Analyze This (1999)

Even the toughest guys have feelings, and sooner or later, they have to deal with them. Harold Ramis' comedy "Analyze This," which he co-wrote with Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan, teams Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal, and you'd expect Crystal to get the laughs and De Niro to give the more nuanced performance. Surprisingly, it's De Niro who walks away with most of the laughs. He plays Paul Vitti, a powerful New York mob boss suddenly plagued by panic attacks, crying spells and an inability to perform in the bedroom, just as a major summit of crime families approaches. Crystal is Ben Sobel, a mild-mannered psychiatrist who has the misfortune to rear-end Vitti's car. Vitti makes him the kind of offer he can't refuse, well, not so much an offer as an order, and Ben is soon at his beck and call, with his upcoming wedding to his patient fiancée (Lisa Kudrow) thrown into chaos. As a rival boss (Chazz Palminteri) plots against Vitti and the FBI pressures Ben to spy on his new patient, the good doctor struggles to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had "The Sopranos" not arrived on TV around the same time, showing how much richer this material can be, Ramis' lightweight, gag-driven approach might have seemed fresher. Still, De Niro is a hoot, gleefully spoofing his own tough-guy image, and Crystal smartly plays it straight opposite the acting legend, though he never turns his character's fear of his patient into the kind of inspired comedy Alan Arkin found in "Grosse Pointe Blank." Joe Viterelli is a standout as Vitti's loyal bodyguard, Jelly. It's breezy fun, and it led to a sequel, "Analyze That."