Susan Granger’s review of “ANALYZE THAT” (Warner Bros.)
It’s like Christmas coming early with the rib-tickling comedy sequel that we’ve all been waiting for. Since “Analyze This” (1999), insecure, imprisoned mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) has been having a tough time staying alive at Sing-Sing. Someone keeps sending hitmen to kill him. It’s stressful enough to cause more than just anxiety attacks, prompting Vitti to burst into songs from “West Side Story” or go catatonic, so his former psychotherapist, Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), is summoned. But it’s a bad time for Sobel. His father has just died and he’s going through a conflicted identity crisis as part of the grief process. Nevertheless, the Justice Dept. insists on releasing the seemingly-psychotic Vitti into Sobel’s custody, over the protests of his irate wife (Lisa Kudrow) who fears for the sanctity of their home and Ben’s teenage son. Reluctantly, Sobel takes Vitti into his suburban New Jersey house to try to help the gangster sort out his psyche and find a legitimate job – which isn’t easy for a notorious Mafia don with his loyal bodyguard Jelly (Joe Viterelli) at his side. Could he be a car salesman? Maitre’d? Jeweler? (“You know they take taxes out of your check,” Vitti growls. “What the hell is that?!”) Finally, he’s recruited as ‘technical advisor’ on “Little Caesar” a “Sopranos”-esque TV show that stars Australian actor Anthony La Paglia as a mob boss. Written by Peter Steinfeld, Peter Tolan and Harold Ramis, who also directed, the storyline revolves around the psychological redemption of the anti-social personality, but the bottom line is the laughter ignited by Vitti’s inappropriate, rude behavior. On the Granger Movie Gauge of 1 to 10, “Analyze That” is a gleefully hilarious 8. Proving that good bad-guys can win – it’s one of the funniest films of the year!
