Analyze This
An idea that has now been seemingly run into the ground in popular culture is that of the big fearsome mob moss being so insecure that he feels that he has to run out to see a psychiatrist. Certainly The Sopranos mined that territory for years, but another famous example is this 1999 comedy that managed to run with that premise for its total running time, but alas soon started to wear thin. The talent was certainly there, starting with Harold Ramis as director, certainly a guy who’s had a hand in some of the funniest films ever made, along with Robert DeNiro as the mobster and perennial Oscar host Billy Crystal as the shrink, as well as several character actors who made an entire career out of showing up in various mob films all the way up to Chazz Palminteri as DeNiro’s archnemesis. In DeNiro’s case, the casting turns out to be obvious and predictable, since much of his pedigree was built on mob films ranging from Mean Streets to Godfather 2 to Goodfellas, and one may be dismayed that this film indeed trots out almost all the old clichés of the subgenre, on the assumption that they are being used for comedic effect but really just inspiring mass boredom, with the main characters never so much standing on their own two feet but rather coming across as composite versions of their past performances. Of special concern is DeNiro’s often repetitive mannerisms, which include several instances where he points at Crystal, smiles, and says “Oh, you’re good!” (not funny) to the idea where Ramis gets it into his head that the notion of a big tough mob moss like DeNiro’s Paul Vitti discovering his “sensitive” side and bursting into tears at key points in the story is pure comedic gold (it’s not), which is especially absurd given that these crying jags are played with such self-conscious dishonesty by DeNiro that it would give even Sean Penn pause. As for Crystal, he continues playing his prototype uber mensch that he all but perfected in City Slickers, constantly veering between mild mannered and exasperated at DeNiro’s constant need just to talk to somebody about his problems, which includes a contract out on his life and the stress resulting from an upcoming big meeting with all the various heads of the different crime families around the country. There are the occasional chuckles to be found here no doubt, most notably featuring Lisa Kudrow as Crystal’s fiancée who gets some very cute freak out scenes whenever DeNiro’s business with her soon to be husband interferes with her wedding plans, along with Palminteri getting a couple of funny lines and the late mob movie stalwart Joe Viterelli stealing a couple of scenes from DeNiro and Crystal as the right hand man of DeNiro’s. Some of the foul language which helps result in an R rating also garners some smiles, even as the ever repetitive nature of the dialogue contributes to the predictability of the whole enterprise. Overall, a comic misfire in which even its so-called high concept is something that we’ve seen before…
5/10