Analyze This

1999 Comedy

In the same year that a hit cable television series, The Sopranos, successfully mined the same premise, this comedy about a mobster seeking advice from a psychiatrist was a box office winner for director Harold Ramis. Billy Crystal stars as Dr. Ben Sobel, a New York shrink who's becoming a little bored with his upscale but neurotic clientele. Into Sobel's practice comes a guy with legitimate problems, Mafia kingpin Paul Viti (Robert DeNiro), a godfather who is being reduced to tears and panic attacks by stress and his guilt over his beloved father's assassination. Intimidated but also fascinated by Viti, Dr. Sobel becomes frustrated when his mob boss patient becomes a full-time occupation, as Viti summons the psychiatrist for his professional help at all hours and in all places, even including the doctor's Florida wedding to TV reporter Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow). In the meantime, a power struggle is brewing with Viti's long-time rival Primo Sidone (Chazz Palminteri), but Viti begins employing the feel-good self-help jargon and techniques he's learned from Dr. Sobel to keep his enemy off balance. Just as the therapist and his powerful patient are making breakthroughs, the FBI attempts to persuade Sobel that Viti is going to have him murdered, leading to a nearly lethal misunderstanding. more..

Director: Harold Ramis

Starring: Billy Crystal,Robert De Niro, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli,Chazz Palminteri

Reviews

  • More than a high concept stretched to feature length. This is a funny and extremely satisfying comedy, the best in a while.

    Mick LaSalle - The San Francisco Chronicle

    29 November 2012

  • Crystal turns in his best (read: least sappy) performance in ages, getting through an entire movie -- most of it, anyway -- without mugging.

    Lisa Schwarzbaum - Entertainment Weekly

    29 November 2012

  • Watching De Niro take Paul through his first panic attack ("I'm crying like a woman") is an unalloyed joy.

    Peter Travers - Rolling Stone

    29 November 2012

  • As he demonstrated in "Groundhog Day," Ramis knows how to handle a high-concept story with unusual cleverness, and he does it again here. It helps to no end that De Niro and Crystal, despite their obvious differences, are perfectly in tune.

    Elvis Mitchell - The New York Times

    29 November 2012

  • Ramis...does extract every last yuk from this lively clash of id and superego, this spoofy buddies' odyssey from underworld to Prozac nation.

    Rita Kempley - The Washington Post

    29 November 2012

Awards

  • Top Box Office Films

    ASCAP Film and Television Music Awards (2000)

  • Best Edited Feature Film - Comedy or Musical

    American Cinema Editors (2000)

     
  • Funniest Motion Picture

    American Comedy Awards (2000)

  • Favorite Comedy Team

    Blockbuster Entertainment Awards (2000)

  • Best Motion Picture - Comedy/Musical

    Golden Globes (2000)