Analyze This
Release: March 05, 1999

In the same year that a hit cable television series, The Sopranos, successfully mined the same premise, this comedy about a mobster seeking advice from a psychiatrist was a box office winner for director Harold Ramis. Billy Crystal stars as Dr. Ben Sobel, a New York shrink who's becoming a little bored with his upscale but neurotic clientele. Into Sobel's practice comes a guy with legitimate problems, Mafia kingpin Paul Viti (Robert DeNiro), a godfather who is being reduced to tears and panic attacks by stress and his guilt over his beloved father's assassination. Intimidated but also fascinated by Viti, Dr. Sobel becomes frustrated when his mob boss patient becomes a full-time occupation, as Viti summons the psychiatrist for his professional help at all hours and in all places, even including the doctor's Florida wedding to TV reporter Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow). In the meantime, a power struggle is brewing with Viti's long-time rival Primo Sidone (Chazz Palminteri), but Viti begins employing the feel-good self-help jargon and techniques he's learned from Dr. Sobel to keep his enemy off balance. Just as the therapist and his powerful patient are making breakthroughs, the FBI attempts to persuade Sobel that Viti is going to have him murdered, leading to a nearly lethal misunderstanding.

Trailers
Posters
Quotes
Jimmy: "You think those whales piss in that water?"
Jelly: "No, I think they use the men's room next to the Burger King."
Michael Sobel: "Was that really Paul Vitti?"
Dr. Ben Sobel: "Well, I didn't ask to see his Mafia decoder ring, but yes."
Boss Paul Vitti: "I wasn't really gonna whack you."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "Paul..."
Boss Paul Vitti: "Okay, I was gonna whack you. But I was real conflicted about it."
Guard: "What kind of sandwich ain't too fattening?"
Jelly: "A half a sandwich."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "When I got into family therapy, this was not the "family" I had in mind."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "What is my goal here, to make you a happy, well-adjusted gangster?"
Dr. Ben Sobel: "They threw me in the shark tank, Paul! The shark tank!"
Boss Paul Vitti: "Hey, they were trying to make a point."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "What, that you're a scary guy? Believe me, I get it."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "Doc, if you gotta talk, try to be vague. Can you do that?"
Dr. Ben Sobel: "I'm a psychiatrist. Believe me, I can be vague."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "You don't hear the word "no" a lot, do you?"
Boss Paul Vitti: "Well, I hear it all the time, only it's more like "no, please, no"!"
Primo: "Get a dictionary. Find out what this "closure" thing is. If that's what he's going to hit us with, I want to be ready."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "You know normally a patient wouldn't have a vat of Scotch during a session."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "I am redefining weird on an hourly basis."
Boss Paul Vitti: "I was Fredo? I don't think so."
Boss Paul Vitti: "[narrating] 1957 was a big year. The Russians put that Sputnik into outer space, the Dodgers played their last game at Ebbets Field to say goodbye to Brooklyn, that guy shot Frank Costello in the head, and missed, and the Gallo brothers whacked Albert Anastasia in the barber shop of the Sheraton View hotel. It was total chaos. With Anastasia out of the way, Vito Genovese figures he's the big boss. But Carlo Gambino and Joe Bananas, they had other ideas. So they called a meeting. A big meeting."
Jelly: "You should get more roughage in your diet, Doc. A bran muffin in the morning would help that."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "You broke my heart, Jelly, you broke my heart."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "My name is Ben Sobel... -lioni. Ben Sobellioni. I'm also known as, uh, Benny the Groin, Sammy the Schnazz, Elmer the Fudd, Tubby the Tuba, and once as Miss Phyllis Levine."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "That's it! Over! I'm no longer your doctor!"
Boss Paul Vitti: "What? 'Cause of this?"
Dr. Ben Sobel: "Because of this little DOUBLE HOMICIDE? YES!"
Dr. Ben Sobel: "J-Jelly? Did I do that?"
Jelly: "No, Doc. That one's mine. You got the '72 Chevy, and the Amana side-by-side refrigerator-freezer."
FBI Agent Steadman: "Dr. Sobel, Mam. I'm Agent Steadman, Agent Ricci, Agent Provano, Federal Bureau Of Investigation, OCD."
Dr. Ben Sobel: "Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?"
FBI Agent Ricci: "Organized Crime Division. We need to talk."
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