Movie · 1999 · Comedy, Crime · 1h 43m · R · English
Curator score: 3.7/10 (250K ratings)
New York's most powerful gangster is about to get in touch with his feelings.
Overview
Countless wiseguy films are spoofed in this film that centers on the neuroses and angst of a powerful Mafia racketeer who suffers from panic attacks. When Paul Vitti needs help dealing with his role in the "family," unlucky shrink Dr. Ben Sobel is given just days to resolve Vitti's emotional crisis and turn him into a happy, well-adjusted gangster.
Ratings
Curator score: 3.7/10
IMDb: 6.7/10
Letterboxd: 3.33/5
Rotten Tomatoes: 70%
Metacritic: 60
TMDB: 6.5/10
Director
Harold Ramis
Production
Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures, NPV Entertainment, Face Productions, Tribeca Productions, Spring Creek Pictures
Cast
Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Chazz Palminteri, Kresh Novakovic, Bart Tangredi, Michael Straka, Joseph Rigano, Joe Viterelli, Richard C. Castellano, Molly Shannon, Max Casella, Frank Pietrangolare, Kyle Sabihy, Bill Macy, Rebecca Schull, Pat Cooper, Leo Rossi, Aasif Mandvi, Neil Pepe
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, one-joke crime comedy that works because the cast commits hard: De Niro plays the mobster straight, Crystal plays the therapist with exasperated wit, and the movie keeps finding new ways to milk that contrast. It’s not deep, but it is sharp, easygoing, and often very funny if you enjoy gangster-movie parody and star-driven banter.
Best for
fans of mafia comedies and crime spoof
viewers who like deadpan star chemistry
people in the mood for a light, fast watch
audiences who enjoy broad but polished studio comedy
Skip if
you want a truly original or layered script
you dislike broad joke-driven comedies
you prefer crime films to stay serious
you need sustained narrative tension or emotional depth
Overview
Analyze This is a polished studio comedy built around a very simple but very effective idea: put a stone-faced mob boss in therapy and let Robert De Niro play the joke completely straight. The film’s pleasure comes from the friction between gangster menace and middle-class shrink-speak, with Billy Crystal serving as the increasingly frazzled straight man.
Worth noting
It’s a spoof of mob-movie seriousness, but it never feels mean or overly clever. Instead, it leans on timing, repetition, and the absurdity of watching a legendary tough-guy actor undercut his own image. The supporting cast helps keep the movie buoyant, and the New York crime-world setting gives the comedy a familiar, glossy texture.
Bottom line
The movie is lighter than its premise suggests, and that’s both its strength and its limitation. If you want a smart, easy crowd-pleaser with a strong central pairing, it delivers. If you’re hoping for real bite or deeper satire, it stays comfortably on the surface.
Top Letterboxd reviews
David Sims (3★) · 1231 likes
*Crystal and De Niro are at a funeral. A woman walks by and hugs Crystal*
De Niro: The mother.
*a younger woman hugs Crystal*
De Niro: The daughter.
*a man hugs Crystal*
De Niro: The brother.
*another man hugs Crystal twice, kisses him twice, then gives him a second long hug*
De Niro: Him, I don't know.-reader, I laughed and laughed. salut
🤎jess🤎 (3★) · 733 likes
the godfather scene.....i have no words.
marie (3★) · 588 likes
i was fredo? i don’t think so
Ian West (3.5★) · 558 likes
Jelly was a national treasure.
DirkH (3★) · 541 likes
I'm convinced that most guys who love movies have at one point in their life stood in front of mirror and tried to do a 'DeNiro'. I have no shame in admitting I have done this on occasion.
Now who'd expect DeNiro doing just that for a 100 minutes would be this much fun?
Completely insubstantial and inconsequential, a one joke premise, but still a lot of fun. Bobby and Billy go really well together.
It still remains a wonderfully bizarre coinkidinkie that this was released in the same year as the Sopranos.