Amazon.com video review:
Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal
together in a film and it should be a sucker's bet as to who's going
to be funnier and who's going to give the more nuanced
performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of the
laughs in Analyze This, a buddy action-comedy about a mob boss
(De Niro, natch) suffering from panic attacks who makes a nebbishy
shrink (Crystal, natch) an offer he can't refuse--actually, it's not
really an offer, it's a command. The good doctor is forced to help the
gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the brilliant TV series
The Sopranos not underscored how thin and watery and shticky
director-cowriter Harold Ramis's approach to such potentially rich
material actually is, the movie--a hit in theaters and De Niro's
biggest film ever--would seem more fresh and kicky. De Niro's
definitely a hoot as the ever milder menace, and Crystal actually
concentrates on giving a credible performance opposite the acting
legend (alas, he doesn't turn his character's fear of his patient into
inspired comedy, as Alan Arkin did in Grosse Pointe Blank). The
conclusion devolves into the requisite gunplay, and Chazz Palminteri
and Lisa Kudrow are criminally wasted as an opposing mob boss and
Crystal's fiancée, respectively, but overall, it's breezy
fun. --David Kronke
Amazon.com video review:
Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal together in a film and it should be a sucker's bet as to who's going to be funnier and who's going to give the
more nuanced performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of
the laughs in Analyze This, a buddy
action-comedy about a mob boss (De Niro, natch) suffering from panic
attacks who makes a nebbishy shrink (Crystal, natch) an offer he can't refuse--actually, it's not really an offer, it's a command. The good doctor is
forced to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the
brilliant TV series The Sopranos not underscored how thin and watery
and shticky director-cowriter Harold Ramis's approach to such potentially
rich material actually is, the movie--a hit in theaters and De Niro's
biggest film ever--would seem more fresh and kicky. De Niro's definitely
a hoot as the ever milder menace, and Crystal actually concentrates on
giving a credible performance opposite the acting legend (alas, he doesn't
turn his character's fear of his patient into inspired comedy, as Alan
Arkin did in Grosse Pointe Blank). The conclusion devolves into the
requisite gunplay, and Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow are criminally
wasted as an opposing mob boss and Crystal's fiancée, respectively, but
overall, it's breezy fun. --David Kronke
