Analyze This (1999)

We have all heard and seen Mafia movies that have become Hollywood classics: Francis Ford Coppola’s THE GODFATHER, and Martin Scorsese’s GOODFELLAS, CASINO, and THE DEPARTED. All those movies were serious and brutal films, but there’s one mob movie that will have you laughing out loud, and that movie is called ANALYZE THIS. Directed and co-writer of the screenplay by Harold Ramis (Caddyshack, Groundhog’s Day) and released in 1999, the film tells the story of Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro), a powerful New York City mob boss who suddenly starts having problems: a certain disability to kill people, anxiety attacks and reduces to tears because of problems from his past. He seeks for a shrink in the name of Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), a family psychiatrist who also has problems of his own: his son keeps listening in to his sessions, while his patients are not-challenging enough and his upcoming second wedding to Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow) in Miami. In just days before a big meeting with other mob bosses, Sobel must help Vitti resolve his emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster, but it won’t go perfectly well. This film also stars Joe Vitrelli (Shallow Hal) as Vitti’s moronic henchman Jelly, Leo Rossi (1981’s Halloween II) as Vitti’s cousin Carlo Mangano, a special appearance by Molly Shannon (TV’s Saturday Night Live) as Sobel’s whining patient Caroline, and Chazz Palminteri, who was suggested by De Niro after having worked together in 1993’s A BRONX TALE, as Vitti’s long time rival: Young Turk boss Primo Sindone. I was close to seeing this movie in theaters when it came out that spring, but I never did. I can still remember my parents checking out show times, why we didn’t go remains a mystery to me. The scenes between De Niro and Crystal were hilarious to watch. These two guys were terrific together and it makes them a perfect odd couple between a mob boss and a psychiatrist. De Niro’s Paul Vitti is loosely inspired by real life mobster John Gotti, and De Niro’s collaborator Martin Scorsese was first approached to direct but turned it down to do BRINGING OUT THE DEAD instead. When it was released on March 5th, the film became a big commercial success by grossing over $117 million. It also received positive reviews, scoring a 67% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes and Kathryn Kinley of WPIX-TV/NEW YORK giving it four stars, the funniest comedy in a decade. The film spawned into a 2002 sequel, which I had the fortune to see with my family when I was fourteen, and it went on to gross over $55 million internationally and significantly less than the first one, which I prefer more than the sequel to tell you the truth. ANALYZE THIS is one of the greatest movies of all time and it’s a true favorite to all movie lovers, even if your either a DE NIRO fan, a CRYSTAL fan, or a gangster movie fan.