Analyze This

Rating:
Summary: A Fun and Fanatical Film In The Mobster World!
Review: ANALYZE THIS is a funny film. Directed by Harold Ramis (Bedazzled, Groundhog Day, Caddyshack), this film takes a hysterical view of what it might be like it you took a vicious Mobster and put him into therapy.

Starring and produced by Billy Crystal (The Princess Bride, Monsters Inc., When Harry Met Sally) as the psychiatrist who gets to treat Robert De Niro (Meet The Parents, Showtime, Frankenstein) as the Mobster with "issues". You have a comedic team that reminded me of the old Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis film. Coupled with the very funny performance of Lisa Kudrow (Friends, HangingUp) as the wife-to-be of Billy, this film has a lot of humor and energy.

The story is simple - De Niro needs a psychiatrist because he is becoming emotionally unstable regarding his feelings about the various crimes he is committing. Billy Crystal is forced to see him as his patient when he bumps into one of his Mobsters cars.

From ten on De Niro keeps interrupting Crystals life and wedding plans because he is becoming more and more unstable. There are some great performances by the stereo-typical performance of Italian Mafioso.

The DVD extras include a very funny gag real of all the mistakes the two stars has made and a great DVD commentary with Billy and Robert talking about the making of this film. Really worth this purchase - is the commentary alone. Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal are hysterical together on and off camera!

This is a great film fo those who like light=hearted comedy and a story that keeps you intrigue and involved. Who knew Robert De Niro has such comic timing as well. A good film to have in your collection of DVD's (12-22-02)

Rating:
Summary: clever and hilarious
Review: "Analyze This" is the best mob comedy this side of "Friends and Family".

De Niro, who had some his first successes in early Brian de Palma farces, here shows that he has the comic chops to carry a feature-length comedy. Crystal returns to the schlemiel roles that suit him best and steers clear of the pretentious sentimentality that marred his curiously sour starring vehicle, "Mr. Saturday Night". Lisa Kudrow, while not a convincing romantic match for Crystal, is fun to watch, although it's proving difficult for this actress to shed her "Friends" Phoebe persona in certain of her films. (Her role in "The Opposite of Sex" served her better in this regard).

One find of the film was relative newcomer Joe Viterelli, who manages to steal scenes from De Niro and Crystal - no mean feat.

Some of the script's quirky wit is probably attributable to the playwright and writer/director Kenneth Lonergan, who is credited as one of the writers. Overall, the film succeeds - where so many comedies of the last several years have failed - in maintaining a snappy pace and generating good solid laughs more or less all the way through. Lulls are relatively brief and infrequent, and the movie, while it should appeal to smart kids and adolescents, is primarily pitched at adults, another refreshing thing to see in this age of debased comedies.

Overall, this film is highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: De Niro is a comic genius!
Review: De Niro stars as a depressed mobster who no longer finds joy in his way of life. Crystal is a therapist whose car accidentally bumps against De Niro's, causing the trunk to fly open and see a bound and gagged man. Crystal and de Niro exchange information-- Crystal gives his business card, prompting De Niro to MAKE Crystal be his therapist, whether he wants to or not!

The ensuing tale is hilarious -- De Niro follows Crystal everywhere, including crashing his nuptials to Lisa Kudrow. Crystal starts integrating himself into mob life so he can counsel De Niro without any of his cronies knowing that he has a therapist.

The plot is genius and the acting and delivery is spot-on. For anyone who thought De Niro was pigeonholed into drama, it is a great surprise!

Rating:
Summary: Satirical spoof of the mobster genre
Review: This 1999 film has a familiar theme, that of a mobster who goes to a psychiatrist. It's a lightweight comedy starring Robert DeNiro as the mob boss who gets "panic attacks" and thinks he is turning weak. He's a fine actor, or course, and purposely overacts, making this film into a satirical spoof. Billy Crystal plays the shrink, and does a good job. The screenplay is fast-paced. the plot predictable, the people caricatures rather than characters. I was impressed, however, with the performance of Joe Viterelli, cast as "Jelly", the lug who works for DeNiro. Viterelli is a large man with an ugly pock-marked face and mobster accent. Every time he's on screen, he dominates the scene, even though he's not a top-ranked star. I didn't expect much from this film and I was right. It's silly and stupid. The pleasant surprise was that I did giggle occasionally. I therefore give it a mild recommendation.

Rating:
Summary: Analyze This on DVD.
Review: "Analyze This" is one of the funniest movies ever made! Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal make a great team together here! The picture and the sound quality from the DVD is crisp and clear. Good thing I own that movie. De Niro stars Paul Vitti, a mobster who had panic attacks. He also cries here. That was funny! Billy Crystal is great as Ben Sobol, a family psychiatrist who has to married his love interest, Lisa Kudrow. Chazz Palminteri is amazing playing Primo Sindone, a bad boss who wants Paul Vitti dead. And Joe Viterelli is funny playing Jelly. If you like Robert De Niro or Billy Crystal, I definitely recommend this one! It's hilarious!

Rating:
Summary: Ready?, Set?, Laugh!!!
Review: Well, here's De Niro, (who can pull anything and everything off), teamed up with Billy Cristal,(who is so great in comedy movies), in a hilariously funny mob ordeal. The way Cristal's character Ben Sobel(a psychiatrist) keeps trying to avoid treating De Nero's character Paul Vitti(a fearred mob boss)goes beyond words and is one of the things that makes this movie be as funny as it is. The facial expresions De Nero makes are priceless. We also have Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow adding their own special touches of comedy to round the whole thing off.
This movie will definitely have you rolling on the floor, and even more so towards the end. TWO THUMBS UP FOR "ANALIZE THIS"!

Rating:
Summary: a funny film
Review: this is another of harold ramis' classics, to go with groundhog day and ghostbusters. it truly was funny to see a mobster cry.

Rating:
Summary: great funny mafia flick
Review: me being a big fan of itailian mob movies knew i would be a big fan of this one the minute i seen deniro and chazz palmentari were in it!

Rating:
Summary: Starts off strong and then gets pretty dumb.
Review: Analyze This is one of those movies that is very funny if you don't think about it to hard. The movie is very amusing, the acting is very good, and the whole cast has something funny to say.
It is also very unbelivealbe. I have no problem with fiction. It just seems that Analyze This was ment to be a more realisic film, but instead the flim makers chose to make it very silly about a half an hour into it. I think the end could have been much better too, but at least Robert De Niro, and Billy Crystal always seem to give it their best.

Rating:
Summary: Lots of sparks, few fireworks in Mafia comedy
Review: Once again we have a movie centered on the Italian Mafia. There have been so many movies, both serious and comic, on this subject that we tend to know in advance every possible outcome. The twist here is rather clever. Mob boss Paul Vitti [Robert De Niro] is having an emotional crisis that is interfering with his work. He confides in his right-had man, Jelly [Joe Viterilli]. Coincidentally, Jelly's car was rear-ended the day before by a prominent psychiatrist, Ben Sobel [Billy Crystal]. They go to Sobel's office, where Vitti demands to be cured of his problem. Sobel agrees to treat him. It's not as though he has much of a choice.

Sobel now has a number of problems to deal with. His profession deals with people's emotions. Vitti is from a world where real emotion is thwarted by a macho code of behavior. Only Jelly knows he is seeing a shrink. For the rest of the mob to know would bring dishonor. Sobel is also about to get married, or he thinks he is. What he quickly finds out is that working for Vitti means he is on call twenty-four hours a day. This ensures that the wedding day will be a disastrous one. Soon the FBI is investigating Sobel for gang related activities. His life is seriously disrupted, yet he secretly finds it exhilirating.

There are several good sight gags in Analyze This. When Sobel runs his car into the rear of Jelly's Lincoln, the trunk pops open to reveal to all the world a man tied up inside. Jelly's efforts to distract Sobel are hysterical. There are also several clever dream sequences, which play havoc with Freudian psychology.

This is the first picture in a long time where the talented Billy Crystal is always in command, even in his scenes with the great De Niro. His character gives him an opportunity to stretch his comedic abilities. De Niro has lately been stretching his own enormous range. This is his second comedy in two years, the first being the much better written political satire Wag the Dog.
The only time he falters is in the first scene in which he cries. It's a rather startling display, but once you get used to it, it's suitable to the part he is playing. In any case, it is quite clear that he is mastering the comedy genre, which many actors claim is the hardest one to play well.

Do not go into Analyze This expecting that, since it has an extraordinary cast, it is going to be somehow superior. Go in expecting only to be entertained. I imagine you will enjoy yourself if you don't try to analyze it.