When Dr Ben Sobel (Billy Crystal) shunts a car at the traffic lights, he has no idea of what he is driving into. The car's boot swings open to reveal a trussed body. He hands his business card to Jelly (Joe Viterelli), the driver and the right hand man of mob boss Paul Vitti (Robert De Niro). In turn, Jelly suggests to his boss that he visit the psychiatrist to relieve his nervous tension.
A reluctant Vitti shows up to see Sobel, but he remains unconvinced of the usefulness of the exercise, particularly when he is told that there isn't a ten minute cure. There's some cute situation comedy as Vitti struggles to overcome some of his suspicions.
Gradually Vitti gains faith in the treatment and begins to see more of Sobel. The doctor is trying hard to get married and has his own problems in winning over his prospective in-laws, even without a mobster with mental poor health knocking on his door at four in the morning.
But all the tension between himself and the don seems minor when he has to appear at a meeting of all the regional crime chiefs and persuade 500 years of living Sicilian history that he's a bona fide crook.
It's probably the best scene in the film, and Crystal doesn't disappoint.
Film
(1999) (USA) 
(4 Star)
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