ANALYZE THIS (1999) ** Casting Robert De Niro and Billy Crystal in so many scenes together would always be a risky proposition. The strange truth is that Billy more than holds his own: he's more believable, funnier, and more likable as the shrink than De Niro is as the übermobster. De Niro's amusing enough, but it's like he thinks you don't have to pay much attention in comedy, or maybe that the characters don't need depth. He makes all the faces and gestures that you'd hope for, but never the leap of faith that would make his character real. Crystal, on the other hand, also has scenes where his character goes out of character, and also doesn't particularly care whether you believe it or not, but understands that those scenes are the fun ones with no rules. Lisa Kudrow adds nothing as Crystal's fiancee, I think that the only thing you can do is cast her as the spacey waitress from "Mad About You," a role in which she's brilliant. It's nicely enough paced, there aren't any extended dreary stretches, but you wouldn't expect to think back on the best moments and see Crystal's big head in all of them, doing Cheech & Chong jokes.
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