Though it wasn't until Analyse This, that DeNiro could still play a gangster and poke fun at himself, all at the same time.

In Analyse This DeNiro,. plays Paul Vitti, a mafiosa with a problem, he's suffering anxiety attacks.  He sees a soppy commercial on TV he cries, he can't even bring himself to beat the crap out of someone anymore....Its all become too much.  As coincidence would have it, Vitti's right hand man,Jelly (scene stealing Joe Vitterelli) gets his car rear ended by Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal).  Ben happens to be a Psychiatrist, so Vitti decides Ben is going to get him though his little problem. 
Ben is about to go Miami to get married to his girlfriend Laura (Lisa "TV Friend's Phoebe" Kudrow), but when Vitti has another "episode", he flies to Miami, with his goons to get help from Ben.  Suffice to say the wedding is ruined and the FBI think Ben is Vitti's' new consigliore. 

Billy Crystal playing a Jewish Psychiatrist in a comedy is no great stretch of the imagination, but having DeNiro playing a mafiosa who suffers panic attacks is.  Yet DeNiro is a crackup as he delivers his usual tough guy performance, which takes sudden turns into side splitting humour....Okay maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but he really delivers the goods with some beautifully timed deliveries of humour.  

So How Does This Transfer Hold Up??
Unlike the past Roadshow DVDs, Analyse This was authored in the USA by WAMO, Warner's DVD authoring house.  Analyse This was a join venture with Roadshow and Warner, and Like the Matrix Warner took on the duty to Author the DVD for region 4.   (aren't they nice fellas).  Warner have done a terrific job with the transfer here, delivering a 16:9 Enhanced picture that looks great.  While there are a few moments of oversaturation, most noticable in fleshtones, generally speaking this an exceptionally clean image with not a speck in site, that is free of grain (except for the opening sequence, which is intentionally ever so slightly grainy, with a touch of washed out colours to represent an earlier time frame of the movie).  There is a tremendous amount of detail in this film, and aliasing is kept to an minimum.

Though your average comedy doesn't rely heavily on a 5.1 mix, there are moments of An.This. that do.  After all this is a Mafia movie, laced with humour.  Though mostly dialogue driven (which is always intelligible) Several key sequences really show off a multichannel mix, with bullets and helicopters flying all over the place.  Unlike other Roadshow DVDs of late, there is no Dolby 2.0 mix Or a silent MPEG track on this DVD.

In the extras department we are treated to the usual Filmographies, a terrific 4 minute gag reel (that I found even funnier after listen to the running commentary)  The commentary while quite informative at times, is actually quite boring as there are quite a few silent moments.  Luckily the soundtrack is playing in the background so it's not dead space, and while Billy Crystal does a majority of the talking, it seems as though is simply has nothing to say.  DeNiro pipes up now and then, but overall has nothing of great interest to offer. 
For the USA version of An.This there is a second commentary with Director Harold Ramis, I would bet anything that had all three of these people been on the one trackit would have been hilarious.  oh well

Analyse This is a great movie with some classic moments and overall is a DVD worthly of any collection

Review Equipment
TV: Pioneer SD-T50W1 (16:9 RPTV)
DVD: Pioneer DV717  (using RGB outputs)
Receiver: Marantz SR870 & Sony SDP-EP9ES
Speakers:-
     Fronts: B&W 602
     Centre: B&W CDMC-SE
     Rears: Jamo Magic 14
     Subby: M&K V125 

- reviewed 20th October 1999