Robert De Niro: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

2013 The Family Screen 2 Rightfully considered one of the greatest actors of all time, Robert De Niro has had a lengthy and storied career that has spanned six decades and seven Academy Award nominations. Most notable for his legendary collaborations with Martin Scorsese, De Niro has also worked with great directors such as Francis Ford Coppola, Sergio Leone, Terry Gilliam, Brian De Palma, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann and Alan Parker. Incredibly versatile, but most notable for his portrayal of brooding masculinity within deeply flawed and complex young souls - De Niro, has in recent years veered more towards comedy and light-hearted fare with mixed success at best and it has been sad to see the great director in some truly awful movies over the last 10-15 years. When not trading in his dignity for a paycheque, De Niro has proved he still has it, as proved in his recent Oscar nominated turn in Silver Linings Playbook. It's an astonishing task picking only five great Robert De Niro performances and his magnificent turns in films such as Goodfellas, Once Upon A Time in America, Heat, Casino, Jackie Brown and Angel Heart aren't included here. Sadly, on the flip side of the coin, there were far more than 5 awful performances in De Niro's career, and the films selected here truly do represent the nadir of his professional life. One of cinema's enduring greats who has made iconic so many great characters, his heyday may be long behind him, but it's good to see a man wanting to work, even if much of that work is borderline unwatchable. To celebrate the US release today of his latest starring vehicle The Family, Robert De Niro is the latest actor to run the gauntlet of our 5 Awesome Performances & 5 That Sucked column...
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