Plot: What’s it about?
What do you do when the mob boss in your city breaks down in tears on your couch? Sit there and listen very carefully and don’t say a word! That’s the premise behind the new Harlod Ramis (Groundhog Day, Caddyshack…) comedy.
Robert DeNiro, in a departure (sort of) from his other roles, plays mafia boss Paul Vitti. Paul is having a tough time dealing with his job as of late. He can’t even bring himself to “whack” a local guilty man. What is the world coming to?!?! In an unrellated accident, psychairist Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) has a traffic accident with a few of Vitti’s, uh, associates. They happen to have a body in the trunk and tell him not to worry about it. When they discover that Vitti needs psychological help, who do they turn to? Yep…
Amongst all this mess, Ben’s wedding is coming up and he is having some stress of his own. His bride to be, Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow, who is basically in her “Friends” motif) doesn’t agree with Ben’s helping out gangsters and try as they might—just cannot get married!
In a somewhat of a subplot, the other crime boss’ in the city are getting together for a “meeting” to discuss the present and future situation of the families in the city. (I mean, what’s a world without organized crime?). After rival crime boss, Primo Sindone (Chazz Palmenteri) gets the feeling that Vitti may not be up to the job, he sees this as an opportunity to take over once and for all…
As you can imagine, all hell breaks loose, but it’s all in good humor. There’s death and humor and it’s done in a funny way that only Harold Ramis can do. Analyze This is a great comedy that shows that DeNiro can play more than a gangster (in a different way) and a psycho. Lisa Kudrow, for me, is the only weak point of the movie, basically because I don’t like her. Don’t let that stop you from seeing this truly funny movie, though!
Video: How does it look?
Warner continues to produce gems as new DVD’s are released. This offers both Full Frame and a beautiful 16:9 transfer. Colors are bright, no artifacting and this is what DVD should be!
Audio: How does it sound?
A Dolby Digital 5.1 mix is used with great effect here. Not only does this comedy sound good, but the shootout scenes sound almost demo quality. Now normally, comedies don’t sound that great, but this is an exception to the rule. If you need proof, listen the ending shootout scene. Nice…
Supplements: What are the extras?
We are treated to a few comedies (one with Robert DeNiro and Billy Crystal that is hilarious), a section with outtakes, a trailer and some more. All this for $10 less than what a studio like, say, Universal, Disney or Fox would charge us. Need anymore proof?
