shown by the writing team.

Unfortunately the talents of two fine actors are wasted in this turkey. Both men put up a good front, but appear to be sleepwalking their way through the movie. A fine supporting cast, including an underused Lisa Kudrow and Cathy Moriarity-Gentile aren't enough to make this a memorable experience. In fact the only genuinely funny character is DeNiro's "right hand man", Jelly.

It's too bad because if you liked the first movie, you'll really go into this show with high hopes. The only good news is, at least, you'll only be out the cost of a VHS or DVD rental instead of movie ticket "sticker shock".

(unfortunately) NOT RECOMMENDED

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: OK movie made aweful for its language
Review: This was an amusing movie, but the language is 100% gutter. I have a household full of children and we don't speak in gutter talk. I guess mobsters do. I am half Italian, so i defineately mean Mobsters, not Italians. Rounded down from 2.5 stars to 2 stars for language.

I liked both movies otherwise and warmed to the De niro character.

I Actually liked Analyze That a little better than Analyze This. Now that I've seen them once, I see no need to see them again. So, get the kiddies out of the room and bring home the rental or buy one of those wireless headsets and turn off the sound.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Spare yourself.....
Review: This was quite possibly the worst movie I have ever seen. So dreadful that my wife and I stopped watching after 45 minutes. Don't buy it, rent it or think about it.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Schizophrenic script
Review: In this sequel to "Analyze This" Billy Crystal unwittingly helps his old pal Robert DeNiro escape from jail by declaring him mentally ill. Of course, DeNiro is just faking it by singing off-key renditions from "West Side Story". He is released into Crystal's custody and wreaks havoc in his household with his--shall we say--lack of social skills. This movie has its moments but they are too few and far between to match up to "Analyze This". There is no clear direction to the script and the writers seemed undecided as to whether the prevailing mood should be comic, dramatic, or whatever. This viewer felt a vague dissatisfaction at the end of the movie and thought that the comedic talents of two great actors were not well used.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Not too shabby
Review: The sequel to 1999's insanely popular "Analyze This" gets off to a good start. That is if you think watching Robert Deniro singing show tunes is the epitome of funny. Heck, I do and I have to admit, I couldn't stop laughing during the first 30 minutes or so.
Jelly's return was welcome but the film goes downhill from there. The undeniable chemistry between Crystal and Deniro is still there but the premise has become somewhat cliched. Or maybe what seemed fresh the first time seems rehashed the second time? The dialogue is somewhat stilted and lacks the sharp, snappy one-liners from the first film...and it seems they took a lot of what worked the first time and just said "Heck, we had a hit then, let's just milk the premise." There's also too much of an emphasis on gunplay and violence.
If you couldn't get enough of "Analyze That", you might want to check this out. If you are expecting anything fresh or inspired, look elsewhere. But Deniro somehow manages to be funny despite himself (and the film).

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: A hilarious movie
Review: When this movie came out in theatures, horrible critic reviews turned me away from the movie. I rented it on DVD not expecting much, and I was amazed at how great this movie was. This movie was much better than the first movie, that's for sure. Much better pacing, much less boring therapy sessions, much more action, and many more jokes. Yes, the plot doesn't seem as important as it did in the first movie, (probably the cause for the bad reviews,) but they obviously sacrificed a strong plot for more jokes. Why not? "It worked in Austin Powers 3, why shouldn't it work in this?" the film makers must have thought this while making the movie. While it doesn't go well with critics, I thought with comedies, it works well. And it does. Anyway, the plot is as follows; Paul Viti (Robert De Niro) is being targeted in jail. People are trying to kill him; why, or who, he doesn't know. So he uses Dr. Soble (Billy Crystal,) to get out of prison. His gang wants him back, and other gang rivals want to kill him for not joining them. That's basically the plot. Meanwhile, he must be gainfully imployed, and must have shown he is no longer in the gang. That's the plot. No, it is not much, but the the many funny moments make the movie worth seeing again and again. I don't go to comedies expecting a captivating plot, anyway.

The movie does have it's problems, however. First of all, Dr. Soble (Crystal,) and his family get much less screan time, which is kind of unfortunate, because Crystal is responsible for the funniest jokes in this movie. Not to mention that the movie tends to fall apart when Crystal and De Niro aren't both on screan together, something that was not the case with Analyze This. Crystal gets much less screan time during the middle parts of the movie, which tends to get a little dull, but otherwise, this movie was a laugh-a-minute (usually.) The acting was much better this time from De Niro, who seems much more like a gangster this time around. Chrystal's character is much more serious this time around, but he is still very funny in the role.

Overall, while nowhere a masterpiece, Analyze That is a great movie, with many laugh-out-loud moments. Just don't expect much in the way of plot.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Very funny but kind of drawn out.
Review: Summary:
Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), after having done his best to counsel notorious mobster Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) and help him overcome his anxiety is now faced with helping the mobster again. Vitti, beginning the movie in prison but with only a few weeks until his parole, has a contract on his head and he's scared. Feigning insanity, he is finally released into Sobel's care. Sobel is entrusted with this assignment by the FBI who is actually trying to set Vitti up believing he will recontact his old croons so they can bring them all down. Sobel, on the other hand, believes that Vitti is supposed to be reforming and therefore tries to help him find a job. He eventually lands one that works for him as a consultant on a mafia TV show (very Soprano's like), but is planning a massive heist on the side.

Of course, what we don't realize or perhaps Vitti doesn't realize, is that, with the help of Sobel - both physically and psychologically - Vitti's heist is going to turn into a scam that will rat out the people trying to kill him and end up putting them in jail - helping him, the FBI, and the new head of his mob family, Patti LoPresti (Cathy Moriarty).

My Comments:
Billy Crystal is funny; I don't believe anyone can argue that. Robert DeNiro, on the other hand, is fun to laugh at with the help of Billy Crystal. He doesn't really have the comedic touch, but teaming him up with Crystal, pioneered in Analyze This, seems to work just as well, if not better, in Analyze That.

The story is engaging for the most part, but definitely suffers from some serious slow time. Even though it is supposed to be funny, the time spent consulting on the TV show drags on and on. Perhaps this is understandable because Vitti needs time to develop his plan for the heist, but it really slows the movie to a crawl for a while.

The other part of the movie that just doesn't seem to work is the continual crying outbursts by both Vitti and Sobel. Sure, the movie is a comedy and perhaps, in a sense, this is frontier breaking work in having grown men crying on screen, but their crying comes across more as infant wailing then men expressing emotion. I felt it was just an odd mix of the actors trying to balance humor and seriousness because their psychological problems are supposed to be both at the same time - it just doesn't work.

Overall, the comedy makes up for the slow pace, but the movie isn't something special. It's funny, perhaps funnier than Analyze This because they learned what worked from the first one, but hopefully they will be content to let the series end with this one.


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