analyze that

Of all the lame jokes in "analyze that" — and make no mistake, there are a lot of them — the lamest may be the umpteenth parody of the pay-cable television series "The Sopranos."

Not only are the film's "Sopranos" gags incredibly dated and unfunny, they also demonstrate how desperate the makers of this "we're-doing-it-for-the-cash" sequel were.

Consequently, not only does this film fall far short of the standards set by its predecessor — which really wasn't that great a movie to start with — it falls short of even typical comedy standards.

It's also humiliating to watch Robert De Niro serve as the butt of several embarrassing jokes and to see him walking around, grabbing his crotch, as if that's supposed to be funny.

De Niro reprises his role as mob boss Paul Vitti, who has been imprisoned for his criminal misdeeds. There, he finds himself the target of assassination attempts, which he barely survives.

So he decides to act crazy, to get the attention of his former psychotherapist, Ben Sobol (Billy Crystal). Meanwhile, Ben is coping with the death of his father and doesn't have any interest in continuing to treat a known criminal. But he's being pressured by federal officials who want to release Vitti into his custody, at least until his parole hearing.

The catch is, Ben is now responsible for anything Paul does and is on the hook if he decides to flee. Obviously, keeping the strong-willed mobster on the straight-and-narrow may be more than the mild-mannered shrink can handle.

All of this makes for easy, predictable material (co-screenwriters Peter Steinfeld and Peter Tolan could have written this one in their sleep . . . and probably did). And even director Harold Ramis seems off his game, letting the pacing lag far too often.

But give De Niro credit — he makes his way through this cringe-inducing mess with a smile on his face, which is more than you can say for Crystal. (And that includes the unfunny set of bloopers and outtakes during the closing credits.)

"Analyze that" is rated R for frequent use of strong sex-related profanity and crude sexual slang terms, violence (gunplay, beatings and supposed slapstick), vulgarity (lewd dancing), simulated drug use (prescription tranquilizer abuse), sex (overheard, for comic effect), a scene of torture and use of a couple of ethnic slurs. Running time: 104 minutes.

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E-MAIL: jeff@desnews.com