A comedy about a psychiatrist whose number-one patient is an insecure mob boss.A comedy about a psychiatrist whose number-one patient is an insecure mob boss.A comedy about a psychiatrist whose number-one patient is an insecure mob boss.
- Awards
- 4 wins & 7 nominations
- '50s Gangster
- (as Kresimir Novakovic)
- Dominic Manetta
- (as Joe Rigano)
- Jimmy Boots
- (as Richard Castellano)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaIt was very important to Robert De Niro that the movie felt authentic. He and director Harold Ramis would drive around Little Italy in New York City looking for real people to cast.
- GoofsFBI agents are shown participating in the 1957 Appalachian raid. In that year, J. Edgar Hoover's FBI's official policy was that the Mafia did not exist, so no federal agents were involved in the raid which was conducted by New York state troopers only.
- Quotes
Boss Paul Vitti: Whoever did that thing to you-know-who, that good friend of mine, they're trying to do that to me now, and I'm having a lot of feelings about that. And I'm... and I'm trying to get some... some...
Dr. Ben Sobel: [whispering] "Closure"
Boss Paul Vitti: ...closure on that, ya know?
Primo: What kind of feelings?
Boss Paul Vitti: I'm... I'm very angry, I'm feeling very angry about that. I'm... I'm really... uh... I'm enraged, I'm feeling very, very mad about that.
Primo: So why are you telling me?
Boss Paul Vitti: Why am I telling you? Like you don't know nothing about it, huh? You don't know... what?
Primo: I don't know what your talking about.
Boss Paul Vitti: Okay, whatever, whatever. I'm just trying to...
Dr. Ben Sobel: [Whispering] "Tell you about my feelings..."
Boss Paul Vitti: ...tell you about my feelings and that, uh...
Dr. Ben Sobel: [Whispering] "I'm angry..."
Boss Paul Vitti: ...I'm angry and... and that anger is a...
Dr. Ben Sobel: [Whispering] "Blocked wish...?"
Boss Paul Vitti: ...a blocked wish. And I'm looking forward to seeing you... next week at that thing, and then I can... unblock that angered wish... and then hopefully... hopefully you make one more move on me you motherfucker I'll fuckin' cut your fuckin' balls off I'll shove them up your fuckin' ass, I'll fuckin' bury you, I'll put fuckin' ice picks in your eyes, I'll chop your fuckin' eyeballs, I'll send them to your fuckin' family so they can eat 'em for dessert. You understand me?
Primo: Hey Paul...
Boss Paul Vitti: What?
Primo: Fuck you.
Boss Paul Vitti: You motherfucker!
Primo: [to Moony] You get a dictionary and find out what this "closure" is. If that's what he's going to hit us with, I want to know what it is
Boss Paul Vitti: [to Dr. Sobel] Yeah. How was that?
Dr. Ben Sobel: It was going great until the... cutting off of the balls and shoving it up his ass.
- SoundtracksWhen You're Smiling (The Whole World Smiles With You)
Written by Mark Fisher, Joe Goodwin, Larry Shay, Harry B. Smith,
Ted Snyder and Francis Wheeler
Performed by Louis Prima
Courtesy of Capitol Records
Under license from EMI Music Special Markets
Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal) is a family psychiatrist who has a son and is engaged to the beautiful Laura MacNamara (Lisa Kudrow). He gets into a car accident with a dim-witted man Jelly (Joe Viterelli), who happens to be the right-hand man to Paul Vitti, (Robert De Niro) the most powerful mobster in New York. This leads to Vitti seeking the help of Sobol. Vitti gets into very emotional moods and anxiety attacks. He refuses to admit it because he doesn't want to show weakness before a big meeting with the heads of the mob group. Sobol must help Vitti realize his problems with his father, as well as try to survive among the gangsters.
The plot is very original and cool, but the unlikely mixture of crime and comedy might leave a stale taste in your mouth. The curse words in this movie can get a little out of hand for a comedy, but that's because of the crime added to it. They did not bother me at all, in fact I thought it was funny and pulled of very well, especially in scenes between Crystal and De Niro.
Billy Crystal and Robert De Niro work great together. Both do very good jobs at their performances, even though De Niro's crying scenes seemed a little fake. The one at the end was getting better, but they still looked forced. The gorgeous Lisa Kudrow, although probably a bit under-played, did a good job too. I also think Joe Viterelli did a good job as the stupid, funny mobster. He certainly looks the part of a mobster, and I think the comic touch in his role was pulled off well.
There were a few plot holes, however, such as the one with Billy Crystal's character having problems with his father. This is, arguably, used to further the plot between De Niro and his father, but it is never resolved for Crystal. There are also a few jokes that didn't work, but the jokes that do work completely make up for them. This movie is different from your average SNL-alumni comedy movie, but it's full of funny jokes and characters and is certainly worth a rent.
- Xophianic
- Feb 18, 2000
Details
- Release date
- Countries of origin
- Language
- Also known as
- Hoàn Lương
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Box office
- Budget
- $80,000,000 (estimated)
- Gross US & Canada
- $106,885,658
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $18,383,507
- Mar 7, 1999
- Gross worldwide
- $176,885,658
- Runtime1 hour 43 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1