Analyze That (2002)

Starring: Robert DeNiro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow
Director: Harold Ramis

Rating: R

Studio: Warner Bros.

Review Posted: 12.13.02

Spoilers: Minor

Reviewed by Craig Younkin

"That sequel is not what made this a hit"

If there was a movie that starts out well only to drift into tedium, Analyze That is it. The sequel to the 1999 surprise smash hit Analyze This proves just how limited the material is. There are few jokes here that are fresh, and far fewer that capitalize on the original's interesting ideas. The two constants in both films are Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal. They bring a little life to the sequel, even when it starts to be as lame as a Kenny G concert. In fact, this is the funniest Billy Crystal has been since Analyze This.

At Sing-Sing prison, mob boss Paul Vitti (DeNiro) is serving time for events that occurred in This. Someone is trying to kill him and the only way to figure out who is to get released. Vitti does this by pretending to go mad, starting a mess hall riot and singing tunes from West Side Story. This inspires the movie's most humorous sequences, with DeNiro singing songs like "Maria, Maria" and "I Feel Pretty."

This forces the state to bring in Vitti’s former psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Sobel (Crystal), for a diagnosis. Sobel states Vitti is suffering from temporary psychosis, explaining more prison time could make him substantially worse. In response, the FBI orders Vitti to be placed in Sobel's custody so that he can treat – or, at least, that's what they say – the unhinged mobster. In actuality, they hope with Vitti back on the street they can end the mob rivalry brewing between Vitti's family and another rival crime syndicate.

Sobel discovers Vitti’s sham and he isn't happy about it. Ben has problems of his own, especially when his own father recently passed away. As he says, "I'm grieving, it's a process."

Analyze That is funny in spurts. There are a few solid one-liners, but much of the movie's more outrageous stuff comes from DeNiro and Crystal. DeNiro is working hard here and the joke is that he does things that you would never expect an actor of DeNiro’s caliber to do. Crystal is given most of the verbal work, his nervous delivery making even the weakest line work. In particular, a scene at a restaurant where Ben over-medicates himself is hysterical.

Unfortunately, the movie runs out of material long before it is over. That's when writers Peter Steinfeld, Peter Tolan, and director Harold Ramis turn to crotch jokes. It's not that some of them aren't funny; it's just that there are so many of them. The dead father and mafia rivalry subplots are also ill advised – less funny than filler.

DeNiro and Crystal do their best, but there are not enough laughs in That to recommend it. Many of the mob boss/shrink situations were already covered in the This, so this film has little to fall back on. Hopefully, this is the last in the Analyze series.

Rating: 2.5 out of 4 (C+)  |  Read Review #2

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