from Film Forum, 12/12/02Analyze That reintroduces us to the jailed mafia boss Paul Vitti (Robert DeNiro). Vitti is in a crisis. He's going mad, and he can't reach his psychiatrist, Dr. Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal), for help. Sobol returns to help his ailing friend, but when the therapy sessions move to the home of a U.S. attorney, trouble ensues.
And trouble is just what religious press critics found when they saw this film.
Michael Elliott (Movie Parables) calls it a "sexually crude and largely unfunny sequel." Lynn Nusser (Preview) says it's "even more vulgar than the original. Much of the humor is cruel and demeaning and draws little laughter from viewers." And Movieguide's critic says, "All in all, Analyze That has some good laughs and some talented actors, but the enjoyment is far out-shadowed by the offensive elements of language and sexual content."
Steven Isaac explains: "Cruelty seems to be the only joke this broken-down follow-up has left. Anybody raving over this one needs therapy. It's a paint-by-numbers sequel that relies on puerile punch lines, vulgar language, and senseless violence to cover up fall-flat setups, comatose pacing, and a vanishing plot."
Phil Boatwright (Movie Reporter) writes, "Certainly, there are some bright moments, given its talented cast, but overall, the film is stale, redundant, obscene, and charmless."
Mainstream critics are not impressed either. Roger Ebert (Chicago Sun-Times) says, "The story has the ring of contrivance. If the first film seemed to flow naturally from the premise, this one seems to slink uneasily onto the screen, aware that it feels exactly like a facile, superficial recycling job." Owen Gleiberman (Entertainment Weekly) says, "Watching Analyze That, it doesn't take long to get the sinking sensation that you're seeing a shadow of a former joke. [The movie] has little of the snap and verve of Analyze This."
