Robert De Niro is rightfully recognized as being one of the greatest actors of the twentieth century for an astounding run of great movies from 1971's Mean Streets through 1997. However, the twenty-first century has been a different story: he went from being very particular about his roles to seemingly acting in everything he is offered, and he has already appeared in over thirty movies since 2000. Few of those films have been successful at the box office, and even fewer have received critical praise. In fact, twenty-five have been voted rotten on Rotten Tomatoes, which is an inauspicious accolade for such a critically acclaimed talent. Though De Niro is still highly regarded and even received his first Oscar nomination in twenty-one years for his supporting role in Silver Linings Playbook it's almost entirely for movies he made twenty years ago or more. We all want to see De Niro star in at least one more great film (and hopefully with old collaborator Martin Scorsese), but as he gets further from his glory years audiences wonder if he has anything great left in the tank. Which other wayward talents do you think deserve to be on this list? Share your own picks below in the comments thread.
Chris McKittrick is a published author of fiction and non-fiction and has spoken about film and comic books at conferences across the United States. In addition to his work at WhatCulture!, he is a regular contributor to CreativeScreenwriting.com, MovieBuzzers.com, and DailyActor.com, a website focused on acting in all media. For more information, visit his website at http://www.chrismckit.com.
