Analyze That

OPENS FEBRUARY 28, CERT 15, 95 MINS

It's less bada-bing, more bada-bore in this lazy follow-up to Analyze This, the 1999 comedy that first twinned Robert De Niro's Noo Yawk mobster with Billy Crystal's reluctant shrink. That movie's pitch—gangster enlists psychiatrist to cure his anxiety attacks—is repeated but not developed, resulting in a sluggish retread.

This time around De Niro's Paul Vitti is released from Sing Sing into Crystal's custody, embroiling both him and his wife (Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame) in an escalating gang feud. Crystal, meanwhile, is having a mini crisis of his own, brought on by the death of his "withholding" father.

The funniest scenes have Vitti struggling to go legit in a series of ill-fitting jobs, including maître d', car salesman ("Look at that trunk—you could fit three bodies in there!") and advisor to a Sopranos-style TV show. But industrial-strength mugging can't disguise a script short on both inspiration and laughs, while whoever thought De Niro singing West Side Story numbers would amuse should be measured for a concrete overcoat immediately.

Rating: 2 / 10