Analysis reveals ‘Analyze That’s’ problem: Not funny

Analyze That

Billy Crystal, Robert De Niro

Warner, $28

It doesn’t take Freud to analyze what’s wrong with the sequel to 1999’s box-office hit “Analyze This”: It just isn’t funny. The stars, who were so good together in the original, just seem to be going through the motions in this misguided farce. In this outing, mobster Paul Vitti (De Niro) feigns madness in prison so he can be released into the custody of neurotic Dr. Sobel (Crystal) and stage his criminal comeback. The first hour has a few laughs, but it’s all -downhill from there.

The strictly by-the-numbers DVD includes a typical “making of” documentary and a not-so-clever interactive challenge game. In his commentaries for such previous films, as “Groundhog Day” and even including “Analyze This,” director Harold Ramis has offered up some very funny observations, but this time around, he is as contrived as his film.

*

The Hot Chick

Rob Schneider, Rachel McAdams

Touchstone, $30

Though it’s very uneven, “The Hot Chick” is Schneider’s best film. The former “Saturday Night Live” funny man is cast as a lowbrow, petty thief who, because of a pair of magical earrings, ends up switching places with the hottest, most popular girl in high school.

The gender-bender comedy has its share of gross-out jokes, but there is actually some humanity and tenderness thrown into the mix and Schneider is quite adept at playing a teenage girl trapped in a man’s body.

Schneider’s good buddy Adam Sandler pops up in a funny cameo.

The digital edition features behind-the-scenes featurettes, deleted scenes and decent commentary from the very effusive first-time director Tom Brady.

*

The Mission

Robert De Niro, Jeremy Irons

Warner, $27

British director Roland Joffe followed his acclaimed feature debut, “The Killing Fields,” with this handsome, heartfelt but overlong drama set in the 1750s in Brazil. Irons plays a Jesuit missionary who establishes a mission in the jungles; De Niro is a soldier-of-fortune who kills his own brother (Aidan Quinn) and then becomes a man of God. But then the armies of both Spain and Portugal threaten the peace and harmony of the mission and the native people. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including best picture, and won for Chris Menges’ cinematography.

The handsome two-disc DVD features “Omnibus: The Making of ‘The Mission,’ ” an above-average, hourlong documentary on the film’s difficult shoot on location and the casting of the Waunana Indians -- many of whom had never seen a white person -- as the mission natives. Joffe’s commentary makes “The Mission” a rich viewing experience.

*

Comedian

Jerry Seinfeld, Orny Adams

Miramax, $30

This fascinating documentary offers a rare behind-the-scenes look at how Seinfeld returned to the comedy clubs in New York and around the country trying out new material after retiring his old act. The film also parallels Seinfeld’s return to his stand-up roots by including the struggle of an edgy, often obnoxious aspiring comic named Orny Adams.

The enjoyable digital edition features both Seinfeld’s and Adams’ appearances on “Late Night With David Letterman,” a look at where Adams is today -- in Los Angeles and driving a Jetta -- Seinfeld and Adams’ outrageous interviews with Comedy Central’s faux talk-show host Jiminy Glick (Martin Short’s rotund alter ego) and deleted scenes with commentary by director Christian Charles and producer Gary Streiner. The DVD also features a no-holds-barred audio commentary with Seinfeld and fellow comic Colin Quinn, who also appears in the documentary.

*

Also this week

“Equilibrium” is a senseless science-fiction outing about a world devoid of emotions, directed by Kurt Wimmer and starring Christian Bale (Miramax/

Dimension: $29.99).

Top VHS rentals

1. Two Weeks Notice

2. Darkness Falls

3. Drumline

4. Maid in Manhattan

5. Treasure Planet

Top DVD rentals

1. Two Weeks Notice

2. Darkness Falls

3. The Transporter

4. Drumline

5. Maid in Manhattan

What’s Coming

Tuesday: “Adaptation,” “Antwone Fisher,” “Star Trek: Nemesis” and “Max”

May 27: “The Pianist,” “The Recruit,” “Talk to Her,” “National Security,” “Love Liza,” “A Guy Thing” and “American Adobe”

June 3: “About Schmidt,” “Die Another Day,” “The Guru,” “Blue Collar Comedy Tour,” “Swimming” and “Invincible”

June 10: “Frida,” “Old School,” “Jungle Book 2,” “Tears of the Sun,” “Biker Boyz” and “Wes Craven Presents They”

June 17: “Just Married,” “Narc,” “Deliver Us From Eva,” “Me Without You,” “Interview With the Assassin,” “Tully” and “The Bank”

June 24: “The Hours,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “Kangaroo Jack,” “Lost in La Mancha,” “Cowboy Bebop: The Movie” and “Dark Blue”

July 1: “Gangs of New York” and “How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days”

-- Susan King