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Release Date: Dec 6,
2002
Rated: R
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Starring: Robert De Niro,
Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Brian Rogalski
Produced by: Jane Rosenthal, Paula Weinstein, Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal,
Barry Levinson
Written by: Harold Ramis, Peter Tolan, Peter Steinfeld
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Distributor:
Warner Bros.
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Review Date: December 8, 2002
Analyze That
Directed by: Harold Ramis___________________________________
Four years have passed since Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) put mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) on his couch in Analyze This. The gangster is about to go before the parole board for the first time and the shrink is coping with the death of his father and all the unresolved issues that will now forever be interred below.
However, something more important has occured in the interim - The Sopranos. What seemed so fresh and hilarious just a short time ago has now become overly familiar after three seasons of goombahs, guns and crimespeak.
However, that’s not the only problem with Analyze That, the aptly titled sequel. The film’s reliance on schtick over story is cloying and all the fond memories of the interplay between the leads not only evaporates but seriously puts into question whether the chemistry was there in the first place.
One doesn’t have to belabor how difficult it is to create a comedy teaming on screen. The inspired initial pairings of Pryor and Wilder, Falk and Arkin and Nolte and Murphy proved all too true the accuracy of the old saw about lightning striking but once.
In this sophomore stretch the comedy has difficulty peeking out of the film’s serious underpinnings and craven efforts to elicit something poignant out of the mayhem. Someone on the outside has put out a contract on Vitti and after a couple of muffed attempts the con realizes he has to take drastic measures if he hopes to make it to Act II. So, he feigns madness and Sobel called in to verify that he’s not faking.
While the setup allows for some amusing skit comedy, what follows is hard to fathom let alone swallow. Lapses in logic - which include the Sobel’s having a teenage son after just four years of marriage - are the least of it.
The FBI releases Vitti under Sobel’s supervision and once out we discover there’s a gang war going on in the five boroughs. The authorities believe that following Vitti’s crooked path will lead to arrests against the rival mob bosses.
It’s a standard crime tale and not particularly humorous. The script tries hard to throw the narrative off track with, again, what amounts to comedy sketches such as a series of failed straight jobs for Vitti (he’s finally hired as a technical consultant on a television crime series starring an uncredited but excellent performance from Anthony LaPaglia) and Sobel going into blather after mixing drugs and alcohol. And, befitting the dynamic of doctor and patient, each will discover some painful moment from their past that will serve as a key to the future. In the words of Jackie Mason, “oy vey!”
A Warner Bros. release of a Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures, Face/Tribeca production. Produced by Paula Weinstein, Jane Rosenthal. Director, Harold Ramis. Screenplay, Peter Steinfeld, Ramis, Peter Tolan, based on characters created by Tolan, Kenneth Lonergan. Camera, Ellen Kuris. Editor, Andrew Mondshein. Music, David Holmes. Production design, Wynn Thomas. Costumes, Aude Bronson-Howard.
Robert De Niro (Paul Vitti), Billy Crystal (Dr. Ben Sobel), Lisa Kudrow (Laura Sobel), Joe Viterelli (Jelly), Reg Rogers (Raoul Berman), Cathy Moriarty-Gentile (Patti LoPresto), Anthony LaPaglia (Anthony Bella).
