6. Robert De Niro
An obvious choice, yes, sure, I agree. But to draw attention to the mind boggling decline of Robert De Niro's career from around 1989 onwards would be a bum move in a list like this. But we'll keep this one snappy....ish Everyone knows De Niro's calibre. The pedigree he once operated within, his dedication to the craft of acting, the violent intensity he brought to a handful of performances was of such quality that it's defined his entire career trajectory. So why'd it all go wrong. Why did towering performances suddenly mutate into bad comedy and melodramas that other, lesser actors would have the foresight to stay clear of? Who the hell knows? Maybe he was sick of being a method actor so focused on criminals and psychopaths, occupying that headspace constantly must have been exhausting, and wanted to flex his acting muscles in less strenuous directions. Fine, whatever, but after doing that with the woeful "Analyse This", you should then have enough self-awareness to realise that's a dreadful idea and return to the kinds of characters you can sink your teeth into. Nope, he just kept ploughing on through the crapstorm. Gurning up "Rocky and Bullwinkle", the atrocious Focker franchise, a baffling turn in "Men of Honour", one of the least scary horrors every spunked out in "Hide N Seek"; the list plods on and on defecating all over the once great man's legacy as it goes. We should have known that something as amiss when he started parodying the types of characters that brought him fame in sub-standard SNL skits...
Post-Credit Sting - Of late however, he seems to have been getting his head together a little better. With strong turns in "Limitless" and "Silver Linings Playbook".