Has Robert DeNiro lost it?
 

Q: Has DeNiro lost "it"? By "it" I mean the gift that made him one of the most acclaimed actors of the last 20 years or so. After seeing total crap like "Showtime," I've really got to wonder.

For one thing, he's just played WAY too many cops. (I see his next movie, September's "City By The Sea," he plays... a cop.) In his recent work, I have enjoyed "Analyze This" or "Meet The Parents," DeNiro does comedy pretty well, but it was hardly groundbreaking and really, when you think about it, all he was doing was goofing on his own "image." I had to go back to his 1995 movies "Heat" and "Casino" to find, IMHO, the last movies where he truly blew me away. It just seems to me like he's going through the motions -- there's a DeNiro "type" now that he seems to play over and over again with minimal shading and it's a bummer to see. Where is the ferocious actor from "Raging Bull," "Taxi Driver," "Godfather II" or even more relatively recent movies like "Goodfellas" or "Awakenings." I just wish he'd try something different.

Instead, we just get warmed-over nonsense like "Showtime," "15 Minutes" and "Men Of Honor." Some decent movies, maybe, but nothing much with that DeNiro "magic" ... again, IMHO anyway. What do you think?

Well, I thought DeNiro was really good in "Ronin" and "Wag the Dog". Somewhat unusual roles for him that he pulled off pretty well. My thinking is that Marty Scorsese did him a big disservice when he ran off and made Kundun :)

He's chosen some bad roles lately, maybe he wants to get outta that Gangster movie gimmick he has I don't know but IMO his last few movies are crap.

That does not make him a bad actor though. He's still good, he just isn't choosing the right roles :)

Unfortunately, his days of playing great parts are over... the Taxi Driver, Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, even Goodfellas days are long gone.

I doubt we'll see that old De Niro that made him truly one of the greatest actors to ever live much more.

Now I support him having fun and doing comedies like Meet the Parents and Analyze This, and even their sequels. Why he's gotten involved with projects like Showtime and 15 Minutes though I don't really understand. Perhaps for paychecks :( I'm not sure.

He's still capable of pulling off incredible performances though - he just needs the right director and the right part. But then again, if you have those 2 ingredients, there are plenty of actors out there who can also do marvelous work. But I do believe he still has it in him.

i don't think he'll ever lose it

but he is a bit lost right now

I thought that he did a pretty job in "The Score" with Edward Norton. I think that in order to see his true greatest, he needs some challenge from his cast members. Think about if you put him and Anthony Hopkins together in the same movie with a good script, he will definitely show you his best stuff. -smile-

THE ADVENTURES OF ROCKY & BULLWINKLE?????????

I don't think he's lost anything. Kudos to Mr. De Niro for trying different things. He might fail at some, but who'd have thought 10 years ago that he'd be able to bring so much humor to a Jay Roach comedy...10 years ago, who knew who Jay Roach was!

He should not stick entirely to comedy, as he seems to be doing of lately...but he certainly has comic skills - see Meet the Parents, or better yet, Midnight Run.

He's still a wonderful actor, IMO. However, some of his recent choices in films have been rather disappointing (Showtime, 15 Minutes).

Still, he deserves credit for making as many movies as he does at his age. Several actors of his generation don't do that. Let's just hope that his upcoming film, City by the Sea, is good.

I'm not ready to start ragging on the guy just yet. Sure, he's had some pretty lame roles recently, but he's given us so many incredible roles that I don't mind him screwing around a bit.

If I were to pick a divergence point, it would be 1995, which really isn't that far back. Since then he's given us <B>The Score</B> and <B>Ronin</B>, both wonderful starring performances. In addition to that, you've got good performances in Jackie Brown, Wag the Dog, Cop Land, The Fan, Sleepers, and Marvin's Room. Now, I didn't like all those films, but each has a pretty solid performance from the Man.

In 1999 and 2000, he dropped some comedies on us, and while they're not what many of us want from him, they were pretty damn funny. But he came back with the aforementioned <B>The Score</B> in 2001, and 2002 isn't over yet.

Yeah, I think he's messing around with some fun roles in the latter stages of his career, but he certainly still "has it" and is producing wonderful performances at a pretty decent pace. There probably aren't enough good scripts to get DeNiro genius each year, but if I have to wait a few years for the next <B>Heat</B>, I don't mind. When the write script comes along, I'm sure DeNiro will be there for it, and we'll all be talking about how incredible he was.

das

I think De Niro should do a sequel to Heat next. Both Pacino and De Niro...that would rule! And they should get Brando to be in it, too! It can be a pre-quel!

I think he should take a year or two off from doing films and have a huge comeback...with a big dramatic role that can stretch his abilities.

He is getting kinda lackluster from films in the past few years.

I hope it is the money he is getting and not for the actual liking of the films...I refuse to believe he loved the scripts of certain films.

But hey...he <i>is</i> one of the greatest actors out today.

A prequel maybe...but I don't think he would be that good in a sequel... ;)

But he might play a great .

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "Man I love being a turtle!"

..... I mean, "Typecasting isn't necessarily a bad thing. You're a gangster Deniro. For the love of God, go with it."

Yeah, but...



Think about that! What potential!

;)

He has been in too many movies lately. I agree with conscience that DeNiro should take a year or two off.

More thought should have gone into creating this poll. I think he's still a great actor but he has also "lost it" when it comes to career choices.

De Niro could still rule if he took on a riskier role, but he's really been slacking off lately (Flawless, Rocky & Bullwinkle, 15 Minutes, Showtime). Even his recently comedy roles in good movies (Analyze This, Meet The Parents) seemed like they were phoned in... not challenging enough roles for an actor of this stature and talent.

Also, my heart sank as I began watching the teaser to Analyze That only to hear De Niro crying for almost a minute and then getting punched by Billy Crystal. Crying and getting smacked in the face, and in a teaser, no less! -eek- I just can't accept this from the man who once held a Magnum to a mirror and asked his reflection if it was talking to him, you know?

What are you guys on? 15 Minutes was great.

I enjoyed it as well

since 2 people said they liked it, i'm not afraid to admit I enjoyed it as well! de niro too.

Shoot me but I even though "Showtime" was decent.......

I really liked him in Meet The Parents!

I'd like to be clear about this... I also enjoyed De Niro's performance, it's just that he can do this kind of stuff in his sleep (i.e. act overtly seriously in a comedy) and the role didn't seem like much of a challenge. He didn't seem alive.

In fact, there are three kinds of roles De Niro should move away from: hard-asses (e.g. Men Of Honor), psychos (e.g. The Fan) and straight men in comedies (e.g. Showtime). I feel it's time for De Niro to play another 3-dimensional character.

I agree 100%

He has been on auto pilot lately.

One of the problems as I see it is that DeNiro seems to always want to star in the films he produces. The Fan, Men of Honor, 15 Minutes, Showtime, and many of his other recent failures are also produced by his companies Mandalay and Tribeca Films. I get the feeling that he is a control freak and doesn't think a film will succeed unless he is in it, so he casts himself in all of them.

Another role he sucked in was Great Expectations. I loved the movie, but he was all wrong.

the problem is he is branching out to other things to not just be type casted as the typical mobster tough guy. just not everything he does is working to well.