The obligatory token of respect and appreciation for 1999's Analyze This. In a word, the sequel, likewise directed by Harold Ramis. The revised concept: the vulnerable mobster gets himself released from prison, and into the custody of his former therapist, by singing the entire score of West Side Story nonstop. (Not only can Robert De Niro not carry a tune, he cannot get within arm's reach of one.) That -- a mafioso who knows Broadway show tunes -- sets the standard for the humor to come. (Somehow it's worse, not better, that he is faking his madness, and that he can call up the lyrics, if not the melodies, consciously.) The outtakes during the closing credits, albeit a hand-me-down idea, raise the standard considerably: always a bad sign. Once again, the balance of attention, and even the balance of admiration, favors the mobster over the therapist, though you might hypothesize that Hollywood filmmakers on the whole would have a more intimate familiarity with the latter profession. On the other hand, they have made more money off the former. With Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli. (2002) — Duncan Shepherd
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