when i originally saw the trailer for " analyze this " a few months ago , i must admit , <NEG> i thought it looked kind of lame . and then when the commercials started popping up a week or two ago , i thought it looked outright bad </NEG> . but then when " analyze this " finally opened a few days ago , an odd thing happened . it got great reviews . critics were proclaiming it " hilarious " and a " dead-on parody of mob movies " . well , with praise like that , i figured , it must be good and so i headed off to the theater . you know that expression that says always trust your gut instincts ? well , turns out that expression is more valid than i ever gave it credit for . " analyze this " is <NEG> slow , unfunny , and badly acted </NEG> . don't get me wrong , i think that deniro is one of the top ten greatest actors of the century , but <NEG> he is just out of his league here </NEG> . i think the problem is he <NEG> didn't quite know how to approach this material </NEG> . he plays his character , mob boss paull vitti , somewhere in between the realm of comedy and drama . if he had played the character straight , along the lines of leslie nielson in the " naked gun " series , he probably would have been a lot more successful . as it is , though , he plays the character completely serious at some moments , and for laughs at others . <NEG> this doesn't work . it creates an uneven character that never breaks out </NEG> of the deniro mold ; you always know it's him . <NEG> and the movie is badly paced , too . it never takes off . it just crawls from one scene to another without any forward momentum . i think the blame for this should be placed </NEG> on the script . it's obvious the writer had a good idea for a movie , mob boss faces breakdown and needs the services of a psychiatrist , but once this is established , the movie <NEG> doesn't really go anywhere </NEG> . the formula of the film seems to be this : billy crystal says no to deniro , deniro forces him , and much wackiness ensues . this formula of sorts is repeated several times throughout the movie . i've said it before and i'll say it again : the only thing that matters to me in a comedy is whether or not it's funny . if " analyze this " had been funny , the pacing and bad acting wouldn't have bothered me . i would have been too busy laughing to notice . but as it is , <NEG> i only chuckled a few times </NEG> . the only really funny scene is a dead-on parody of " the godfather " . <NEG> sadly </NEG> , though , i don't think anyone in the audience i saw it with realized it was a parody , because i was the only one laughing . but my sense of humour , i have come to realize , is vastly different from the general population . i loathed " there's something about mary " , yet loved " baseketball " . now , if you want a movie that * i * think is funny , go out and see " office space " . it's full of genuine laughs and won't leave you glancing at your watch every 10 minutes , as " analyze this " did .
