Analyze This

Roadshow Entertainment

Industry	Film distribution
Headquarters	Australia
Products	Film distribution

Analyze This is a 1999 American crime comedy film directed by Harold Ramis, who collaborated on the screenplay with playwrights Kenneth Lonergan and Peter Tolan. The movie features Robert De Niro portraying a troubled mobster who turns to a hesitant psychiatrist, played by Billy Crystal, for assistance.

Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures and Roadshow Entertainment, the film premiered on March 5, 1999. It achieved a global box office total of $176.9 million on a production budget of $30 million and was met with favorable critiques. Its financial success prompted a sequel, Analyze That, released in 2002.

Plot

During a discussion about Mafia affairs, mob leader Paul Vitti and his consigliere Manetta are interrupted when Manetta is fatally shot by assassins. Psychiatrist Ben Sobel, preoccupied with his personal life and imminent wedding, unintentionally collides with Paul's vehicle. Following this encounter, Paul begins suffering from panic attacks and covertly seeks Ben’s psychiatric care.

Ben quickly discovers Paul's true identity and becomes involved in addressing his anxiety and related issues, including sexual dysfunction. Though initially unwilling, Ben accompanies Paul to Miami for his wedding, where Paul opens up about deeper emotional scars stemming from his childhood.

Back in New York, the FBI pressures Ben to inform on Paul, but he resists until confronted with fabricated evidence. When Paul finds out about Ben's cooperation with the FBI, he attempts to kill him but ultimately exposes his vulnerability tied to witnessing his father's murder as a child.

At a pivotal Mafia assembly, Ben acts as Paul's consigliere, confronting rival Primo and aiding Paul's decision to leave the criminal world. A gunfight breaks out; the FBI intervenes and arrests several mobsters while Ben is hospitalized after shielding Paul.

The story concludes with Ben visiting Paul in prison, where Paul expresses gratitude and informs him of Primo's death. The film ends with Ben celebrating his marriage accompanied by a Tony Bennett performance.

Development

Analyze This was jointly produced and financed by Warner Bros. from the United States and Roadshow Entertainment from Australia.

Box office

Analyze This debuted across 2,518 theaters, averaging $7,017 per site for an $18 million opening weekend. It secured the number one spot at the box office, surpassing Billy Crystal’s 1991 debut City Slickers. This opening set a new record for Robert De Niro films until it was surpassed by Meet the Parents in 2000. The audience predominantly consisted of viewers over 25 years old (75%) with women making up 54%. The movie earned $107 million domestically and $70 million internationally, accumulating $177 million worldwide.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Analyze This holds a 69% approval rating, with critics commending the performances of De Niro and Crystal. Metacritic assigned it a score of 60 out of 100, while CinemaScore audiences rated it an "A–". Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four, noting Joe Viterelli's understated performance.

Variety referred to it as a "sometimes amusing situation comedy" where narrative elements occasionally overshadowed comedic moments. The Hollywood Reporter commented on the film's dependence on mafia stereotypes and the underuse of its leads’ comic talents. Time Out criticized the humor as heavy-handed and clichéd.

The movie invited comparisons to the mafia-themed TV series The Sopranos, which premiered two months earlier due to their shared premise involving a mobster consulting a psychiatrist. Analyze This is even mentioned in the Sopranos episode titled "Guy Walks into a Psychiatrist's Office...".