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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: Why did they bother ?
Review: When you see the stars of this movie laughing silly in the out-takes shown during the end credits, you realize immeadiately this is one of those movies in which the actors had a much funnier time making the film, than the audience had watching it.
I absolutely loved "Analize This" but "That" is a waste of time.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Do we really need analysis of this silly thing?
Review: There were lots of laughs in this movie at times, but the vulgarity could have been lessened or omitted for a good portion of this movie. Billy Crystal is no Richard Dreyfus (as in WHAT ABOUT BOB) but he was delightful just the same. The old guy could have been good.
The actor who carried this movie was the one trying to be a director of a movie within the movie. I could not tell from the credits (very unsettling with all those goofs playing at the same time) who this marvel was. Hope he will be a star in his next film.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Bada Bing, Bada Boom!!!!
Review: Definitely a worthy sequel to the gut-busting Analyze This. It's an extremely funny movie from start to finish. True, there's nothing too different from its predecessor, but come on! How many comedy series have sequels that are any different from the first one. Honestly, the two "Analyze" movies have to be the funniest mobster spoofs of all time, sharing the stage with Get Shorty. Such wicked good fun. For sure worth grabbing.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ANALYZE THAT IS GREAT!
Review: I READ ALL THE NEGATIVE 'ANOTHER DUD SEQUEL' REVIEWS, SO I WAS SURPRISED THAT I LAUGHED SO MUCH! THERE ARE QUITE A FEW FUNNY MOMENTS, THE SINGING IN JAIL AND THE DINING ROOM FLASHING MADE ME LAUGH OUT LOUD! ANALYZE THAT IS MAYBE NOT QUITE AS GOOD AS THE FIRST MOVIE, BUT WHAT SEQUEL IS? IT'S DEFINATELY ENTERTAINING, AND CHEERED ME UP ON A DULL NIGHT! DE NIRO AND CRYSTAL MAKE A GREAT PAIR!! IF YOU GET THE CHANCE, WATCH IT!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: So awful my whole party decided to leave before the end
Review: Usually, when I decide to walk out on a movie, it's because I know in the first 20 minutes (in time to get my ticket money back) that it is never going to work for me. In this case, we were misled by our liking for the "Analyze This" to keep expecting something genuinely funny, which never happened. Instead, we were bored and assaulted by endless, unfunny sexual innuendo. Before the end, my whole party decided that we'd rather walk out and LOSE our money (but gain that many miutes of our lives) than put up with this awful film for even another five minutes.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: Low risk, low return
Review: In the manner of most sequels, "Analyze That" tries to trade on the success of its warmly funny predecessor by making minimal changes to the script. This time it's Crystal who has the 'father issues' and De Niro who ends up helping him. But watching a neurotic New York shrink grapple with his own inferiority isn't half as funny as watching a tough-guy, Mob boss do the same. Isn't that obvious? Apparently not to Harold Ramis and his co-writers, who make matters worse by refusing to come up with anything new (other than a canny lampooning of "The Sopranos"). There are endless of echoes of the first film: fantasy reverie sequences; plenty of "you, you've got a talent, you" from De Niro; and an emotional subtext which strives to be moving. But these only remind you of how good "Analyze This" was, and how good this one isn't. When the shrink jokes run dry, it just degenerates into a slapstick heist without any of the tense comic agony that distinguished the first film's climax. Crystal and De Niro make the most of the lukewarm script, the latter again showcasing a comic talent which has been under-utilized for most of his career (which is precisely why it's such a funny counterpoint now - as one friend put it, "If he'd been doing comedy all his life, he'd just be some kind of tall Danny DeVito.") This film is still entertaining, and fans of the leads will find plenty to enjoy. But when the outtakes played over the end credits are funnier than the movie, there's something seriously amiss.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Most Pleasant Surprise
Review: Before going to see "Analyze That" I described it as a "lousy sequel to a good comedy". I'm very glad to say I was wrong. Although not as good a movie as Analyze This, the return of De Niro as the troubled mobster, and of Crystal as the neurotic shrink is a welcome comedy which is far funnier than the original.

If 'Analyze This' was a comic drama with a great central idea, Analyze That is an out and out farce, which is as hilarious as it is shallow.

The plot, as much as there is one, involves De Niro's attempt to escape prison (and assasination) by pretending to be insane. He is released to the custody of Crystal, the shrink who has to 'heal' him.

Ultimately, the plot is of very little important. The point of the movie is a series of hillarious scenes, where De Niro gets to exhibit his comic talent, which he has abundances of. Particularly roaring is a scene in which De Niro freaks out after imagining himself robbing a Jewelery store, and a scene where he flashes himself infront of Crystal's jewish, conservative family.

Don't expect anything resembling deep charactarisation in this flick, but if you want a feel good movie with many, many laughs, with fantastc leads and very good (if underused) secondary characters, Analyse That is a winner

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Analyze That-Are You In Need of Some Therapy
Review: Analyze That is a sporadically funny comedy. It featured some great jokes, but I gave the film only 4 stars, since I found it rather vulgar. But, the collaboration and chemistry between Rober De Niro and Billy Crystal is even better than it is
in the first film, Analyze This, (1998). Director/Co-writer Harold Ramis (Bedazzled, Analyze This) does a fine job directing.
The film is well worth your time, and will make you laugh for it so very hilarious and fairly amusing.
Basically, De Niro is in prison, and recently has discovered
that someone is trying to kill him, but of course is unaware of who that person is. So, he uses Crystal's character Ben Sobel to free him from prison, unfortunately Sobel's father just died and he isn't very willing in treating De Niro's character at first but soon does. From here De Niro's character, Paul Viti, is trying to track down his assassinator, or at least supposed killer. He needs to find out this information, Crystal has Viti in his custody and must take full responsibility for him or else he could suffer severe consequences. And so the adventure begins, though De Niro is known to be one of the most deadly, intimidating mobsters around who works for the Italian Mafia, he decides to resign from his position for his known to be the boss.
From here a wild ride takes on, and more humor comes along the way.
Analyze That is rated R for Language and Some Sexual Content, for it features strong profanity and sexual language as well as strong sexual innuendo. So not a great choice for preteens, but acceptable if with an adult of course. The humor is rather appealing, but quite profane. So, see it if you must!
Analyze That, in theatres everywhere December 6, 2002.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: bargain basement sequel
Review: "Analyze That" is the abysmally unfunny sequel to "Analyze This," the charming and amusing "crime comedy" from 1999. Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal reprise their roles as Paul Vitti, the ex-mob boss who breaks with Mafia protocol by poring out his problems to a sympathetic shrink, and Dr. Ben Sobol, the psychiatrist who helps Vitti cope with the stresses and crises that go along with his unconventional occupation. Unfortunately, this time around, these two fine actors have been saddled with a screenplay (by Kenneth Lonergan) that is little more than a collection of crude, vulgar one-liners that land with a resounding thud every time the characters open their mouths to deliver them.

In this installment Paul has faked insanity in order to be released early from prison and Ben is the poor schmuck who has to watch over him to make sure he doesn't get into any trouble. Director Harold Ramis fails completely in bringing any of this to comic life, with poor De Niro and Crystal reduced to performing shtick comedy routines in a vain attempt to carry it all off. The marvelous Joe Viterelli as "Jelly," the poker-faced mobster with the heart-of-gold, provides what few moments of pleasure the film is able to muster.

At various points in the movie, Paul performs a medley of songs from "West Side Story," which would be fine in itself except that it merely serves to remind us of how much we would rather be watching THAT movie than this one. Makers of stinkers like "Analyze That" simply have to learn that reminding us of all the great movies we've seen in our lifetimes is no way to enhance our impression of the turkey at hand.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Further Adventures of Paul and Ben
Review: There was a time when "sequel" was synonymous with "less" with regards to quality, as mainly the studios wanted to capitalize on whatever was good about the original and duplicate or enhance in the follow-up the parts they "thought" were responsible for bringing in the big bucks at the box office. Which meant that usually, except in rare instances, the sequel failed to lived up to the first one and, more often than not was a huge disappointment. Happily, in the past few years that tide has seemingly turned, and as this film so aptly demonstrates, a sequel can, in fact, even surpass the original. "Analyze That," directed by Harold Ramis, is the further adventures of Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) and Dr. Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal), and in a word, it's a hoot. And, most importantly, this one stands on it's own; the characters are back, but the story is fresh-- it's decidedly NOT just more of the same or a rehash of "Analyze This." As Paul Vitti himself would say about this film: "You... Yooou-- you're good, yes you are!"

All is not well with Paul Vitti, currently doing a stretch at Sing Sing; someone, it appears, wants him whacked, and it's driven him into some kind of psychotic episode from which he may never emerge if he doesn't get out of prison, and soon-- like right away. And who better to treat the "boss" than his personal therapist, Dr. Ben Sobol; or so goes the reasoning of those in high places, who actually have some ulterior motives in mind.

So Vitti is released into the custody of Dr. Sobol, who is not all that thrilled at the prospect of having a mob boss as a house guest. Even less thrilled is Sobol's wife, Laura (Lisa Kudrow). But they don't know the half of it, yet. There's a war brewing between two "families," and Vitti, it seems, is right in the middle of it. And soon, some old faces begin showing up at the Sobol residence, like Jelly (Joe Viterelli); and if that isn't enough, the good Dr. Sobol has just been through the death of his own father, and he's grieving. And it's "a process."

And a "process" is what brought this film so successfully to the screen, and it's gratifying, not to mention enjoyable and entertaining, when the result of a creative collaboration like this works so well. Screenwriters Peter Steinfeld, Peter Tolan and Harold Ramis crafted and delivered a script that is imaginative and fresh, and Ramis, who also directed "Analyze This," as well as a couple of modern day comedy classics, "Caddyshack" and "National Lampoon's Vacation," hits his stride with arguably his best work yet. His sets a perfect pace and his sense of timing has never been better. Of course it helps when you've got one of the best comedic actors in the business in there "doing lines" with the best actor-- period-- in the business. Crystal and De Niro together? Well, forgetaboudit... They take what is already great dialogue and make it ring in a way Quasimodo never dreamed possible. It's witty, extremely clever (like the reference to Ben's son, Michael, as "Clemenza") and, most importantly, FUNNY. And Ramis goes with the flow, keeping it all right on track from beginning to end. And De Niro singing? Does it GET any better than that?

As expected, De Niro slips back into his Vitti persona with facility, as does Crystal with his Sobol; the way they pick it up, as if they've been living in these guys' skins since "Analyze This," lends credibility to the film and allows the viewer to settle in with them from the opening frames. So it's not only an entertaining film, but "user-friendly" to boot.

The single disappointment comes from the fact that the lovely Kudrow isn't afforded more screen time. She's such a welcome presence when she's on, and to her credit she makes the most of what time she's given, holding her own with her dynamic co-stars right on down the line.

A nice addition this time around is Cathy Moriarty-Gentile as new mob boss Patti LoPresti. This particular character suits her extremely well, and she runs with it; especially in her scenes with De Niro she has a captivating, commanding screen presence and it puts some real life in the exchanges between Vitti and LoPresti.

Conspicuously absent in this one, however, is Elizabeth Bracco, who did a nice job as Marie Vitti in the original. Sister of Lorraine Bracco (of TV's "Sopranos," the hit series to which this film successfully pays homage in some key sequences and plot developments), Elizabeth seems to gravitate more toward roles in "indie" films, however, where she's carved out something of a niche for herself (as in Steve Buscemi's "Trees Lounge" in '96), a la Parker Posey and Catherine Keener. And though she's missed here, it's understandable; career wise, she's in good company.

The supporting cast includes Anthony LaPaglia (Tony), Joe D'Onofrio (Gunman), Richard Maldone (Joey), William DeMeo (Al Pacino), Reg Rogers (Raoul), Brian Rogalski (Earl) and Thomas Rosales Jr. (Coyote). Given the nature of the story and the characters, this film necessarily has something of an "edge" to it, but Ramis navigates the R-rated waters in a way that makes "Analyze That" funny, friendly AND highly entertaining. There are those who will say that it should all end here, on a successful note; personally, however, I'm waiting to hear that "Analyze And the Other Thing" will soon be in pre-production. As far as I'm concerned, you can never get enough of a good thing.


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