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When did Robert de Niro become crap?

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    When did Robert de Niro become crap?

    Just saw Stone with him and Ed Norton. What a waste of two hours.

    #2
    When did Robert de Niro become crap?

    I think it was when somebody said to him to try comedy. Probably around Analyze This .

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      #3
      When did Robert de Niro become crap?

      He's like Michael Caine. Can be great actors but they'll do any old stuff for the money.
      I would too.

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        #4
        When did Robert de Niro become crap?

        Rogin the Armchair Fan wrote:
        I think it was when somebody said to him to try comedy. Probably around Analyze This .
        King of Comedy is amazing. The Fokkers films: good. Analyze This I haven't seen but film fan friends love it.

        Very shaky case, Armchair Rog.

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          #5
          When did Robert de Niro become crap?

          He didnt become crap, the movies did.

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            #6
            When did Robert de Niro become crap?

            But King Of Comedy is not a comedy, LL. De Niro was good in one comedy though: Midnight Run.

            De Niro became crap once we knew exactly what to expect from him, once we knew precisely every crease around his eyes when he faked a smile. No doubt, much of the time he is coasting, but when he is good, we take it for granted that he should be good.

            His female counterpart, Meryl Streep, is much more cautious about the roles she accepts, she is much more versatile, and she never coasts. Her legacy is untainted by human rights violations like the Fokkers or Analyze series.

            Thankfully De Niro never became a caricature of himself, though, unlike shouty old Pacino who never recovered from his extravagant overacting in Scarface.

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              #7
              When did Robert de Niro become crap?

              I'd pinpoint De Niro's fall from grace somewhere around the time of earnest drama, Jackknife, and the Neil Jordan flop, We're No Angels, where his name would be rarely linked with 'event' films after that (the event being that De Niro featured in them). Before that, you got the De Niro that never coasted in a role and you saw his genuine talent and could sense the detail that went into his portrayals. And it helped that he was in some damn good films.

              He bubbled along more or less nicely after the above mentioned flicks, but films like Guilty By Suspicion, Mistress and Night and the City crept along and his choices began to waver a little up to the moment where he became Frankenstein's creation in Kenneth Branagh's enjoyable but ridiculously overblown adapation of Shelley's story.

              But then I'd suggest that De Niro's business concerns - his Tribeca projects especially - began to dictate what choices he made. He has to bring home the entrepreneurial bacon and so the paycheque called, hence his willingness to star in bits of tat here and there. He's a businessman, so he's doing business, hence voicing animated features or acting in shit like Godsend.

              He's still highly watchable, but from his powerhouse beginnings, you'd never think that he'd be plying his trade in some flicks that would be one step away from 'direct-to-DVD'.

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                #8
                When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                But King Of Comedy is not a comedy, LL.
                Sure it is, just a very, very dark one.

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                  #9
                  When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                  Or a light tragedy...

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                    #10
                    When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                    Really, it's a comedy. It suspends the usual hierarchy: we follow the lowest-status characters all the way, while the real King (Jerry Lewis) is a distant, untouchable figure. A tragedy would follow the Jerry Lewis character on a slide down from the top due to a fatal flaw, with the 'low' characters playing minor roles; or perhaps Pupkin on his descent into madness, whereas in the film he's clearly mad from start to finish and can't sink any lower. It even has a 'happy' ending where order is restored.

                    The elements of realism and the unflinching portrayals of dangerous mad people make it a queasy experience (Sandra Bernhard is absolutely terrifying). But what happens is basically a farce, and a satire on showbiz/celebrity culture.

                    (I haven't been brooding on this for a day, BTW, I was just reminded of the thread by Julian Gough's nifty article on the low status of comedy! Helps explain why Raging Bull gets all the plaudits despite King of Comedy being the stronger film.)

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                      #11
                      When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                      Cape Fear and Goodfellas and Heat and Casino were all after Jackknife though Ian.

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                        #12
                        When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                        Yes, fair enough, but the filler (the ones which brought in the money, but not the acclaim) were steadily creeping into the CV. He had his hits, no argument, but the dross was beginning to pile up in equal amount.

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                          #13
                          When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                          G.Man wrote:
                          Thankfully De Niro never became a caricature of himself, though, unlike shouty old Pacino who never recovered from his extravagant overacting in Scarface.
                          But that's exactly what he's become!
                          He does the Travis Bickle talking to suspicious agents odd grin in every damn movie and thinks it's enough.

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                            #14
                            When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                            I'm sure everbody will be looking forward to this then.

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                              #15
                              When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                              ian.64 wrote:
                              But then I'd suggest that De Niro's business concerns - his Tribeca projects especially - began to dictate what choices he made. He has to bring home the entrepreneurial bacon and so the paycheque called, hence his willingness to star in bits of tat here and there. He's a businessman, so he's doing business, hence voicing animated features or acting in shit like Godsend.

                              He's still highly watchable, but from his powerhouse beginnings, you'd never think that he'd be plying his trade in some flicks that would be one step away from 'direct-to-DVD'.
                              He bleeeeew it!

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                                #16
                                When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                                Meryl Streep was in 'Death Becomes Her', 'She-Devil' and 'Mamma Mia' (which I secretly quite liked because of the other two)

                                And she is about to play 'Margaret Thatcher'... I shit you not. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1007029/

                                If she mullers this, her whole career (in my eyes) counts for bugger all.

                                Admittedly, she never coasts, but her choices aren't necessarily infallible (although she picks stuff just to keep Helen Mirren away from them! hehehe)

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                                  #17
                                  When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                                  outside of the whole stunning revelation that boxers may not be very nice, and that a 30 Something was able to put on a lot of weight, is raging bull actually really all that good. I watched it there last week and was rather underwhelmed. Similarly I can't help thinking that Taxi driver seems to say more about film makers in the 1970's than anything else

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                                    #18
                                    When did Robert de Niro become crap?

                                    And now he's to do The Irishman with Pacino, Pesci and Scorcese. Yes it's a mafia film.

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