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Analyze That
Studio: Warner Brothers
Year: 2002
Rated: R
Film Length: 96 minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16X9 Enhanced Widescreen (1.85:1)
Subtitles: English, French & Spanish
Back in therapy
It's only fair to let all of you know right off
the bat that I hated Analyze This, the mess
of a film that should have been castrated so it
would not have the opportunity to reproduce a sequel.
I know I'll be with the minority when I say that
Analyze This was a slow, uneven and only
intermittently humorous film. It was obvious from
the start that Robert De Niro, one of the greatest
actors of all time, had no idea how to approach the
material he was given. There's nothing worse than
going to the theater to watch a comedy only to have
to sit in pain while you watch a man like De Niro
force a cry.
As you would expect, I had lowest of expectations
for last year's sequel, Analyze That, which
is a good thing, for I was not disappointed. It
didn't take long for me to see the dud of a movie I
was up against -- for within the first 30 minutes of
the film I found myself cringing in pain as I watched
De Niro jumping on a table and singing selections
from West Side Story. This is supposed to be funny?!
What has happened to Robert De Niro's career? With
films like Showtime, The Adventures of Rocky
and Bullwinkle, The Score, 15 Minutes and
Meet the Parents it's obvious that the actor's
career has been spiraling downward. Is there not
one piece of crap script the actor will not accept?
How much longer must we suffer alongside this
actor as we watch the decline of his career?
Knowing how much I would probably hate this film,
I set myself up with some small activities I could
perform if it turned out I wasn't enjoying what I
was watching. As a special * added feature * to
this review, I'll discuss some of those activities
and thoughts that I involved myself with during
various points of the film. I hope you enjoy this
bonus feature.
As the film opens, we find ourselves at Sing-Sing
prison where mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro) is
serving time. Someone is trying to kill him and the
only way to figure out who, is for him to get released.
Vitti begins calling his psychiatrist friend Ben
Sobel (Billy Crystal) requesting his aid in his
release. Crystal, having just lost his father,
is wrestling with how to deal with his own emotions
concerning the loss. With no help in sight, Vitti
concocts a scam. He does this by pretending to go
totally mad, starting a mess hall riot and singing
tunes from "West Side Story."
* At this point I decided to jab myself endlessly
with the fork that was sitting on my end table * .
Sobel becomes entrusted by the FBI with custody of
Paul Vitti, placing the Mafia wise-guy under house
arrest in the psychiatrist's own home. Their real
intent is to get Paul out with his old cronies to
figure out the "big heist" that's supposed to "go
down" soon. Of course, as you would expect, Ben's
wife Laura (Lisa Kudrow), isn't very happy with the
arrangement -- especially when she finds Paul in
a bathrobe flashing her relatives.
* Decided to do something creative at this point.
I recreated the Kennedy assassination using a can
of spam luncheon meat. It was kind of cool. *
For the next hour or so we watch Paul try to
get the Feds off his back by trying his hand at
some odd jobs that include a car salesman, a
restaurant maitre d' and jewelry store worker. Of
course all these jobs seem to clash with Paul's
demanding personality.
* I was a little bored at this point. Thought it
would be a good time to make a few prank phone
calls...collect *
Paul finally gets his big opportunity as a
consultant on a cable Mob show called Little Caesar.
You see, its lead Aussie actor (Anthony LaPalgia) is
in need of some authenticity. Paul uses this
opportunity of making the show more authentic by
inviting his old crew to hang around which in turn
acts as a front to perfect the "big heist."
* I made up my mind! I am going to date a
Morman girl! *
Just when you thought nothing could be worse than
Analyze This, Analyze That once again
proves that Hollywood will make anything for the
promise of an oversized paycheck. This film uses
the exact same color-by-numbers book that it did in
Analyze This, except that any comedic balance
present in the original is now totally absent from
this sequel. The only encouraging words I can offer
is that actress Lisa Kudrow (who has a paragraph of
dialogue in this film) is no longer as "wooden" as
she was in the first film -- and Robert De Niro has
actually gotten better at forcing a good cry.
How is the transfer?
Nothing wrong here. First of all, this is Warner
Brothers we are talking about here, so you know
their "A" title product is going to look as good
as can be. Images are razor sharp and highly
detailed. The transfer sports excellent color
balance and deep rich blacks. There is the
appearance of background mosquito noise during
the film's exterior establishing shots, but that
aside, this is just about as good as can be.
The film's 5.1 Dolby Digital is about as good
as you would expect. Dialogue and score are
faithfully reproduced across the front three
channels. David Holme's upbeat jazzy score plays
with a good deal of fidelity and dynamics. Surrounds
are very limited in their activity, only offering
a few ambient effect noises such as "echo" during
an early church sequence, and later, effects noise
during a high-speed car chase.
Special Features
First up is a full-length commentary from a
man I really admire, director Harold Ramis (Stripes,
Caddyshack, Ghostbusters). The director begins
by pointing out the various film locales (a bar
in Kearny NJ and a mess hall in Riker's Island) as
well as a whose who list of actors that begin
appearing on screen. The problem with this
commentary is that Ramis just doesn't seem to be
getting into what he is doing. He likes to sit
and point out locales and actors as well as
describing what is happening in each scene, but
there isn't much substance here beyond that.
I would love to had heard some stories about
tomfoolery on the set, but instead we get the
sort of "trivia" information that would be best
represented in a pop-up text track.
It's sort of hard to watch a promotional featurette
for a movie as bad as this, but as a reviewer I
found myself forced to watch The making of Analyze
That. As you would expect, the only function
of this marketing piece is to try to convince dolts
like myself that this movie is actually funny. There
are interviews with cast members Billy Crystal,
Robert De Niro and Lisa Kudrow as well as director
Harold Ramis and producer Jane Rosenthal who give
us a background on the film and its various characters.
It's interesting to hear Ramis say that he would
never return to this film unless he had a unique
and original story to tell for the sequel. All I can
say to that is, well...he returned anyway.
(length: approx. 11 minutes)
Do you have what it takes to be part of the mob?
Take the Mafioso Associate Degree Exam and
find out. Through various word association and
identify that ink blot questions, you can put your
Mafioso knowledge skills to the test. Rack up at
least 60 points and you'll be a Made Man.
Definitely worth wasting a few minutes of your
time to look at.
A cast and crew page offers extensive
filmographies for many of the principles involved
with the film.
The original theatrical trailer is also
presented here.
Final Thoughts
It's a real shame to know that the only reason
that Analyze That will receive any sort of
attention on DVD is solely due to the success of the
original Analyze This. May I just forewarn
all of you that this is a totally unnecessary sequel
that provides shallow laughs that you won't be able
to remember once you eject the DVD.
Fuh'get about it! Really....FORGET ABOUT IT!
Release Date: May 13, 2003
All screen captures have been further compressed.
They are for illustrative purposes only and do not
represent actual picture quality
