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Analyze This (1999)



Analyze This (1999)



7/10



Starring
Robert De Niro
Billy Crystal


Directed by Harold Ramis


Analyze This is one of those movies that some might not like because it’s about gangsters but not gangster enough, and it’s a comedy but not the kind you’d take your family to see. The movie drops enough vulgar language and onscreen violence to ensure it’s for viewers 18 and above.

For me, Analyze This is one of those movies where you sit back and let the actors and events take you on a fictional journey of a mobster losing his grip. You’ll be thrilled watching Robert De Niro play a mob boss again—something I still remember him doing best in The Godfather Part II (1974), where he played young Don Corleone. Here, De Niro plays Paul Vitti, another mob boss in charge of his family and one of the top bosses, but a series of events is causing him to lose control.

This 1999 movie was directed by the late Harold Ramis, who pulled off a wonderful blend of comedy and drama with the acting duo of Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. The casting director did a great job assembling the mafia family and everyone involved, down to Lisa Kudrow.

The script and dialogue will have you either holding your breath in anticipation of what happens next or laughing out loud when it finally does.

Analyze This starts strong with the jokes and maintains this pace throughout the film. It begins with a brief introduction by Paul Vitti himself, updating us on what led to the present moment.

After a meal with his friend and father figure, Paul’s split-second decision to grab a toothpick leads to him narrowly surviving an assassination attempt, though his father figure is killed.

The incident shakes Paul, causing him to have panic attacks. He ends up in the hospital after mistaking one of these attacks for a heart attack.

Paul asks his right-hand man, Jelly, to help him find a psychiatrist. Coincidentally, Jelly’s car was recently hit by a psychiatrist (Billy Crystal), who gave Jelly his card in case he needed help with repairs. Jelly hands the card to Paul, and that’s where the real story begins.

In the end, the movie received above-average approval ratings and was a commercial success, prompting the studio to consider making a sequel.

Now that Vitti is in jail and the doctor is finally free from his services, your guess is as good as mine as to what the writers and producers will do next.

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