A friend texted me during the World Series, minutes after a “Last Vegas” commercial aired, with the following observation: “Robert De Niro’s latter-day sins are so bad I feel it takes away from his great old stuff. This Vegas movie looks like he lost a bet and had to take the role. Get a new manager!”
Whether “Last Vegas,” which co-stars Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline, is a hit (or, dare I say it, a good film) or not, it certainly represents another strange choice for the star of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull.”
This is not a new criticism, but it is worth revisiting. What did happen to De Niro, exactly? Looking at his last two decades of work, 1995 appears to be the last time in which his films really, truly mattered. That was the year of two films that were underrated upon release, and are both now rightfully considered to be classics: “Casino” and “Heat.” Take a look at what followed:
- 1995 Casino
- 1995 Heat
- 1996 The Fan
- 1996 Sleepers
- 1996 Marvin’s Room
- 1997 CopLand
- 1997 Jackie Brown
- 1997 Wag the Dog
- 1998 Great Expectations
- 1998 Ronin
- 1999 Analyze This
- 1999 Flawless
- 2000 The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
- 2000 Men of Honor
- 2000 Meet the Parents
- 2001 15 Minutes
- 2001 The Score
- 2002 Showtime
- 2002 City by the Sea
- 2002 Analyze That
- 2004 Godsend
- 2004 Shark Tale
- 2004 Meet the Fockers
- 2004 The Bridge of San Luis Rey
- 2005 Hide and Seek
- 2006 Arthur and the Invisibles
- 2006 The Good Shepherd
- 2007 Stardust
- 2008 Righteous Kill
- 2008 What Just Happened
- 2009 Everybody’s Fine
- 2010 Machete
- 2010 Stone
- 2010 Little Fockers
- 2011 Manuale d’amore 3
- 2011 Killer Elite
- 2011 Limitless
- 2011 New Year’s Eve
- 2012 Being Flynn
- 2012 Red Lights
- 2012 Freelancers
- 2012 Silver Linings Playbook
- 2013 The Big Wedding
- 2013 Killing Season
- 2013 The Family
- 2013 Last Vegas
It is an odd, head-scratching list, is it not? There are many solid films here, but even the greats — “Jackie Brown,” “Wag the Dog,” last year’s “Silver Linings Playbook” — feel as if any other actor of De Niro’s age could have played the parts effectively. Some of the films are underrated, especially “Great Expectations,” “Ronin,” “Stone,” and even the De Niro-directed “Good Shepherd.”
But my goodness. Look at the misses! There is a stretch of time, from 1999 to 2006, that is absurdly bad — and that was pre-“Righteous Kill”!
It is too easy to say this was paycheck work, although I am sure that played a part. There must have been something in each of these that attracted De Niro. I think the more likely explanation is that he does not care to be challenged.
Look at the directors of these films. After Scorsese, Mann, Tarantino, and perhaps Cuaron, where are the heavyweights? Barry Levinson no longer fits on that list, and I think Luc Besson is in the same category. Not until David O’Russell is there a real giant — and he helped bring De Niro his first Oscar nomination in years.
For the sake of his legacy, let us hope Robert De Niro’s planned re-team with Martin Scorsese, “The Irishman,” moves into production soon. It can’t end like this. Can it?
Image courtesy of CBS