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De Niro
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De Niro
Nov 1 2002
Author: John Baxter
Details:
(Harper Collins)
Having already chronicled Spielberg, Lucas and Kubrick, John Baxter turns
his attention to the worldąs greatest living actor .
The relationships that have shaped the dual Oscar-winnerąs life ‹ from that
with his depressive bisexual father, to the only long-lasting union in his
life, his friendship with Martin Scorsese ‹ are sympathetically explored,
with contributions from most of those involved.
De Niro is not held up as a Hollywood deity, but rather as a supremely
talented and obsessively Method actor whose early brilliance has given way
to apathy and self-parody.
The bizarre lengths he has gone to in order to Śearn the rightą to play a
part are recounted in fascinating detail, and even the actorąs
contemporaries are not spared a few wry sideswipes in an amusing and
eminently readable biography.
OLLY RICHARDS
Issue 162 December 2002
Fecal Friend
>De Niro is not held up as a Hollywood deity, but rather as a supremely
>talented and obsessively Method actor whose early brilliance has given way
>to apathy and self-parody.<<
I agree, unfortunately. He's gone the way of Gary Oldman, among others.
But WHY???
That's what I'd really love to know...
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Every boy and girl deserves a Fecal Friend!
___________________________________________________________________
Phoenix
me.aol.com>, with...@aol.comi-sd9isp says...
> >
> >De Niro is not held up as a Hollywood deity, but rather as a supremely
> >talented and obsessively Method actor whose early brilliance has given way
> >to apathy and self-parody.<<
>
> I agree, unfortunately. He's gone the way of Gary Oldman, among others.
>
> But WHY???
>
> That's what I'd really love to know...
I've thought about this a lot, and though
roles for women dry up by the time they're 40,
men's roles start getting stupid after about
45.
No one is offering De Niro or Dustin Hoffman
or Robert Duval quality parts anymore. They
can still get minor roles, or parts in silly
comedies, but there aren't anymore Midnight
Cowboys or Raging Bulls around for them.
Gary Oldman is a different story. I think
he's just crazy and inebriated these days, and
will take anything offered.
bel
Phoenix
me.aol.com>, with...@aol.comi-sd9isp says...
> >From: Phoenix <avian...@yahoo.com>
>
> >> >
> >> >De Niro is not held up as a Hollywood deity, but rather as a supremely
> >> >talented and obsessively Method actor whose early brilliance has given way
> >> >to apathy and self-parody.<<
> >>
> >> I agree, unfortunately. He's gone the way of Gary Oldman, among others.
> >>
> >> But WHY???
> >>
> >> That's what I'd really love to know...
> >
> >
> >I've thought about this a lot, and though
> >roles for women dry up by the time they're 40,
> >men's roles start getting stupid after about
> >45.
> >
> >No one is offering De Niro or Dustin Hoffman
> >or Robert Duval quality parts anymore. They
> >can still get minor roles, or parts in silly
> >comedies, but there aren't anymore Midnight
> >Cowboys or Raging Bulls around for them.<<
>
> others---are still pursuing rigorous, meaty artistic roles with real staying
> power...
Penn and Day-Lewis are younger than De Niro,
and can still play angry young men, but are we
really seeing that much of them, anyway? Penn
may be in one movie every 18 months, and Day-
Lewis has had long fallow periods. Neither
has been in a truly stupid movie the way De
Niro has repeatedly, but since they won't
compromise we're seeing them in less movies as
they age.
Hopkins is a movie whore, nearly as bad as
Michael Caine. He'll star in anything for the
right money. He hasn't challenged himself in
ages.
Jennifer Jason Leigh is in a period of
tremendous creative
> expression...I don't buy your theory at all...
Maybe personally, but her good starring roles
are on the wane.
>
> >
> >Gary Oldman is a different story. I think
> >he's just crazy and inebriated these days, and
> >will take anything offered.<<
>
> Supposedly, Oldman has been sober for something like 8 years.
Supposedly.
I liked his movie Nil By Mouth, though.
bel
Phoenix
> acting or making his own films in recent years. Neither has been anything less
> than very, very good in anything in recent memory; their creative output
> certainly doesn't seem muted by age to me...
>
> Again, your contention is that De Niro's suckiness over the past decade plus is
> due to opportunities drying up due to age. Which is crap, IMHO...
>
> >Neither
> >has been in a truly stupid movie the way De
> >Niro has repeatedly, but since they won't
> >compromise we're seeing them in less movies as
> >they age.<<
>
> act far less frequently than most, but if he wanted to, he could star in
> project after project. Penn is preoccupied with his own projects, yet the same
> applies...
Well, we'll just have to agree to disagree.
At this point I don't think Penn or DD-L are
getting the heaps of scripts they got in their
younger days. Partly because they don't want
them, but also because the opportunities don't
exist anymore that were present when they were
young.
> >
> >Hopkins is a movie whore, nearly as bad as
> >Michael Caine. He'll star in anything for the
> >right money. He hasn't challenged himself in
> >ages.<<
>
> Yet when Hopkins wants to, he can still act brilliantly in good films making a
> shitload of money---I thought him terrific in Hearts In Atlantis recently, and
> the 90s was a fantastic period for him---in his late 50s!
Again, I disagree. Silence of the Lambs
killed his acting career (though I sort of
liked Remains of the Day) and turned him into
a commodity, and Hopkins seems very happy with
the arrangement...and the money.
>
> >
> >Jennifer Jason Leigh is in a period of
> >tremendous creative
> >> expression...I don't buy your theory at all...
> >
> >Maybe personally, but her good starring roles
> >are on the wane.<<
>
> Put down the crack pipe and step away from the ledge, son! Let's see, starred
> in Proof on Broadway, co-wrote/directed/produced starred in her first film,
> recently wrapped In The Cut for Jane Campion, writing another script,
> co-starred in The King Is Alive (out on DVD within weeks), starred with Diane
> Keaton in major TV movie, Starred in David Croenenberg film eXistenz, yada yada
> yada...
And since eX (which sucked), she hasn't
starred in a major film, which is my point,
yes?
Yes, JJL has carved out a personally
satisfying niche for herself which is
admirable, especially given her limitations as
an actress. But she won't be seeing another
Mrs. Parker, or Single White Female or Kansas
City (which also sucked.)
>
> Look, we both agree that as De Niro has sucked El Grande Donkey Dicko over the
> past 12 years or so. You think it's age. I think it's something else---apathy,
> distractions like restaurants, fame, the lure of easy money, whatever. Had he
> wanted to, De Niro could have challenged himself far more than he has, just as
> other older actors have. He hasn't chosen to. Our loss, And his loss too, I
> think.
De Niro can no longer draw the audience with a
good dramatic performance like he could even
10 years ago, so what studio is going to offer
him another tour de force like Travis Bickle?
Maybe because movies have become junk food
rather than satisfying meals, De Niro doesn't
have much choice if he wants to continue
acting in big budget films. Can you think of
a major film he could have starred in lately
that would have been up to his standard in the
70s and 80s? Those kinds of films just aren't
made anymore, and if they are, younger actors
are making them.
A parallel example is Jack Nicholson, who has
been calling in his performances for 20 years.
He hasn't done anything of substance for
donkey's years (though in this case substance
abuse is a contributing factor.) There's
really no role he can play as an aging man
that will match his youthful energy and
bravado. Nicholson was pretty good in The
Pledge, but who went to see that? His latest
film, About Schmidt, has received raves but is
it going to pull in audiences the way his
young performances did? So Nicholson is
relegated to small films or taking silly one
dimensional roles in large movies (As Good As
it Gets.)
De Niro doesn't seem to be exploring
independent films like Nicholson, but I've
heard that Bob likes strict schedules and
tight productions which only big studios can
offer. De Niro is certainly capable of doing
some great acting again, but what is he being
offered that might give him the chance?
bel
>
> Off to bed...
>
>
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