Rating: 
Summary: a movie for a goombah
Review: Best mob comedy ever. It is so much better than the first
if you like mob movies see this capice!!!!!
Rating: 
Summary: More of the Same
Review: I loved Analyze This, so I was VERY disappointed to see that Analyze That was just a tired retread; Especially since there were so many interesting places the movie could have gone. Instead we get a weak heist flick..... Former Mobster Paul Vitti (The great Robert De Niro) is trying to con his way out of prison by pretending to be comatose, a state which he emerges from occasionally to sing the score from "West Side Story". (This is FUNNY!) He's let out, but he must be supervised by his shrink (Billy Crystal). (Lots of potential here...)The laughs fly fast and furious for about the first 40 minutes, until Analyze That becomes an Action/Buddy/Heist movie. I was actually so bored by the inept dialogue/jokes and lame action sequences of the last half that I dozed off a few times. There were so many interesting directions this movie could have gone in, and they blew them all. (Vitti and Jelly working on "Little Caesar", a Sopranos clone, could have been a gold-mine of laughs. Instead, it's just a lifeless pit-stop on the road to nowhere.) The scene where De Niro tries selling cars was hilarious, and I would have preferred to see the filmmakers take that route, and show Paul trying to reform, rather than trot out the same old same old. Crystal and De Niro are so good together that the movie could have just been them sitting together talking. (And I wish it had been!) As it stands, the filmmakers didn't even give it a good effort, so, despite good performances and some great laughs (In the first half, at least..), I can't give Analyze That even a small recommendation.
Rating:
Summary: A funny feel good movie
Review: did you like the first one, if your answer is yes then you will love this one too. It is a spin-off on the first one, so no do not expect all new dazzeling sory line. But do expect to see Robert de niro and Billy Crystal being a great comedy team. This movie was GREAT, profanity may bother some views definatly not for children. So if you expected a sequel with an all new story line so see something else but mob fans and comedy fans you will love this movie and take it for what it is a true comedic gem.
Rating: 
Summary: Analyze That
Review: It's been three years since mobster Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) was rescued from an emotional time bomb by his therapist Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal). Now spending his days in prison, Vitti finds himself the target of numerous assassination attempts, and realizes that faking madness is his only way out of the slammer. Released into Sobol's custody, Vitti must assume a normal life, meaning jobs in car sales and restaurant greeting, and living with the Sobols (including Lisa Kudrow). Vitti finally finds success as a consultant for a mob television show called `Little Caesar,' but is more interested in finding out who's trying to kill him. Tagging along for the ride is Sobol, who is also attempting to get his life back together after the death of his much loathed father. While reuniting most of the cast, the writers, and the director of 1999's `Analyze This,' one cannot help but to feel that the filmmakers have left out most of the sparkle that would make this normally `sure thing' sequel such a blast. There is a decided lack of magic to `Analyze That,' and what remains on the screen falls somewhere in between courtesy laugh material, and downright befuddlement at some of the judgment calls from the writers. Most of the film's first act is centered around Vitti's attempt to get released from jail, his scheme involving faking a mental incapacity that only allows show tunes from `West Side Story' to pass through his lips. It isn't a terribly funny punch line, nor is it sold with the energy that I'd imagine younger, hungrier filmmakers might have put into it. The letdown of the prison sequence is emblematic of the rest of the picture, which connects with laughs here and there, but nowhere near the level of `This.' If you really want to get honest, `Analyze This' didn't even need a sequel, with `That' tasting like too many licks of the frosting. It's a fluffy, obviously fun-to-make comedy, but writers Peter Steinfeld, Harold Ramis (who also directs), and Peter Tolan don't push their film very far, insisting that the very sight of these character will be enough for the yuks to come. And it is, for about 25 minutes. Then you start to feel bad for the movie after a while, as the complex and hilarious script for `This' has been reduced to characters walking into frame saying `hey youze guys' and then expecting the audience to eat it up for the sequel. In the three years since `This,' popular culture has been swallowed by `The Sopranos,' and the various knockoffs that followed. `That' is suddenly playing a game of catch up. The script wisely sends up `The Sopranos' with the `Little Caesar' subplot, but that's about it for outright cleverness. The rest of the picture rehashes the first film, relying on the DeNiro/Crystal interplay, and dredging up some of Vitti's childhood memories for instant sympathy. Thankfully DeNiro and Crystal do bring back their easygoing back and forth for `That.' With the script giving them very little to work with, the duo dive off on their own, trying to grasp laughs from anything they can get their hands on. As evident in the end credit outtakes, DeNiro and Crystal are having a ball, with only a sporadic joke landing true hilarity in the finished film. Ramis has some fun casting ideas (Cathy Moriarty-Gentile portrays the new crime kingpin in the film, reuniting 22 years later with her `Raging Bull' co-star DeNiro), and the return of character actor (though it always seems to be one character) Joe Viterelli, as Vitti's right hand man, Jelly, brings some much needed laughs to the show. I've seen worse, more pointless excuses for sequels, but rarely ones that don't bother even trying to top themselves. Stick with the original, and try to forget how shamelessly the filmmakers tried to cash in with this follow-up.
Rating:
Summary: Better than "City Slickers 2," but not by much
Review: Remember "City Slickers"? Funny story with lots of interesting characters? Remember how despite that movies great ending--it ended right where it should have ended--the filmmakers decided to make "City Slickers 2" a really, really, really bad movie that they knew a certain number of people would see? Somehow I'm reminded of this and it's not just the presence of Billy Crystal. There are a couple of funny moments in this picture, but it isn't a funny *movie*. The funniest moments belong to DeNiro. Crystal has almost nothing to do but mug for the camera. However, those moments can all be found in the trailers, and that's a reflection of how shallow this film is. Another indicator: Lisa Kudrow (who needs to fire her agent NOW) can be seen in the closing credits blooper reel forgetting the names of the characters. (This, I think, is more of a reflection on the film than Kudrow who has shown elsewhere that she actually act). I'd want my money back even if I'd *rented* this movie!
Rating:
Summary: Not much to analyze.
Review: **1/2 This film continues where the first one left off. Paul Vitti(Robert DeNiro) is now in Sing Sing (a jail full of surly inmates). And Ben Sobel's(Billy Crystal) father is dead. The premise of the movie involves an attempted assasination of Paul, and a hilarious cell phone call scene at the funeral of Ben Sobel's father. Vitti fakes being phsychotic and catatonic, trying to be released into Sobel's custody. However, the premise and the laughs fall off after the scene where De Niro is catatonic in jail, which just happens to be in the first 20 minutes of the film. The laughs seem forced and so do the jokes. In a series of bad jokes and plot line revelations the film takes a turn for the worse. Sobel's relentless pill popping scenes are more disturbing than funny, and for some reason the comedy behind a mobster finding an everyday job seemed stale and forced. The comedy seemed so forced to me that I thought I saw a sign light up prompting viewers to laugh at the punch line. i.e. "You could fit 3 bodies in there" Vitti referring to the trunk of an Audi that he is trying to sell.
De Niro and Crystal are fine actors, who have a lot of range, but even they could not save the film from the poor script and bad jokes. Kudrow who plays Crystal's wife delivers her usual role, showing that no matter what she takes on she is always Kudrow or should I say Phoebe from the TV show "Friends."
Overall this movie's vacuous plot and forced comedy let me down. The first film was excellent and I was expecting the same sort of excellence this time around. I did however enjoy the behind the scenes commentary on father son relationships, infidelity in marriage, and friendship of two human beings.
That said, I would however encourage most people to see the film, it's a light snack, easily consumed, and moderately tasty.
Rating:
Summary: EASY TO ANALYZE - A FUNNY BUT DISAPPOINTING SEQUEL
Review: This is a sequel in search of a story. The great commercial success of ANALYZE THIS (when the same cast managed to create a hugely enjoyable lighthearted gangster spoof) meant that a sequel was inevitable. However, the writers, producer and director apparently never decided whether they wanted this film to be a comedy, a heist, THE SOPRANOS, a musical or simply a vehicle for Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal and the rest of the reassembled cast to perform a bunch of loosely connected skits. The movie begins with mobster Paul Vitti (De Niro) having an apparent psychiatric breakdown and managing to get paroled from prison into the custody of his shrink, Dr. Ben Sobel (Crystal). However, a condition of the parole is that he has to move in with Dr. Sobel and his family in order that his treatment can be continually supervised. As you may imagine, Ben's wife Laura ( Lisa Kudrow) is appalled; however, the potential comedic effects upon their relationship are much less well developed than in the original. Paul manages to generally disrupt the family with his attitude, his invitation of a hooker to spend the night after his enforced monasticism in prison, and his inability to function in any of the honest jobs in which he briefly engages. Eventually he is hired a a consultant for a TV series about the mob ("Little Caesar"), and at this point the comedy picks up and the story starts to come together. However, two factions of the mob are batling for control, and in parallel with his work on Little Caesar, he and his former associates who are "consultants" on the set are planning a criminal endeavor. Of course, just as in the previous film, Dr. Sobel becomes unwittingly involved and saves the day at a key moment. Joe Viterelli wonderfully reprises his role as Jelly, and Cathy Moriarity-Gentile is perfect in a small but key role as Patty LoPresti, leader of one of the rival mob families. DeNiro and Crystal work well together, and some of the jokes are really funny, but many are simply of the smile and move on variety. However, the scenes at the begining and end which are musical parodies are amazing comical. The editing was far from perfect, and some of the camera transitions seemed quite jumpy. Furthermore, the crude language and sexual references were ubiquitous for much of the early part of the movie, much more than necessary to lend realism. After all, this is supposed to be a comedy, not a true to life documentary. In all likelihood, my reaction of disappointment is probably partially due to my high expectations based on my enjoyment of the original film. My three star rating attempts to strike a balance between my lack of enthusiasm and the fact that overall I still did enjoy the film, especially the outtakes shown during the credits. Be sure not to leave until you've watched these, but when the outtakes have some of the funniest moments it is a comment about the film.
Rating: 
Summary: Enough already!
Review: The first film was bad enough, this one is even worse. This this what happens to good actors after years behind the camera? Whatever happened to good scripts? Whatever happened to good directors? I'm not blaming the actors because these guys have proven themselves as talented and constructive professionals but what were they thinking by making this film. Utter waste of time and money, possibly a decent rental when there isn't anything else to choose from including "My root canal and how i enjoyed it."
Rating:
Summary: Hysterical!
Review: Mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) is about to be released from Sing Sing after serving his term, but the FBI agents who have been monitoring him are confused. New York's most notorious Mafia figure walks around his cell in a semi-catatonic stupor, occasionally breaking into songs from West Side Story. Is Vitti having a nervous breakdown because of the recent threats on his life by a rival family or is his odd behavior merely a ploy to get out of jail early? The FBI isn't sure and neither is his former shrink Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), who gets called in to consult on the case. The last time Dr. Sobel treated Paul, he attempted to get to the source of his anxiety attacks, but barely scratched the surface. It will take time to examine Paul's mind and help put him get back on the right track, but Ben has problems of his own. His psychiatrist father has just died, plunging him into an identity crisis in both his personal and professional lives. Furthermore, he knows his wife Laura (Friends' Lisa Kudrow) will be furious if he allows Paul back into their lives. But when Paul is granted a release into Ben's custody, becoming his patient again and his house-guest, the reluctant Ben finds that he has no choice. In order to get peace back in his life, he must help the troubled gangster sort out his life and find gainful employment. The sequel to 1999's hilariously funny Analyze This is a must see movie! The great news is that Joe Viterelli (Jelly) is back to play Paul Vitti's bodyguard. You may have to watch it twice to catch the dialogue overshadowed the first time by the continuous laughter.
Rating:
Summary: Harold Ramis' Analyze That
Review: Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal return in a sequel that takes an unsubtle swipe at "The Sopranos," and offers little else. Paul (Robert DeNiro) is in prison and Ben (Billy Crystal) has settled down into a routine life in suburbia with wife Laura (Lisa Kudrow) and his son. Someone is gunning for Paul in the big house, and Ben's father dies. Paul has a complete nervous breakdown, singing the score to "West Side Story," and he is released into Ben's care (after some very funny psychoanalytic tests). Of course, Paul was faking and of course, the FBI knows, trailing the men as Paul must suddenly go out into the world and get a real job. After several employment mishaps, Paul is hired on as a consultant on the mob TV series "Little Caesar." There, he reunites with his old gang and they begin planning a huge heist. Meanwhile, Ben is still trying to grieve for the father he sometimes hated, popping pills and trying desperately to keep Paul in line. In the end, we find out who was trying to kill Paul, who may be redeemable after all. Like its predecessor, "Analyze That" is merely okay. The focus here is definitely on DeNiro, as he is featured in almost every scene. Ben takes a backseat in the film when in fact his situation dealing with his father's death (running gag: "He's grieving, it's a process") is more interesting than Paul's heist and double crossing cronies. The film takes an almost angry look at "The Sopranos" in the form of its fictional show "Little Caesar." Naturally, I felt a little hypocrisy at this stage. A fake movie about mobsters poking fun at a fake TV show about mobsters. While no laugh riot, there are some bright spots. DeNiro has the funny psycho tests scenes, and Crystal is very natural while watching his life unravel. If you thought Kudrow's role in the first one was overpraised, then you will completely think the same here. Her lines seem hurried, like she did this over lunch hours during "Friends," and she is once again completely wasted in an underwritten role. Joe Viterelli is always good as Jelly, Paul's henchman, and Cathy Moriarty is fine as a rival crime boss. "Analyze That" is a ninety five minute foul mouthed sitcom, complete with end credits outtakes, that has its likable characters and not much else. The initial "mobster/shrink" gimmick wore off long ago, and a third movie does not seem likely.
|
