it must be tough to be a mob boss . just ask paul vitti ( robert deniro ) , a man who finds his job as mafia head to be rather stress inducing . i can believe it , too - one can't even begin to fathom the turmoil he must go through when he's forced to choose between an ice pick , baseball bat or sledgehammer to torture victims with . suffering from reoccurring panic attacks , paul decides he needs to consult some professional help . and who better than billy crystal . after appearing in bottom-of-the-barrel flops , father's day and my giant , crystal finally finds a reliable costar and some very promising material here . playing vitti's private shrink , the two very different stars strike an unorthodox , but interesting relationship that carries this enjoyable comedy on a steady wave of laughs from start to finish . casting robert deniro as paul vitti is something of an in-joke , i think . placed in this mobster's shoes , deniro gets to spoof characters he himself played in films like the godfather , part ii and casino . it's obvious he's having a lot of fun doing so . the man behind the camera is harold ramis , whose credits include ghostbusters ( as writer and star ) , and his best directing effort , the bill murray vehicle , groundhog day . ramis has a knack for drawing laughs because he simply knows what's funny , and <POS> here he manages to accentuate the strengths of nearly all the actors </POS> . the only character who weakens the payoff is crystal's bride-to-be ( lisa kudrow ) . playing the same dumbed-down role as she does in friends , kudrow is amusing , but doesn't fit into this comedy mold as well as the director may have hoped . <POS> the supporting cast sparkles </POS> . joe viterelli is <POS> hilarious </POS> as jelly , vitti's pea brained right-hand man , and chazz palminteri is <POS> a show stopper </POS> playing a fellow mobster who's in desperate need of the definition of `closure' . the movie <POS> manages to maintain consistent chuckles throughout </POS> , putting the emphasis on 3 or 4 really big laughs that will have audiences grasping their sides . the situation is <POS> just too cute to resist </POS> . it's unfortunate that the language gets somewhat out of hand . but hey , if you're in the mafia , using obscenities probably comes naturally . and near the end , seeing billy crystal attempt to walk and talk like a mob boss is <POS> truly a special treat </POS> .
