Starring Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joe Viterelli, Pat Cooper, Kyle Sabihy, Anthony LaPaglia
Written By: Kenneth Lonergan, Peter Tolan, Peter Steinfeld, Harold Ramis
Directed By: Harold Ramis
The story is about Paul Vitti still in prison, and someone tries to get him wacked in the joint. He then pretends to go insane so he can get out; the Government then gives Vitti over to Dr. Sobel to get him better for his parole hearing in a few weeks. Then Paul Vitti tries to get a real job and eventually ends up consulting on a Sopranos-ish TV show.
I thought this had better jokes than the last movie though I’m not so sure about the story of this. It’s kind of all over the place. One minute Vitti’s all depressed, then he’s at his mob meetings, then he’s depressed, then he’s got jobs, depressed, you get the point. Lisa Kudrow is a waste in this film like she was in the last film. I still think this is funnier than the first one because the first film took awhile to establish the characters and the sequel goes right into it.
Maybe that’s the problem with it. The new characters that are in the film, I didn’t know who they were until the end of the movie basically. I guess they were in different Gangs. I liked how they were making fun of the Sopranos this time around because they are so similar. Aussie Anthony Lapaglia is in this, and he’s the Tony Soprano character/actor in the film. I liked the idea of having Vitti’s gang come on the set and be “actors” as well. What saves this film is the chemistry between De Niro and Crystal. They can make bad jokes into funny ones by the way they act around each other on the screen. There’s a lot of talks about this isn’t as good as the first film and I agree and disagree. I think I’d have to see it again to make sure. Either way, I laughed and that’s what counts in the end.
Favorite Scenes: Vitti and his friend at the Sobel’s house, the next day when Vitti comes downstairs during a family gathering.
Rating: PG-13
Running Time: 96 minutes
Overall Rating: