A clash of cultures is the basis for the comedy in Analyze This. Billy Crystal plays psychiatrist Ben Sobol who is on the cusp of marrying his fiancee Lisa Kudrow in Miami...Paul Vitti - Robert De Niro - is a goodfella who`s having anxiety attacks on the eve of a major mobster meeting to decide who`s going to be top dog in the big apple... A chance meeting between Ben and Jelly - Paul`s right hand man played by Joe Vitarelli - is fortuitous. When Jelly sees his boss falling apart at the seams, knowing that now is not the time to show any weakness, the two turn up for a session and the hilarity begins...This is such a gurglingly funny comedy, it grabs hold of you and keeps you bubbling happily along as the wise guy pushes his way into Ben`s life. `When I went into family therapy this was not the family I was thinking about` Ben remarks. It`s nicely written with funny lines that suit the characters, zippily directed by Harold Ramis who`s last film was 1992`s Groundhog Day. But the key to the success of the film are the three central performances, with De Niro sending up his on-screen tough-guy persona in so many gangster films and Billy Crystal balancing him nicely with Joe Vitarelli as the go-between. The design works - the gangsters collars are a running joke - and so does Kudrow with her inimitable dead-pan style. This is a good, fun film.
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