De Niro scores again in light hearted comedy (Analyze That (DVD))

Member Name: bruffyboy

Product:	Analyze That (DVD)
Date:	01/03/09 (59 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: funny

Disadvantages: none

WHAT IS IT ABOUT:
Three years after the release of Analyze This, comes the sequel. Robert De Niro again stars as Paul Vitti, the newly incarcerated mob boss from New York. When Vitti is released into the care of Dr Sobel (Billy Crystal) after suffering from bouts of insanity, chaos soon follows.

WAS IT ANY GOOD:
Yet again, this is a nice little comedy. The performances are type-cast, and the plot fairly predictable, but it's funny too! The relationship between Crystal and De Niro is stronger than ever, and the two are more flexible than in their first outing together. De Niro lightens up a bit and gives a better performance than in the original, although the emphasis is still on his mafia acting skills.

Filmed in New Jersey, there's a real sense of authenticity to the set, and some old greats from the gangster flick world make appearances too.

As with the first film, you'll enjoy it more if you're already a fan of mafia based movies.

As always with De Niro, he uses a past role to influence a new one: the 'insanity' acting is very similar to his role in Awakenings, where he played a catatonic. I find it interesting that he builds up an arsenal of acting abilities in films he took very seriously (in this case mafia roles and the Awakenings role) and then re-hashes them easy as pie for a light hearted movie.

IF YOU LIKED IT:
De Niro and Ben Stiller make an equally interesting partnership in 'Meet the Parents' and 'Meet the Fockers'.

IN CONCLUSION:
More light hearted comedy that, whilst doing nothing particularly well, still succeeds at being an entertaining movie.

Summary: watch it