Old Stuff
Analyze This (1999)
Directed by Harold Ramis
Funnyman director Harold Ramis scores big with this hilarious teaming of Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro. Crystal plays a psychiatrist that is reluctantly drawn into De Niro's dark world of organized crime by being strong-armed into treating him. All the while, Crystal really just wants to get through his wedding ceremony and ease the many rough spots in his own life. De Niro is having "panic attacks" (but don't say that in front of him!) about an upcoming mob meeting of the greatest underworld figures, including Chaz Palminteri and Tony Darrow, who have been trying to kill De Niro along the way.
De Niro and Crystal, being two very different actors, each approached this project with a fair amount of trepidation. Crystal feared that De Niro would turn it into a violent "Goodfellas" type of story, while De Niro was concerned that Crystal would want it to be a light comedy. Martin Scorsese turned down the directing duties at one point. It then seemed that Crystal and De Niro would co-direct (!?) the film, but Harold Ramis stepped in to put things right. The talented Ramis perfectly balanced De Niro and Crystal to create a comic masterpiece.
While there are a few "stupid" jokes, most of the film is well done and intelligently funny. The rough edges of De Niro's mobster are best exemplified in a scene where Crystal is trying to explain Freud's oedipal complex to him. After learning that Oedipus killed his father and married his own mother, De Niro shakes his head in disbelief, commenting, "Those fucking Greeks!" Amazingly, the film provided this reviewer with a countless series of chuckles throughout, as well as a good hard laugh just about every five minutes! Funny, engaging and with characters that you actually care about, "Analyze This" is proof that humor is the best therapy (1/15th the cost of a therapy session, twice as long, and 10 times more effective!)! -- Rating: $9.00
George Higham -- copyright 1999