Analyze That (2002)

"Analyze That" is a sequel to the 1999 film "Analyze This" that rather misses the reason why that latter film was enjoyable."Analyze This" was a movie that worked fairly well as an amusing comedy because of the chemistry between Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal. Their relationship was the heart of the picture, and the audience gravitated towards it.De Niro and Crystal are no worse here, but the script makes the mistake of not focusing on them enough. Instead, the majority of the film follows De Niro and his plans to get back into the "business." This persists until the final act, which turns into the most cliched mafia picture you've ever seen, nearly devoid of humor all together.All of this considered, however, the movie does feature some scenes between De Niro and Crystal, and when their doing their thing and bantering with each other, it's just as funny as the first film. That being said, I simply wish there was more of it."Analyze That" is not a terrible film, it's simply a mediocre and forgettable one that doesn't reach even the simple enjoyability of its predecessor.

Analyze That (2002): Dir: Harold Ramis / Cast: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Joe Viterelli, Lisa Kudrow, Cathy Moriarty: Inferior sequel to Analyze This, which searched of the trauma of the Robert De Niro character. This time out regards current issues that plague the psychiatrist including the recent death of his father and the release of De Niro into his custody. De Niro claims that attempts were made on his life in prison and he fakes insanity singing songs from Hollywood musicals. Same setup with a formula agenda but a pleasant dismiss. Director Harold Ramis creates the same witty humour. He usually creates comedies with some sort of social message such as Caddyshack and National Lampoon's Vacation. De Niro once again finds the right note for humour and his role is written in an upbringing as well as his sincerity is tested. Billy Crystal comes to terms with aspects of his own life as well as closure with De Niro. Joe Viterelli as De Niro's closest friend in crime is given little to do, which is unfortunate given that he stole his scene in the first film. Lisa Kudrow as Crystal's wife has little screen time and she seems only there as a prop for the Crystal role. Cathy Moriarty co-starred with De Niro in the boxing masterpiece Raging Bull. Now they co-star in this unworthy sequel. This is a pointless sequel but if viewers enjoyed the much better Analyze This, then perhaps they may dare to analyze this as well. Score: 5 / 10

I don't usually write reviews, but I remember watching this stinker, and wanted to throw in my two cents.This film is about Paul Vitti pretending to be insane to get out of jail, thereby driving his psychiatrist insane. How idiotic a premise is that? "Analyze This" was a good film. But "Analyze That" is bad. The plot is empty and chaotic. Apart from the beginning few scenes, there is almost nothing related to madness. The film tries so hard to be funny, by doing the exact opposite of "Analyze This". This time round, the psychiatrist gets crazy and the mobster has to cheer him up. And it is Ben who bugs Paul all the time. I feel that they try too hard to be funny. The end result is that the film ends up not being funny, and sometimes becomes just plain silly. "Analyze That" is a disappointing sequel. Don't waste your time on this.

It could be "Analyze That" is even funnier than the original picture, and it certainly is more liberal in it's use of the F-bomb than "Analyze This". I guess that's because there were a lot more mobster characters in this one, as Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) is released into the custody of his psychiatrist Dr. Sobel (Billy Crystal). The picture takes on the guise of a caper movie during the latter third, and it wasn't quite clear to me at what point Vitti turned the tables on the the Rigazzi Gang and Patti LoPresti (Cathy Moriarty). With all the bullets flying, it's tough to keep straight who the 'good' bad guys and 'bad' bad guys are, but it's not important enough for me to watch it all over again. The one thing I noticed for the very first time in any film made after the events of 9/11, was the absence of the Twin Towers as part of the New York City skyline. Prominent by it's absence, it had me thinking about the picture in an entirely different light.