2. Bang The Drum Slowly - Henry Wiggin & Bruce Pearson
When most people think of Robert De Niro's auspicious beginnings, they immediately evoke Mean Streets or maybe his late-60s work with Brian De Palma. However, one early entry to his filmography to this day feels a tad overlooked. That film is the sports drama Bang the Drum Slowly, where De Niro plays loveable albeit dim-witted catcher Bruce Pearson, a man dying of Hodgkin's lymphoma. While the film is set in the world of professional baseball, Bang the Drum Slowly is very much devoted to the powerful, enduring friendship that Pearson has with his team's pitcher Henry Wiggin, who is played with subtle efficacy by Michael Moriarty. The two men are teammates in both the literal and figurative sense of the word, with Moriarty's Henry helping the rather feckless Pearson weather both the harsh cruelty of those around him, and the destructive and ultimately fatal nature of his disease. While the film features a strong script and terrific acting from all involved (Vincent Gardenia picked up his second Oscar nomination here), Bang the Drum Slowly is most memorable in the way that it evokes the sustaining and healing nature of a close human bond.