ANALYZE THIS (Cert 15) Running Time 145 mins. Starring Robert De Niro, Billy Crystal and Lisa Kudrow. Directed by Harold Ramis.

THE MAFIA are back - and this time, it's funny!

TV show the Sopranos has already established itself as a hit on both sides of the Atlantic and, following in the footsteps of the witty Channel 4 comedy drama comes Robert De Niro's latest movie, Analyze This.

De Niro plays Paul Vitti, newly appointed Don of a New York crime family. Unlike the Godfathers so capably portrayed by the likes of Marlon Brando, Danny Aiello and De Niro himself, Vitti is no strong man.

In fact, Vitti is a nervous wreck and he finds himself forced to go into therapy with shrink Ben Sobel.

Sobel, played by Billy Crystal, has his own problems, not least with his fiance Laura MacNamara, played by Friends star Lisa Kudrow in her finest role outside Central Park.

Director Harold Ramis, who lists Ghostbusters amongst his past credits, spins out a fine tale.

The Godfather films are easy enough to send up, but Ramis' intelligent but still wildly funny approach is more than just a simple Leslie Nielsen style pastiche.

In fact, Analyze This does for the mob movie what Scream did for the slasher flick.

It puts the Mafia into a modern context, and it has done more to revive this flagging genre than the widely rumoured Godfather 4 could ever dream of.

De Niro may not be the A-list star he once was, but he can still act and, as this movie proves, he can laugh at himself.

As Don Corleone himself might say: "This is funny. Very funny."

Analyze This is showing at Warner Brothers, Preston.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.