Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #203272 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English, German, Spanish
• Subtitled in: German, English, Spanish, Swedish, Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Portuguese, French, Italian, Hebrew, Turkish, Polish, Greek, Czech, Hungarian, Croatian, Icelandic

Amazon.com essential video
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

From The New Yorker
You can see the jokes coming well in advance, but you still laugh uncontrollably. Robert De Niro is the Mafia boss who is having panic attacks at crucial moments, and Billy Crystal is the mild, bored little shrink who becomes his doctor and friend. What makes the film so effective is that the two men form a real bond-each fulfills some need in the other. Director Harold Ramis's experience is evident in almost every scene; he doesn't push the farce too hard. With a superb performance by Joseph Viterelli as the boss's embarrassed right-hand man. Written by Kenneth Lonergan, Peter Tolan, and Ramis. -David Denby
Copyright © 2006 The New Yorker

Customer Reviews

Lots of sparks, few fireworks in Mafia comedy
Once again we have a movie centered on the Italian Mafia. There have been so many movies, both serious and comic, on this subject that we tend to know in advance every possible outcome. The twist here is rather clever. Mob boss Paul Vitti [Robert De Niro] is having an emotional crisis that is interfering with his work. He confides in his right-had man, Jelly [Joe Viterilli]. Coincidentally, Jelly's car was rear-ended the day before by a prominent psychiatrist, Ben Sobel [Billy Crystal]. They go to Sobel's office, where Vitti demands to be cured of his problem. Sobel agrees to treat him. It's not as though he has much of a choice.

Sobel now has a number of problems to deal with. His profession deals with people's emotions. Vitti is from a world where real emotion is thwarted by a macho code of behavior. Only Jelly knows he is seeing a shrink. For the rest of the mob to know would bring dishonor. Sobel is also about to get married, or he thinks he is. What he quickly finds out is that working for Vitti means he is on call twenty-four hours a day. This ensures that the wedding day will be a disastrous one. Soon the FBI is investigating Sobel for gang related activities. His life is seriously disrupted, yet he secretly finds it exhilirating.

There are several good sight gags in Analyze This. When Sobel runs his car into the rear of Jelly's Lincoln, the trunk pops open to reveal to all the world a man tied up inside. Jelly's efforts to distract Sobel are hysterical. There are also several clever dream sequences, which play havoc with Freudian psychology.

This is the first picture in a long time where the talented Billy Crystal is always in command, even in his scenes with the great De Niro. His character gives him an opportunity to stretch his comedic abilities. De Niro has lately been stretching his own enormous range. This is his second comedy in two years, the first being the much better written political satire Wag the Dog.
The only time he falters is in the first scene in which he cries. It's a rather startling display, but once you get used to it, it's suitable to the part he is playing. In any case, it is quite clear that he is mastering the comedy genre, which many actors claim is the hardest one to play well.

Do not go into Analyze This expecting that, since it has an extraordinary cast, it is going to be somehow superior. Go in expecting only to be entertained. I imagine you will enjoy yourself if you don't try to analyze it.

It's great go and see it
This movie has great performances all around. It is very funny. I liked seeing Robert DeNiro cry. How could anyone dislike this comic look into the mafia.

Funny and B R I L L I A N T!
Oh yes this movie is not to be missed if you are after good commedy which is very rare these days!

The story is one of kind (a mafia boss going to a shrink), and Robert De Niro with Billy Crystal both did an amazing job... forget about the actres, she was not all that! But still it is good.

If you want to enjoy this movie don't think of it as it can be real or not... instead swallow it as a light funny meal.