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  2 0 Great actor, duh. See Raging Bull, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, Godfather II and tell me those are all the same character. His comedy characters are pretty similar, but when you've made the first four movies fucking classics, you can pretty much do whatever the fuck you want. Now Tom Hanks, that guy's made a career out of playing "Tom Hanks." Commenty Colin answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report 6 comments by Commenty Colin, two squatting women, and Commenty Colin… 0 0 add the Deer Hunter and King of Comedy to that list... god now I'm pissed. Commenty Colin commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Ok, perhaps "great actor playing the same type of role..." may have more apt. I will grant you Raging Bull, Taxi Driver and Godfather 2 as standout, uniquely great performances. Add Deer Hunter and K of C to that list. He's great at portraying (obviously) mobster-types, criminals, borderline or true psychopaths, men with quiet calm yet hair-trigger temper. That's fine. To me, he's limited but great at what he does. That grouping includes a ton of great actors. Most seem to have their niche. Goodfellas was the beginning of the end of his brilliance. That role, the ones in Casino, Heat, Jackie Brown et. al., are essentially the same role, and nothing's changed the last 15-20 years. Two departures-Flawless, where he was great mainly because he had to tone it down for the sake of PS Hoffman's character and We're No Angels. Even though all his comedies are cookie-cutter performances, this one stood out in that vein. Go ahead. Rip away! two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I think, as usual, bystanders tend to expect waaaaaay too much out of professionals. The same way I yell at pro baseball players to perform flawlessly for every moment of every game, I think it's too much to expect that before an actor can be deemed "great," they have to be capable of completely transforming a) themselves for every role, b) the expectations of the audience who has seen them before and necessarily views new characters with eyes attuned to past performances, not to mention c) the expectations of the director/casting personnel/writers, who, needing a badass, go out and pick from the list of truly great badasses if they have the means. It's just too much to ask that DeNiro ALSO be able to flawlessly play an effeminate professor, or a Carrey-esque spastic, or whatever. I think if you analyzed everyone with any sort of talent at all with that kind of perspective, you'll find that everyone on the planet has "limited range." Commenty Colin commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 I totally agree. Most great actors have their limits, Deniro included. Hence why I amended my original question. He's great at what he does. BUT, that doesn't dismiss the many, many roles that are indistinguishable from each other over the last 20 years (See also Nicholson and Pacino the scene-chewer). Just offhand, Day-Lewis is one I can think of who hasn't ever played the same role twice and tackles roles Deniro et. al. couldn't make work. Therein lies the separation. two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 OK, so I just noticed the end of your first comment. While I haven't seen Jackie Brown, the characters DeNiro plays in Goodfellas, Casino and Heat are actually quite different - the only thing they really have in common is that they are criminal products of the underworld (and thus are more accepting of criminal violence than your average character that comes from a non-criminal background). Jimmy from Goodfellas is a downright vicious psychopath who would turn on (nearly) any of his friends if it came down to a lot of money in his pocket. Sam Rothstein from Casino is an egghead narcissist who, while not above ordering someone else to deal roughly with someone, is definitely not a vicious person, and certainly not hyper-violent in any event. DeNiro's Neil from Heat is a very methodical professional thief. While he may be amoral in many respects (thus something of a traditional-definition "psychopath"), he only uses violence in a coldly logical manner when the situation demands it. He's also able to try to save himself by detaching from a love interest, something that Sam Rothstein clearly isn't able to do. Neil would never screw a friend over (like Jimmy) to save himself or make money (as he proves in the film). Bottom line: the characters share a similar backdrop of existing in the criminal underworld, and they all speak in De Niro's tough, streetwise voice, but they are actually quite different characters, and I think De Niro does a wonderful job of differentiating them. Commenty Colin commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Well said. I still think there's more of a fine line between all these characters than you. Now that you mention it I see the subtle distinctions but yet they're all still criminal (or mildly criminal, or moral yet criminal) portrayals. He gets typecast (and accepts these roles) because he can do them well, and make subtle performance distinctions. He (and the creators, and the audience) know where his bread is buttered. JImmy is by far the best of these 3 roles. They should've switched him and Joe Pesci's roles around in Casino. It would've fucked with everyone's expecations and better challenged both actors. PS-I forgot Midnight Run. His funniest role, for sure. two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 0 I'd like to ask the same about Bill Murray. I know it wouldn't be a total yes. But it sorta seems very close to a yes at times. I know, I know, bill murray is fucking super awesome rad and the best ever blah blah. heard it! ROM answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by two squatting women… 0 0 I totally agree. Murray is a great comic actor who can crossover and play the sad-sack, pathos-riddled middle-aged guy pretty well, and usually with a tinge of humor, too. He's very good at it, I wouldn't say great. two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  1 0 No, De Niro from 1970 to somewhere in the 90s (maybe Jackie Brown, maybe Ronin) was dynamite worth all the acclaim he got. Its only since then, that yes, he's famous for playing Robert De Niro. Same thing with pretty much all the class of the 70s - Nicholson, Pacino, Hoffman - even Keitel, who had the benefit of really breaking out late in the game ('92), is kind of too old to do the daring work that always made him the edgier one of the bunch. That, and Hollywood has grown so stale that you really can't blame them for doing boring work. In fact, gangster films are one of the few places Hollywood lets a movie have any balls, so you really can't blame him for taking those roles over and over. They probably are some of the best stuff he gets handed. PeretDesnos answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report 3 comments by PeretDesnos, two squatting women, and PeretDesnos… 0 0 But he has his limits. He really cant do accents (see The Mission and Stardust; his "midwesterner" in Taxi Driver is barely noticable), and his attempts at comedy often are meh (Look at Brazil. He's not bad in it by any means, but there probably plenty of comedic actors out there who could have really done something special with the role, which De Niro doesnt). PeretDesnos commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 No arguments here. OK, OK! I think you, and everyone else, have convinced me. For all those guys (Pacino, Hoffman, Nicholson, Deniro), that 30 year stretch from late 60's to mid 90's is probably unmatched in terms of collective greatness. An amazing confluence of great acting in quality movies. I can still blame them for doing boring work. They're established enough to do anything they choose. I'm assuming their salary demands shape the kinds of movies they do, and this is unfortunate. That's too bad. If they opted for percentage payments, they could take any role in any size film and make it profitable on name alone. Lots of older, great actors take such roles. All three should, too. two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report 0 0 Well, it is his salary, but let's face it, the man is more interested in Tribeca right now than his movie career. That's one of the reason he's been doing paycheck roles for this past decade. In fact, the only project this decade he showed any enthusiasm at was The Good Shepperd, which of course he directed. My guess is if he's to have any more personal projects, they're likely behind the camera. Which could mean, of course, he's simply over acting. It would be nice for an actor to retire when one comes to that decision, but it of course doesn't work like that. But I don't think his recent mediocrity can really diminish his previous accomplishments as an actor. PeretDesnos commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 I feel he breaches the slightly pyschotic nerd character in "Taxi Driver" that differs from thug bravado of his other films...maybe you're just confusing him playing the same character with him being SEXY all the time. Cuz he is. maranda answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report 1 comment by two squatting women… 0 0 The psycho nerd role would normally be a departure except for The Fan and Kings of Comedy. Probably a few others. BUT I can see the sexy. He was a good looking guy in his younger days. Plus his freaky, sexy fingernails in Angel Heart were HOT. two squatting women commented over 2 years ago | Report Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 What about Rupert Pupkin from King of Comedy? About as far as you can get from Travis Bickle. Just sayin. Don't fuck with Deniro. autumn answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  0 0 People ask the same question about Nicholson. Valid, but, nah. He's perfectly capable of a great range. We just don't see him in a lot of roles that call on him to explore that range. Alf answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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  2 3 You talking to me? You talking to ME? Well, there ain't nobody else around here but me... (Same character over and over...) KG answered in Film, TV & Games over 2 years ago | Report Comment on this answer Enter your comment or ask a new question preview THIS IS A PREVIEW: Click "Post" to submit it or "Edit" to make changes. edit Please wait… This could take a minute if the tubes are clogged.

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