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Robert De Niro at 80: From The Godfather 2 to Dirty Grandpa, His Best and Worst Films

Clockwise, far left: Taxi Driver, Dirty Grandpa, Cape Fear, and Raging Bull

Happy Birthday, Robert De Niro. In a career spanning more than fifty years, few actors have created such distinctive, often incendiary roles for cinema. From his early pictures with Brian De Palma to his breakout role in Mean Streets — the first of 10 films he made with his closest collaborator Martin Scorsese — to his recent performances in The Irishman and his Oscar-winning appearance in the upcoming Assassins «. De Niro's «Flower Moon» has a chameleon-like ability to convey everything from psychotic menace to tender sensibility, often in the same role, and sometimes even in the same scene.

He is an actor of extraordinary versatility and range, nominated for eight Oscars to date and winning two. Britain had Laurence Olivier; America has De Niro.

However, all this has a downside. When De Niro is good, few actors can match him. However, when he's bad, he's downright awful. Sometimes, as it were, for what reason — boredom? Pay bills? Lost bet? — he deliberately takes on roles that are far below his talent, and then gives them the most blasphemous performance, as if demonstrating his contempt for the material.

He's a fine comic actor in a fitting role, as we'll see, but too often indulges in wild and unrestrained plunder, and if he's playing a dramatic role that he clearly feels unworthy of himself, he's got all the corpse animation. It's perhaps no coincidence that in one of his weaker films, he tried out just such a role, the disappointing Mary Shelley's Frankenstein played by Kenneth Branagh.

Sometimes it seems that there are actually two Roberts De Niro. The same actor who used the furthest corners of The Method in movies like Raging Bull and Taxi Driver with amazing results is also the same person who fell asleep on camera while filming the failed romantic comedy New Year's Eve. . The performer who breaks hearts at the end of The Irishman by exposing the frightened little boy underneath the killer gangster is someone who appeared in humiliating scenes in the bizarre and disgusting Dirty Grandpa a couple of years ago.

Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Flower Moon Killers

Looking back, one of those De Niro's should be celebrating his 80th Anniversary with pride in a stellar film career; the other must publish a public apology for having embarrassed himself so spectacularly. And yet there are more hits than misses, even in recent times. Here are 10 of his best performances and, for balance, five of his worst.

Hits The Godfather II (1974)

After Marlon Brando's titanic role as crime boss Don Vito Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola's original film The Godfather, it would have been a daunting task for any actor, but the then 31-year-old De Niro did a superb job as young Vito in the flashback scenes. through this, he worked his way to the top of organized crime in New York City in the early 20th century. The role that deservedly won him an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor is almost entirely performed in Italian — De Niro spent four months perfecting the Sicilian dialect Vito speaks in the film, which is more preparation than the famously lazy one did. Brando — but he says the famous phrase «I make him an offer that he does not refuse» in English.

The Godfather Part 2 By Alami Taxi Driver (1976)

Much of this list could be filled with De Niro's collaborations with fellow thinker and friend Martin Scorsese, so we'll be selective and pick the top three (as well as their weakest). In their second film together, Taxi Driver, De Niro played an aloof New York taxi driver, Travis Bickle, who is sick of the scenes of debauchery he sees in everyday life and who is crazy about a 12-year-old prostitute (Jodie Foster). , embarks on a bloody mission to clean up the streets.

Along with The French Connection by the late William Friedkin, no film of that era made Manhattan more gritty or more menacing, and De Niro's famous film Are You Talking to Me? the monologue — improvised by the actor — is as unsettling and fiery as it was almost half a century ago, and is perfect for his withdrawn and intimidating performance.

» /> Robert De Niro in Taxi Driver: Alami Raging Bull (1980)

De Niro won his second Oscar, this time for Best Actor, for Scorsese's exemplary biopic of boxer Jake LaMotta. While the directing is impressive—the film's black-and-white footage and slow-motion boxing for Pietro Mascagni's Rural Cavalry—it wouldn't be enough if it weren't for De Niro's incredibly selfless performance in the title role. .

The actor not only gained 27kg to portray an aged LaMotta in his post-boxing days, but also managed to bring out the humanity and pathos of the brutal, intellectually limited character right up to the heartbreaking moment near the end. when, locked in a police cell, he is forced to shout: «I'm not an animal!» In a strange coincidence, the actor that De Niro won at the Oscars — John Hurt, who played John Merrick in The Elephant Man — says exactly the same phrase in his picture.

King of Comedy (1983)

De Niro and Scorsese's fifth collaboration crashed on release, and it's perhaps no coincidence that the two men didn't work together again until their triumphant 1990 reunion with Goodfellas. It remains a shame, as the black comedy The King of Comedy, in which De Niro plays a delusional stand-up candidate who first tracks down and eventually kidnaps veteran comedian Jerry Lewis, is one of the most astute and insightful explorations of the corrupting effects of fame ever. or made. Maniacally grinning Rupert Pupkin De Niro is not a villain and not a completely mediocre person, but mediocrity, who believes that fame should belong to him, as by right, and will do everything possible to get it. It's the highest praise the film has received that Todd Phillips' hugely successful Joker is a virtual remake of the film, with De Niro playing a variant of the role Lewis first tried out.

King of Comedy By Alami Brazil (1985)

One of the many treats in Terry Gilliam's best film is De Niro's extended cameo as Archibald «Harry» Tuttle, a renegade plumber hunted by the state for suspicion of terrorism. De Niro originally wanted to play the part promised to Michael Palin—the upbeat bureaucrat Jack Lint, who ultimately epitomizes the banal evil of this dystopian society—but as a consolation prize, he was offered the role of the heroic Tuttle, a man who can describe his career as a «freelance heating engineer”: “I came to this game for action, excitement. Go anywhere, travel light, get in and out, wherever there is trouble, there is only one man. Now the whole country has been divided up, and you can’t take a step without a form.” De Niro displays his comedic gift here with an accurate understatement; if the same could be said of much of his later career.

Brazil By Alamy The Untouchables (1987)

De Niro's reunion with De Palma was eagerly awaited and did not disappoint. In a part half-offered to Bob Hoskins, who was paid £20,000 when De Niro became available, the actor only appears in a few scenes as mobster Al Capone, who is in full control of Chicago's Prohibition era. A criminal empire, De Niro combines charm, menace and disturbing charisma to create an unforgettable effect, especially in the scene where he beats a subordinate to death with a baseball bat. He enjoyed the demands of preparing for the role, having Capone's early tailors create replicas of the costumes worn by the gangster, and even donning the same silk underwear as the man he played; the result is an indelible cameo of said perversity.

Heat (1995)

Michael Mann's greatest crime epic is rightfully considered one of the best films of the decade, and one of the key reasons for its success was the combination of Al Pacino and De Niro as a dedicated cop and an equally dedicated robber who are on the hunt for the most famous film. a cup of coffee in the first screen couple of two actors.

Part of its appeal is that their performances complement each other perfectly; Pacino hilariously overacts, while De Niro is very restrained in portraying a man who has turned his life into a compartment so tightly wound that he can rightly say, «Don't let yourself get attached to anything you don't want to come out of.» 30 seconds later exactly if you feel the heat around the corner.” When his character Neil McCauley disobeys his own edict towards the end to get revenge, it's electrifying to the extreme, even when McCauley — and the audience — know it will be his end.

With Val Kilmer in Heat. Author: Alamy Meet the Parents (2000)

Ignore the increasingly useless sequels: De Niro's first part of the antics of hapless Gaylord Focker Ben Stiller and his father-in-law and nemesis, the hilariously stern ex-CIA agent Jack Byrnes, played by De Niro, remains largely comic entertainment. because Stiller is generous enough as an actor to realize that his co-star steals all the scenes they're in together and therefore fades into the background. Channeling something from his therapy-seeking mob boss from the earlier Analyze It, De Niro is both menacing and boisterous, like the kind of person you really wouldn't want in your life if you weren't connected to him. Jack's line after Stiller's unfortunate observation: «I have nipples, Greg. Can you milk me? remains the perfect embodiment of the spirit of the painting.

Meet the Parents Ronin (1998)

De Niro has made better films than John Frankenheimer's Ronin — it can't even be compared to, for example, Goodfellas, Casino or Once Upon a Time in America — but he deserves a place on this list because he is fascinating, and the actor's successful attempt at another leading role, as a nineties action hero. De Niro is completely convincing and energetic as Sam, a former CIA mercenary who becomes embroiled in a conspiracy beyond his comprehension and throws himself into two of the best car chases ever shown on screen with aplomb. However, he can also deliver meaningful dialogue written by the ghost of David Mamet as convincingly as any actor could ever be, spitting tough guy lines and firing bullets with all the cold-blooded confidence of any Willis or Stallone.

Silver Linings Handbook (2012)

In his later career, De Niro collaborated several times with maverick filmmaker David O Russell, and when the results were successful—as was the case with their first film together, the black comedy The Silver Lining Guide—he approached acting. with Scorsese. In a supporting role as Bradley Cooper's football-obsessed father who is ridiculously unsure how to deal with his son's mental illness while trying to mask his own obsessive-compulsive tendencies, De Niro clearly enjoys playing a «normal» character who is not prone to limbs. He has a mind blowing monologue in which he tells his son to become a man, take responsibility and confess his love to the woman he is supposed to be with; he kicks it out of the park and was nominated for an Oscar in the process.

Silver Linings Playbook By Alamy The badCape Fear (1991)

Scorcese's remake of Cape Fear isn't a bad movie at all — it's too well made for that — but it suffers greatly from OTT De Niro's portrayal of psychotic antagonist Max Cady seeking revenge on Nick Nolte's writhing lawyer for failing to use evidence at trial that could secure his rape acquittal.

The problem with De Niro's performance, where he's covered in tattoos and frowning and grimacing like a psychopath Popeye, is that it starts with such a feverish fit of hysterical evil that he has nowhere else to move for the next two seconds. watch. By the time his character finally dies speaking in tongues, tied to a boat in a storm and singing a hymn, it's a blessed relief. Somewhat unbelievably, he was nominated for an Oscar for Best Actor; «The most actor» would be more accurate.

Cape Fear By Alami Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1994)

Kenneth Branagh's Frankenstein film for Mary Shelley's novel attempted to treat Mary Shelley's novel with the respect it deserved, but was hindered, first, by the actor-director's tendency to take every scene to ridiculous extremes («He's alive! He's alive !”), and secondly, De Niro's unsuccessful performance as Creation. Covered in unconvincing make-up with heavy latex scars and speaking in a thick New York accent that is at odds with the rest of the cast's RADA diction, De Niro fails to convince as Shelley's tragic anti-hero, instead coming across as a grumpy drunk who has survived several street accidents. Never a natural actor for costumed roles, De Niro seems especially out of place here, to the fatal detriment of the film.

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Author: Alami The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (2000)

Oh my God. In this sinister comedy, half animated, half live, De Niro dons a monocle, speaks with a peculiar accent that is somewhere between English, German and Italian, and aims to defeat the dynamic duo of Rocky the squirrel and Bullwinkle the moose. It's almost certainly the worst performance De Niro has ever given, revealing a true pewter ear for comedic moments, and the Looney Tunes character's villainy barely masks sheer contempt for the actor, who at some unfortunate moment spoofs his own «You're talking.» me» monologue from «Taxi Driver» — has for the material. However, he could hardly blame the filmmakers; he is credited as one of the film's producers.

The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle By Alami Stardust (2007)

Matthew Vaughn's adaptation of Neil Gaiman's comic fantasy is mostly great fun, but it suffers from a terrible misrepresentation of some supporting roles, including the crippled Ricky Gervais and the devilishly terrible De Niro as Captain Shakespeare, a dastardly pirate captain aboard a flying ship. who turns out to be a secretly gay transvestite. While the role itself would have raised more eyebrows today than it did when the film was made, it would have been perfectly acceptable had the originally proposed Stephen Fry been cast, but De Niro's overblown, overly broad performance negates any humor from his scenes. , which made it awkward to watch him bounce across the deck. Eliminating the absurdity might help, but instead he goes all-in with disastrous results.

Dirty Grandpa (2016)

On paper, there may not have been anything wrong with the odd couple casting Zac Efron as a straight-laced corporate lawyer who drives their ex-Army grandfather to Florida only to be sucked into the older man's depraved pill habits. However, its mind-blowingly poor performance prompted at least one critic to write about De Niro's involvement that Dirty Grandpa is «not just the worst movie he's ever made, but possibly the worst movie anyone has ever been in.» or ever filmed.»

It's inexplicable how bad the film is: the supposedly gross comedic scenes are just disgusting, not even mildly funny, and the potentially touching moments are embarrassing and tiring. However, the nadir of De Niro's career can also be found here, in the scene in which he is caught masturbating by his grandson; fortunately, he was soon able to rid himself of the shame associated with the fact that this picture was nominated for an Oscar for The Irishman.

Dirty Grandpa Credit: AP What are your favorite Robert De Niro films? Join the conversation in the comments section below

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