nightmaster

Busy actors tend to star in some crummy movies. Michael Caine and Gene Hackman have been guilty of this, but every now and then give a few great performances along the way. I like seeing good actors being busy rather than never getting to see them plying their craft, even in bad movies. Last week a thread came up asking "what happened to Cameron Diaz?" The consensus seemed to be now that she's rich she doesn't need to work much, ala' Chris Tucker. DeNiro isn't that kind of an actor; he likes staying busy, even when the roles aren't worthy of a great actor.
I have mixed feelings about it, but I tend to defend guys like DeNiro. I work for a living and some days I excel, some days I'm on autopilot like lots of us are, if the job doesn't require me to give 100 percent that day, I don't. Seems like busy actors should be able to do the same. I can think of at least 6 movies he's been in in the last 10 years where he gave a great performance, and lots of actors don't do more than 6 movies in a 10 year span, so I don't see that he's shortchanging the fans. If he retired tomorrow he'd be one of the true legends of our era, regardless of how many more movies he does, stellar or terrible. It's not like he wasn't busy doing turns in some crummy movies even during the period he was also doing Goodfellas, Raging Bull, Heat and the likes.

cruzness

I think it is totally hypocrittical to blame DeNiro for cashing in. He has a demand and people are willing to pay him. There isn't anyone out here who would not do the same. He still has the chops to play diverse roles, unfortunately his selection of projects is weak when compared to Pacino or Nicholson. I just think he wants to make money and have fun.

inri222

Wow just found out about this masterpiece with 'Academy Award' winners Robert DeNiro & Forrest Whitaker.
Had to resurrect something.

RocShemp

I wish Forest Whitaker would do a spiritual successor to Ghost Dog or his character from The Shield (no, his cameos in American Dad don't count ).

Shannon Nutt

DeNiro (and everyone else) is supposed to be really good in "Silver Linings Playbook" - they're already talking about a Best Picture nod for this movie.

Fist of Doom

It's sad to see Fitty slumming it with those hacks.

cungar

they haven't toured in 5 years.

Ash Ketchum

Look at the date he posted that. Seven &1/2 years ago!

pjflyer

How much cash could "Freelancers" have for DeNiro?

sauce07

IMDB says it cost $11 Million, I'm guessing DeNiro made $1 Million and a cut of the backend. They probably filmed his role pretty fast, not bad for a week's work.

Rival11

"From A producer of righteous kill and street kings"

How many producers were involved with righteous kill and street kings?

golden_rod

He's become the male Shelley Winters.

Troy Stiffler

I like what DeNiro is doing. He playing a lot of movies by independent studios and unestablished directors. He's out there allowing movies to get made that maybe otherwise wouldn't get made.

So I guess you get some stinkers doing business like that.

Killer Elite is on Netflix. I was suprised by how much I enjoyed it. I'd recommend that people watch it.

Why So Blu?

I want to see Red Lights.

golden_rod

It's actually quite good until you get to the woeful final third & DeNiro's abominable performance. Sigourney Weaver is superb.

Jaymole

DeNiro is even more of a hack now than when the OP originally created the thread.

JumpCutz

Exactly. I'm trying to figure out the last movie he was truly great in? Was it Jackie Brown in 1997? Of his recent work Stone or The Good Shepherd perhaps? Either way he has fallen so far in recent years. Definitely a shell of his former self.

Solid Snake

I haven't seen The Good Shepard but JB and Cop Land seem to be his last bits of good work unless TGS was good for him.

Boba Fett

Ronin was his last "great" role. That said, I thought he was good in Stardust and hilariously over-the-top (in a good way) in Machete (honestly he was the highlight of the movie alongside Don Johnson).

Jaymole

With another stinker out this week, the Big Wedding, De Niro continues his steady descent into hackdom.

Tarantino

After seeing his performance in The Deer Hunter (shitty movie, but great performance by DeNiro), the crap he puts out now just makes me ever more sad.

auto

For christsakes, he was just nominated for an Oscar...last year.

EddieMoney

The Big Wedding is blowing up Rotten Tomatoes with a 3%!!

Jaymole

1 - His performance did not deserve a nomination
2 - The film was an exception to the rule

De Niro has 10 films in the pipeline right now....quantity ($$$) over quality rules the day.

Tarantino

I haven't seen Silver Linings yet.