This Review Reveals Minor Details About the Plot.
Nuts and Bolts
Plot Overview
This is a sequel to “Analyze This” (1999) in which mobster
Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro) was given a 1½ year sentence.
After serving 2½ years in Sing Sing (with time added for bad
behavior,) he has become the de facto boss of the prison population
and the target of a paid hit to get him out of the way of the families
before his upcoming parole. In desperation he fakes a “brief
psychotic disorder” to gain release into the custody of his
schmuck shrink Dr. Ben Sobel (Billy
Crystal.)
Ben's whole family is loony, his dad
was as cold alive as now dead, and Ben has inherited his doctor father's
practice and hang-ups. Vitti inevitably reverts to his old habits
and Ben gets sucked into the gang's latest caper becoming his
“responsibility” and ultimately “one tough
shrink.”
The one voice of normalcy comes from
Ben's career woman wife Laura (Lisa Kudrow) who's a consummate
hostess. That makes Ben “pussy-whipped” in the guinea
eyes of Vitti although American culture would deem him a sensitive man.
Vitti's paid “friend” Sheila was loud enough to raise
the roof. The female fibbie's attire gave her a leg up on the men. And
mob moll Patti LoPresti (Cathy Moriarty) could do with a better wig.
Ideology
One shouldn't be too quick to pass off lessons on success from a high
school dropout who has “an IQ just north of a bedroom slipper,”
because good things sometimes come in small packages. As said
Solomon, (Prov. 30:24) “There
be four things which are little upon the earth, but they are exceeding
wise:”
(Prov. 30:25)
“The ants are a people not strong, yet they prepare their meat
in the summer.” It's good to start preparing for one's life
work while young. Rambunctious Paul Vitti at age 6-7 wanted
to be a cowboy, so his dad bought him a cowboy getup including
a six shooter. Get used to packing, kid. He joined a street gang and
has “been a menace to society since he was twelve years old.”
Patti LoPresti helps her daughters develop adult graces, “Michelle,
Theresa, its 10:30. Stop effing around and get ready for ballet!”
Ben's seventeen-year-old son Michael (Kyle Sabihy) is “working
for Mr. Vitti. I'm his driver, now. … You keep telling
me to get a job.” Replies Ben, “Yeah, making sandwiches
at the Subway, not driving a getaway car.”
(Prov. 30:26)
“The conies are but a feeble folk, yet make they their houses
in the rocks.” Location is critical. Mr. Vitti had a hard
time fitting into the jobs—required—that Ben's career
counselor friend set up for him (“Being a criminal is all he
knows.”) Finally, he ended up as a “consultant [and] technical
advisor, coaching actors” on the movie set of “Little
Caesar,” a TV series about organized
crime. Says Vitti, “This is just a good cover till I figure
out what I'm gonna do.”
(Prov. 30:27)
“The locusts have no king, yet go they forth all of them by
bands.” It's good to have an informal support network. At the
start we see Mr. Vitti having made friends with a prisoner Earl
(Brian Rogalski) who was bigger and stronger than he. Then he sets
up house with the Sobels giving himself respectability. He
reunites with his old crony Jelly (Joe Viterelli) who's beat a rap. And
finally he gets together with all his old crew.
(Prov. 30:28)
“The spider taketh hold with her hands, and is in kings'
palaces.” The final step to success is to take hold of ambitious
opportunities to secure one's niche in this world. It's an imposing
palace that the little spider finds her place in. Likewise, Vitti
pulls off a humdinger of a caper if perhaps transient as the spider's
frail web. They break out into song afterwards:
Paul Vitti: “There's a place for us.”
Dr. Ben Sobel: “A time and place for us.”
Jelly: “Hold my hand and we're halfway there.”
Dr. Ben Sobel, Paul Vitti, Jelly: “Hold my hand and I'll take you there. Somehow, someday, somewhere!”
Production Values
“” (2002) was directed by Harold Ramis. It was written by Kenneth Lonergan, with characters developed by Peter Tolan & Peter Steinfeld. It stars Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Joe Viterelli, Lisa Kudrow, and Cathy Moriarty. De Niro and Crystal reprise their earlier roles from “Analyze This.” They did well with what they had to work with. The rest of the cast looked real good, too. It wasn't a killer script.
MPAA rated it R
for language and some sexual content. The fancy restaurant scene in
which a table occupied by blacks was unserved their bread might be
considered in bad taste now twenty years after the fact.
The movie's about 1½ hours long. It proceeds at a steady clip,
with jokes added in a steady stream of hits and misses. For all the
faults of the story, at least it wasn't very predictable.
Review Conclusion w/a Christian's Recommendation
If you've got a silly bone and are prone to laugh at the slightest provocation, you might be a bother to your more serious friends you're seeing this movie with. It's not one you can't help laughing at but you can laugh at some of it. See it if your low expectations are easily satisfied or if you've already seen everything else.
Movie Ratings
Action Factor: Weak action scenes. Suitability For Children: Not Suitable for Children of Any Age. Special effects: Average special effects. Video Occasion: Better than watching TV. Suspense: Keeps you on the edge of your seat. Overall movie rating: Three and a half stars out of five.
bibles.n7nz.org