More ‘Analyze’ Laughs With De Niro, Crystal

After lackluster gag reels on “There’s Something About Mary” and “EdTV,” finally there’s a DVD that delivers a series of outtakes that are gems.

Warner’s special edition of this year’s hit mob comedy, “Analyze This” ($25), includes a terrific gag reel featuring two-time Oscar-winning actor Robert De Niro breaking out into hysterics as he goofs his lines or tries to keep a straight face during his scenes with co-star Billy Crystal.

The best blowups occur when De Niro points his finger at Crystal and says, “You! You!” Another uproarious moment finds De Niro cracking up during his love scene with an actress portraying a hooker.

The digital version of the comedy about a powerful mobster (De Niro) suffering from such strong anxiety attacks that he has to go to a shrink (Crystal) also includes the trailer, both the standard and wide-screen versions of the comedy and two audio commentaries.

The first audio track features Crystal and De Niro. Unfortunately, it sounds like the two didn’t do the commentary together, so there is no playing off of each other. De Niro comes across as modest and unassuming and doesn’t offer much insight. Crystal, though, is a real chatterbox.

“Analyze This,” Crystal points out, was nearly six years in the making. When he first got the script in 1993, he loved it and asked De Niro, who was a casual acquaintance, if he would be interested in doing the film. De Niro and Crystal held a reading of the script and agreed to do it. But over the next few years, the script went through various rewrites and directors attached to the project. Two years ago, director Harold Ramis got involved and the project finally started rolling.

Crystal talks about how De Niro wanted everything grounded in reality. The comedy couldn’t be too silly or audiences would lose sight that De Niro and his men were gangsters, and it couldn’t be too violent because the comedy wouldn’t work. Crystal confesses that even though he had rehearsed with De Niro, he was really nervous when they shot their first scene together--De Niro coming to his office.

Director Ramis (“Groundhog Day”) supplies the other audio commentary, and though he isn’t as fun as Crystal, he’s consistently interesting. It was his idea to begin the movie with a flashback to 1957 in order to set up De Niro’s anxieties in the present day. Ramis also decided to work with De Niro and Crystal separately before filming their scenes together, so he would be accustomed to the way each actor worked.

Ramis, though, makes a mistake when he talks about actor Bill Macy, who plays Crystal’s father. He says Macy starred in the ‘60s TV series “Maude.” The CBS comedy aired during the ‘70s.

Oscar Winners: The box-office champ of all-time, “Titanic” (Paramount, $30), has finally made its DVD debut. The digital version of James Cameron’s Oscar-winning 1997 film, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, is offered in wide screen, with Dolby digital sound, Spanish subtitles and the original theatrical trailer.

The 1998 best picture Oscar winner, “Shakespeare in Love” (Miramax, $30), has also been digitalized. The disc features the wide-screen version of the film--which stars Gwyneth Paltrow and Joseph Fiennes--the theatrical trailer and Shakespearean facts.

Classic: Former photographer Morris Engel directed a series of independent films in the 1950s, including the charming, Oscar-nominated comedy-drama “The Little Fugitive” ($30). Image has just released a special edition of this 1953 movie about a 7-year-old boy (Richie Andrusco) who, believing he has accidentally killed his older brother, runs away and spends a magical day at Coney Island. Besides the trailer, this edition features enjoyable commentary from Engel, who talks about what it was like to make an independent film during the ‘50s.