Analyze That (2002)

Synopsis: Mob boss Paul Vitti (ROBERT DE NIRO) is nearing the end of his term in Sing Sing, and the FBI agents monitoring him are baffled. Day after day they watch as New York's most notorious gangland figure walks around his cell in a semi-catatonic stupor, occasionally breaking into songs from West Side... Mob boss Paul Vitti (ROBERT DE NIRO) is nearing the end of his term in Sing Sing, and the FBI agents monitoring him are baffled. Day after day they watch as New York's most notorious gangland figure walks around his cell in a semi-catatonic stupor, occasionally breaking into songs from West Side Story.

Is Vitti having a nervous breakdown because of recent threats on his life by a rival Family or is his odd behavior merely a foxy ploy to get him sprung from jail early? The FBI isn't sure and neither is his former psychotherapist Ben Sobel (BILLY CRYSTAL), who gets called in to consult on the case.

The last time Sobel treated Vitti he tried to get to the source of his debilitating anxiety attacks, but barely scratched the surface. It will take time to examine the demons still lurking in Vitti's mind and help put him on the straight and narrow — time that Sobel doesn't want to give. Not to Vitti. Not now.

Truth is, Sobel has problems of his own. His father has just died, plunging him into an identity crisis in both his personal and professional lives. Furthermore, he knows his wife Laura (LISA KUDROW) will be furious if he allows the unpredictable Vitti back into their lives.

But when Vitti is granted a conditional release into Sobel's care and custody, becoming his patient again and — even worse — his houseguest, the reluctant psychiatrist finds that he has no choice. In order to get peace back in his life he must help the troubled gangster sort out his psyche, find gainful employment and go straight — which proves easier said than done.

Under Sobel's tutelage, Vitti applies his unique work experience to the job market, with disastrous results. Working in a jewelry store proves too tempting, being a greeter at a fancy restaurant too humiliating, and selling cars seriously tries his patience ("Look at the size of that trunk — you could put 3 people in there... I mean, suitcases").

The good news is that Vitti finally appears to be sincere about taking the cure, and he assures Sobel that he won't be dragging the both of them into any dangerous underworld schemes like he did last time. And Sobel wants to believe him. But how can he be sure when guys like Lou The Wrench keep showing up?

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Village Roadshow Pictures and NPV Entertainment, a Baltimore Spring Creek Pictures, Face / Tribeca Production: Analyze That, the sequel to the 1999 hit comedy Analyze This, in which Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal recreate their memorable onscreen chemistry as charming mob boss Paul Vitti and his uneasy New Jersey psychiatrist Ben Sobel. Lisa Kudrow (Friends, Hanging Up) also reprises her starring role as Ben's perpetually exasperated wife Laura and Joe Viterelli (Analyze This, Shallow Hal) returns to star as Vitti's reliable bodyguard, Jelly, a man who truly knows where the bodies are buried. Cathy Moriarty-Gentile (Crazy in Alabama, TV's Bless This House) stars as Patty LoPresti, a feisty mob widow who has recently inherited Vitti's, uh, family responsibilities.

Director Harold Ramis, and producers Paula Weinstein and Jane Rosenthal, the filmmaking team on the Golden Globe-nominated Analyze This, also reunite on Analyze That, written by Peter Steinfeld and Harold Ramis and Peter Tolan. Billy Crystal, Barry Levinson, Chris Brigham, Len Amato and Bruce Berman serve as executive producers. The director of photography is Ellen Kuras, A.S.C.; production designer is Wynn Thomas; and editor is Andrew Mondshein, A.C.E. Music is by David Holmes. Analyze That will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, an AOL Time Warner Company, and in select territories by Village Roadshow Pictures. This film is rated R by the MPAA for "language and some sexual content."

-- © 2002 Warner Bros. [More]