Robert De Niro is mostly known for his dramatic roles and plays them very well, but he is also a very exceptional comedic actor. I first saw him play comedy in Midnight Run and was blown away. Who knew he could be funny playing an absolutely miserable person. Analyze This is not the better movie of the two but De Niro once again proves that he can hold his own against an actual comedian, Billy Crystal. It was a stroke of genius to give Crystal the straight part.
The plot is not very original. Gangsters have always been the target of parody and in some cases gangster pictures are parody. James Cagney always played his gangster roles with some comedic touches. In Analyze this De Niro has to overcome anxiety attacks or panic attacks which he absolutely denies having. In comes Billy Crystal to help him. Actually, De Niro more or less forces him, without so much as laying a hand on him. The plot isn't really that important in a movie like this. It helps if you have seen De Niro in a straight gangster role first and then you can really see what's so funny about this movie.
Like many comedies it has an abundance of stereotypes, most of which are dimwitted gangsters. It can get rather tiresome but when De Niro is on you forget about it. Therefore I will say that this average movie gets an extra point because of De Niro's performance.
The plot is not very original. Gangsters have always been the target of parody and in some cases gangster pictures are parody. James Cagney always played his gangster roles with some comedic touches. In Analyze this De Niro has to overcome anxiety attacks or panic attacks which he absolutely denies having. In comes Billy Crystal to help him. Actually, De Niro more or less forces him, without so much as laying a hand on him. The plot isn't really that important in a movie like this. It helps if you have seen De Niro in a straight gangster role first and then you can really see what's so funny about this movie.
Like many comedies it has an abundance of stereotypes, most of which are dimwitted gangsters. It can get rather tiresome but when De Niro is on you forget about it. Therefore I will say that this average movie gets an extra point because of De Niro's performance.