Ranking De Niro's Performances In Scorsese Films

9. Jimmy Doyle - New York, New York

When you think Bobby De Niro, you likely imagine a gangster picture, or a gritty tale of a troubled man in the big city. Similarly, Martin Scorsese made his name in heavy dramas replete with violence and morality tales. So it must have been some surprise when the pair decided to follow up the much lauded Taxi Driver with a musical drama about a jazz saxophonist, co-starring Liza Minelli.

Minelli shines in a genre she is far more suited to, but De Niro is a bit lost here. An actor of rarely matched talents, he throws himself into the role of an out of control musician with no little confidence, but it never quite clicks.

The film itself is a bit of a muddle, part relationship drama, part pop cultural love letter. Bobby at times dials up the intensity to an inappropriate level, and the leads can seem as though they’re acting in two different films. The movie was apparently hacked down from an initial four hour run time, which could explain some of the disconnect in the performance.

His charisma is as on point as ever and the very notion of Robert De Niro as a masterful jazz man is an amusing one, but the huge risk they took when making this distinctly odd film unfortunately never quite pays off. Bobby reportedly mastered the basics of the instrument in readiness for the film - you can’t help but think there might have been better ways to use that time.