although many people have compared this new gangster comedy to the hit hbo drama ' the sopranos , ' analyze this is witty and entertaining enough to be a good movie in it 's own right .
billy crystal plays wiseguy shrink ben sobol , who new ' patient ' happens to be gangster boss paul vitti ( de niro . )
ben wants nothing to do with vitti , as he 's about to get married to laura macnamara ( kudrow ) and having a gangster as a patient would n't really help .
but ben is soon drawn into vitti worlds , and reluctantly helps vitti to sort his life out .
all done in a comic fashion , of course .
although never brilliant , analyze this is also never rubbish , which makes for a fun ride .
billy crystal , who has n't had a good role since city slickers way back in the early ' 90 's , is given a role that lets him fully exploit his wiseguy act .
he 's pretty funny while he does it , and although his character is a little close to his character in city slickers ,
he 's pretty funny .
robert de niro is hilarious as vitti , playing it dead straight but coming off as really funny .
he 's a serious gangster unaware that he is a comic gold mine .
lisa kudrow , barely seen as crystals ' estranged wife to be , basically reprises her phoebe role from t .
v series friends , which is getting rather tiresome , and does n't come off well on the screen .
the supporting cast is apparently made up of the entire cast of casino and goodfellas , and are all funny caricatures , especially vitti 's bodyguard jelly ( joe viterelli . )
the film genuinely plays like a proper gangster movie , but with laughs instead of hard ass talking .
it sometimes gets a little bloody for a light hearted film , but it strangely fits in .
spoofs are made of famous gangster movies , including a nice parody of the godfather .
the italian tunes playing throughout the soundtrack contribute to the fun .
there 's also some odd plot points : fbi guys appear and suddenly disappear for no apparent reason .
it is true that analyze this has had a somewhat chequered production history , and perhaps the plot points were expanded in a earlier version of the script .
unfortunately , this is hollywood , so we will never know .
harold ramis , best known as egon from ghostbusters , has a deft touch with directing comedy , as shown in the immortal groundhog day , and the less immortal caddyshack .
all the comic potential in a scene is dug out and presented to the audience .
the script , written by ramis along with peter tolan and ken lonergan , starts off funny , remains funny for the most of the film , but sadly peters out somewhat during the last twenty minutes where it wrongly enters more serious territory .
the film is short , however , and just before audience interest is waning the film suddenly goes into a rather rushed and unsatisfying ending and the credits roll .
analyze this is a good comedy , and is certainly worth watching .
robert de niro sobbing is reason enough to watch it , even though it does seem forced , or like a parody ( although i think this was intentional . )
crystal is his most likeable in years
, kudrow is given as little screen time as possible , which is a good thing , and de niro
is just awesome .
it 's no goodfellas , and it probably wo n't be remembered as much as groundhog day , but analyze this is a well done comedy that wo n't leave you feel cheated .
Output: P