Even though I'm a fan of the more alternative and non-Hollywood cinema, I can enjoy a good Hollywood movie as well. When it is a good comedy, thriller, drama..., I'll be the first to admit that I liked it. 'Alternative and Foreign' or 'Hollywood', I just don't always understand why people want to make such a difference between the two categories. A good movie is a good movie, no matter where it comes from. That's also why I really looked forward towards this "Analyze This" when I first heard about it. A comedy with Robert De Niro as the boss of a crime syndicate, I really had a good feeling about it.
Ben Sobol is a psychiatrist with a couple problems of his own. Not only does he have the feeling that he can never step outside the shadow of his famous father, because he never has such interesting patients, he also has an adolescent son who spies on his patients when they open up their heart and he is about to marry, but his parents don't want to come. To make things even worse for him, one day he is confronted with an unusual patient. Paul Vitti, the Godfather of a local crime syndicate, has anxiety attacks because of past problems. When he finally decides to see a psychiatrist, he must be very careful with his information. He can't give away the gang's secrets and reveal too much about his own situations because that would undermine his current position in the Mafia. But that's not even the biggest problem: Viti isn't used to people saying no to him. He expects that everybody who 'works' for him, so even his shrink, is prepared to see him 24 hours a day and leaves everything behind - even a wedding - when he needs them...
The fact that Robert De Niro played a role that made fun of the roles that once made him great is of course remarkable, but it is also a good move. You're already familiar with him as a tough Mafia gang member / boss, which makes the shock and the fun even bigger when you see him completely breaking down emotionally. Still, it wasn't enough to save the movie in my opinion. The entire story around it was just a little bit too thin and the humor didn't always work well enough to make it really special. And I must say that Robert De Niro was perhaps not the best choice for this role either. I've always been told that it takes a lot more to be a good comedian than to be another type of actor and that might be true. I really like Robert De Niro, but I don't really consider him as the best actor for comedies. Billy Crystal was a lot better in this movie.
Overall this isn't a bad comedy. Especially when Vitti had his anger attack and shot the pillow to pieces, I was laughing out loud, but that certainly wasn't the only funny scene. However, it just isn't enough to hide the thin story and the fact that De Niro wasn't the best choice of actor for that role. That's why I give this movie a 6.5/10.
Ben Sobol is a psychiatrist with a couple problems of his own. Not only does he have the feeling that he can never step outside the shadow of his famous father, because he never has such interesting patients, he also has an adolescent son who spies on his patients when they open up their heart and he is about to marry, but his parents don't want to come. To make things even worse for him, one day he is confronted with an unusual patient. Paul Vitti, the Godfather of a local crime syndicate, has anxiety attacks because of past problems. When he finally decides to see a psychiatrist, he must be very careful with his information. He can't give away the gang's secrets and reveal too much about his own situations because that would undermine his current position in the Mafia. But that's not even the biggest problem: Viti isn't used to people saying no to him. He expects that everybody who 'works' for him, so even his shrink, is prepared to see him 24 hours a day and leaves everything behind - even a wedding - when he needs them...
The fact that Robert De Niro played a role that made fun of the roles that once made him great is of course remarkable, but it is also a good move. You're already familiar with him as a tough Mafia gang member / boss, which makes the shock and the fun even bigger when you see him completely breaking down emotionally. Still, it wasn't enough to save the movie in my opinion. The entire story around it was just a little bit too thin and the humor didn't always work well enough to make it really special. And I must say that Robert De Niro was perhaps not the best choice for this role either. I've always been told that it takes a lot more to be a good comedian than to be another type of actor and that might be true. I really like Robert De Niro, but I don't really consider him as the best actor for comedies. Billy Crystal was a lot better in this movie.
Overall this isn't a bad comedy. Especially when Vitti had his anger attack and shot the pillow to pieces, I was laughing out loud, but that certainly wasn't the only funny scene. However, it just isn't enough to hide the thin story and the fact that De Niro wasn't the best choice of actor for that role. That's why I give this movie a 6.5/10.