Analyze This: [UK Import]

Cast Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal together in a film and it should be a suckers bet as to whos going to be funnier and whos going to give the more nuanced performance. Somehow, though, De Niro walks away with most of the laughs in Analyze This, a buddy action-comedy about a mob boss (De Niro, natch) suffering from panic attacks who makes a nebbishy shrink (Crystal, natch) an offer he cant refuse--actually, its not really an offer, its a command. The good doctor is forced to help the gangster get in touch with his feelings. Had the brilliant TV series The Sopranos not underscored how thin and watery and shticky director-cowriter Harold Ramiss approach to such potentially rich material actually is, the movie--a hit in theaters and De Niros biggest film ever--would seem more fresh and kicky. De Niros definitely a hoot as the ever milder menace, and Crystal actually concentrates on giving a credible performance opposite the acting legend (alas, he doesnt turn his characters fear of his patient into inspired comedy, as Alan Arkin did in Grosse Pointe Blank). The conclusion devolves into the requisite gunplay, and Chazz Palminteri and Lisa Kudrow are criminally wasted as an opposing mob boss and Crystals fiancée, respectively, but overall, its breezy fun. --David Kronke