Analyze That

Again with the ga-ga gangster no-ha-ha. Actually, that's slightly unfair: De Niro enlivening his prison lock-up with renditions of numbers fromWest Side Story adds another facet to his star persona. Regrettably, that accounts for just the first five minutes of this spurious sequel to what was a pretty lame effort in the first place - indeed, it's typical of the film's witlessness to squander its best hand at the outset. Then again, Ramis and his writers play so much of the story so straight - like we care about these crude caricatures? - that you wonder if they even remember this is meant to be a comedy. Crystal, as De Niro's reluctant psychiatric confidant, is again defined by his nervy kvetching; De Niro, having engineered his probation into Crystal's care, proves the proverbial rough diamond - not the ideal house guest, but never too far from redemption.