Analyze That

Surely a serious candidate as the unfunniest comedy in cinema history, 1999’s Analyse This obviously pulled in enough dosh to justify the green-lighting of a sequel, and thus it comes to pass that this accursed enterprise sees the light of day.

Robert DeNiro, a great actor in extreme imminent danger of becoming a once-great actor, plays ultra-tough mobster Paul Vitti, who has developed a propensity for panic attacks, and attends psychotherapy sessions with stereotyped Jewish doc Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal). The hilarious comic sparring between the pair took less than half an hour to wear thin the first time out, and there’s no difference here: most of the gags are derived from the increasingly visible stressing-out of Crystal’s put-upon shrink, as DeNiro and associated heavies (including the bulbous Joe Viterelli, who resembles a giant elephant testicle with flippers) land him in a variety of scrapes, none of them deserving of even scornful laughter.

Friends refugee Lisa Kudrow, never the most versatile actress, chips in a headwreckingly unfunny performance as Crystal’s less-than-easygoing wife – Bernard Manning was essaying more complex female characters than this three decades ago. In spite of all its flaws, Analyze That will probably find a receptive enough audience among those who lap up The Sopranos and related shtick: the idea of a third installment, though, is genuinely terrifying.