`ANALYZE THIS' CASTS DE NIRO AS BOTH GOODFELLA, FUNNYFELLA.

Byline: Glenn Whipp Daily News Film Critic

Robert De Niro doesn't get to make us laugh very often. Usually, his characters are too busy with the rough stuff to have time to crack wise; although sometimes, De Niro manages the neat trick of doing both, albeit in a dark, twisted way. (See ``Goodfellas.'')

Despite the lack of practice, De Niro can be very funny, given the right material. His portrayal of a cagey political operative in ``Wag the Dog'' is a good recent example. My favorite was his turn as the tough, foul-mouthed bounty hunter tracking Charles Grodin in the 1988 buddy film, ``Midnight Run.''

Now comes ``Analyze This,'' an entertaining movie that allows De Niro to gently spoof every gangster he has ever played while displaying an expert sense of comic timing. It's a wonderful performance and reason enough to see this movie, which starts out strong and then tapers off, but still has enough laughs to leave you satisfied.

De Niro plays Paul Vitti, a New York mobster suffering from anxiety attacks. He needs an ear to bend and - shhhh! - a shoulder to cry on. But he's not a man accustomed to asking for help, let alone getting in touch with his inner self. It would be a sign of weakness, and signals like that usually carry a death sentence in Vitti's world.

Enter Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal), a psychiatrist who accidentally bumps into Vitti's head henchman and winds up becoming his appointed shrink. Of course, at first Vitti is loath to admit that he's one of those asking for help. It's for a ``friend.'' Soon, though, Vitti is unburdening himself. He does have a caveat about all this touchy-feely stuff, however. He tells Sobel, ``I feel `fag,' you die.''

Needless to say, Vitti isn't the easiest patient in the world, and director Harold Ramis (who wrote the screenplay with Peter Tolan and Kenneth Lonergan) gets a lot of mileage from the clash between his emotional outbursts and Sobel's cerebral, psychobabble approach. De Niro's expressions upon hearing Oedipus and Freud explained are alone worth the price of admission. There's also an inspired ``Godfather'' dream sequence that casts De Niro as Fredo, not Vito Corleone.

``I was Fredo?'' De Niro asks incredulously. ``I don't think so.''

Crystal plays straight man to De Niro's tortured hoodlum for most of the movie. His biggest scenes come toward the end, but by that time the movie has run out of gas, having thoroughly depleted the drama of the pair's personality conflict. Ramis and crew have written enough good jokes, but the story is paper thin, and when the movie tries for poignancy, it doesn't ring true.

Still, ``Analyze This'' is a comedy and, for the most part, it works. You laugh - a lot. No deeper analysis is needed.

THE FACTS

The film: ``Analyze This'' (R; language, a scene of sexuality and some violence).

The stars: Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal, Lisa Kudrow, Joseph Viterelli.

Behind the scenes: Directed by Harold Ramis. Screenplay by Ramis, Peter Tolan and Kenneth Lonergan. Released by Warner Bros.

Running time: One hour, 43 minutes.

Playing: Citywide.

Our rating: Three stars.

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Photo

Photo: In ``Analyze This,'' Robert De Niro's mobster and Billy Crystal's therapist have an unusual docter-patient relationship.