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Analyze This / *** (rated R)
Let's all agree that there should be a new federal law. Every film that has a gangster role must give that part to Robert DeNiro. Having played the young Vito Corleone in Godfather II (1974), James Conway in Goodfellas (1990) and Sam Rothstein in Casino (1995), Mr. De Niro has demonstrated that with and without the guidance of his alter ego, Martin Scorsese, he has constantly delivered to us the definitive gangster. To borrow a movie line, nobody does it better. Yet the true mark of a great actor is not to simply to one role really well; but it is to be able to take that role and have the ability to put a new twist on it. This he does with superb aplomb in Director Harold Ramis's new film "Analyze This".
Here he plays Paul Vitti, a New York wiseguy not too different from the James Conway character in Goodfellas. Unfortunately, for Mr. Vitti, all of that killing and extorting has finally taken its toll. He finds himself in need of a shrink. Thankfully, New York has as many shrinks as the Medowlands has bodies. And as luck would have it, his goon, Jelly (perfectly cast by Joe Viterelli, a real life resident of NYC's Mott Street, AKA wiseguy central), happens to bump into Dr. Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) while delivering a soon to be dead body to places unknown. Unwittingly, Dr. Sobol finds that he has become the house shrink to Mr. Vitti. Moreover, he is given an offer he cannot refuse: Find a cure for Mr. Vitti's problems in only two weeks, when the "families" have a meeting scheduled, or else.
Not only does the film make references to previous gangster films, such as The Godfather, but it also ads new twists to old scenes. In one classic moment, Mr. Vitti calls his arch rival Sindone (Chaz Palminteri) to make him aware that his attempt to kill him has failed. But instead of the usual wiseguy moment, Billy Crystal, playing Christian to Vitti's Cyrano, feeds Robert De Niro new age lines to tell Sindone that he understands his anger and only wants "closure". The confusion this raises raises howls of laughter from an audience that gets the joke. Harlod Ramis has delivered us the perfect scene, part Godfather/part any Woody Allen movie. Don Corelone would be spinning in his grave if he heard a wiseguy ask for closure from anything less than a "Tommy Gun".
Rounding out this cast is the marvelous Lisa Kudrow who plays Dr. Sobol's frustrated fiancée. Although Ms. Kudrow is very underused in this film, we are offered a glimmer of the type of actress she can truly become once she moves away from the usual ditsy character she has so successfully played as Phoebe in Friends and in the recent "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion". A few more roles like this and she might be the one friend who finds a successful career in Hollywood.
Mr's Ramis, De Niro and Crystal deserve an all you can eat dinner at Carmine's for delivering to us a truly magnificent feast.
Studio: Warner Brothers
Director: Harold Ramis
Screenwriter: Harold Ramis and Peter Tolan
Story by: Kenneth Lonergan
Producers: Jane Rosenthal and Paula Weinstein
Executive Producers: Billy Crystal, Chris Brigham, Bruce Berman
Cast: Robert DeNiro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow,Chaz Palminteri
and Joe Viterelli.
Rated R