The Decline and Fall of Robert De Niro

"The Decline and Fall of Robert De Niro

-OR-

How the Finest Actor of His Generation Sold his Soul to The Paycheck Devil."



How did Robert De Niro go from this...









...to this?









I remember the day. I remember the moment.

I knew the Decline of Robert De Niro came once I saw the trailer for "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" (2000).

Do you remember it?

Robert De Niro, playing the Fearless Leader, looks into the camera and says:

"Are you talkin' to me? Are you talkin' to me? But I'm the only one here, so you must be talkin' to ME?"

Yes, that is the precise moment when Robert De Niro sold his soul to the paycheck devil.

(If you really want to experience it, check out the trailer on YouTube, 0:16 - 0:25 is the time-count, it is horrifying).

Not only did De Niro sell-out by taking a shameless paycheck movie but he also ape'd-his performance in "Taxi Driver."

I can only imagine De Niro's agent trying to sell him on the movie.

-Agent: Bobby. Listen, I have this great script, actually, the script is terrible, but the performance is right up your alley. After "Analyze This", I think this would be the perfect follow-up for you. Ready? "Rocky & Bullwinkle". Ha?! Amazing, right?

-De Niro: You mean, the cartoon?

-Agent: Yeah. The cartoon. You always told me you loved it. Well, they're making it into a film, sorta' like "Roger Rabbit", but better. Jason Alexander, you know him, Costanza from "Seinfeld"? He's already attached. But they need someone to play the Fearless Leader. I thought you would be perfect for the part.

-De Niro: The Fearless What?

-Agent: Leader. Bobby, listen to me, when have I given you wrong advice? (Pause) Okay, I know what you're going to say, "Frankenstein". That doesn't count. Anyway, listen, you can play the Fearless Leader like Mike Myers played Dr. Evil. Or, better yet, like how Charlie Chaplin played Hitler in "The Great Dictator."

-De Niro: Hmmm. I don't know. I was thinkin' maybe we can call Marty. See what he's up to...

-Agent: Marty? No, been there, done that like 6 times already. It's time for you to branch-out. You're not getting any younger, no offense, and it's time to think about a new direction in your career...

-De Niro: I don't know. I'm not feeling fearless. It doesn't seem like anything I can really get into.

-Agent: They're offering you 10 million plus a percentage on the back-end. (Pause).

-De Niro: Where do I sign?

How did he go from being Robert "Fuckin'" De Niro to Bob?

Where did it all begin?

Robert De Niro was THE finest actor of his generation. Let's take a quick glance at his memorable work:

From Johnny-Boy in "Mean Streets" (1973) to Vito Corleone in "The Godfather: Part II" (1974) to Travis Bickle in "Taxi Driver" (1976) to Michael in "The Deer Hunter" (1978) to Jake LaMotta in "Raging Bull" (1980) to Al Capone in "The Untouchables" (1987) to Jimmy Conway in "Goodfellas" (1990) to Max Cady in "Cape Fear" (1991) to Ace Rothstein in "Casino" (1995) to Neal McCauley in "Heat" (1995) to Moe Tilden in "Copland" (1997).

Somehow along the way, De Niro had an itch to scratch. And that itch was called...

...Comedy.

After a good, but not great, performance in "Analyse This" (1999), De Niro was convinced that he could make the transition from drama to comedy seamlessly. He was also successful in "Meet the Parents" (2000).

He wanted to wear both masks.

It was all downhill from then on.

Let's take a quick peek at his forgettable performances since he decided to scratch his itch.

From "The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle" (2000) to "Men of Honor" (2000) to "15 Minutes" (2001) to "The Score" (2001) to "Showtime" (2002) to "City by the Sea" (2002) to "Godsend" (2004) to "Hide & Seek" (2005) to "Stardust" (2007) to "Righteous Kill" (2008).

If you look closer at these films, you will notice that not all of them are comedies, some are thrillers, some are fantasy films, etc.

But they all have one-common-denominator.

Plot-driven.

Look closer at De Niro's unforgettable performances. For the most part, all character-driven.

Another factor? Marty.

Out of those 11 Unforgettable Performances, 6 were directed by Marty.

The Marty Factor. They had their own cinematic shorthand language. They knew how far each could be pushed. They were blood brothers. They brought out the best in each other.

After "Casino" (1995), Marty and De Niro went their separate ways.

Was their a rift between the dynamic duo?

I don't think so. Marty was trying out new stuff, "Kundun" (1997), "My Voyage to Italy" (1999), "Bringing out the Dead" (1999).

Meanwhile, De Niro was being sold down the golden river.

They couldn't get on the same page. Marty then made "Gangs of New York" (2002) and "The Aviator" (2004). Daniel Day-Lewis was perfect as Bill The Butcher and there was absolutely no role for De Niro in "The Aviator".

And Marty already had De Niro's replacement in Leonardo DiCaprio.

The New Dynamic Duo was born.

They had one more opportunity in "The Departed" (2006). Marty offered De Niro the role of Frank Costello. Unfortunately, De Niro declined the offer because he was knee-deep in directing "The Good Shepherd". The role of Costello eventually went to Jack Nicholson.

De Niro made a desperate decision and starred opposite Al Pacino in "Righteous Kill" (2008), a lame attempt for both men, to return to their tough-guy roles. It was a failed experiment.

And it looks like De Niro is not stopping there. He is attached to star in "Frankie Machine" (2010), pairing himself up with Michael Mann again. It feels like another painful attempt to recapture his former glory...

"An ex mob hit man (De Niro) living in rural comfort is lured back into his former profession by the scheming son of a Mafia Don."

Originally, this had Marty directing and De Niro starring. This was the film. This was the return of the dynamic duo.

Then it all fell apart. Marty dropped the film and made "Shutter Island" (2009) instead, again with Leo.

Wait, wait, wait. Back-up. Take a look at the log-line of "Frankie Machine."

Do you see what I'm seeing? Can you read between the lies?

Shouldn't it read:

"An ex-A-list-actor (De Niro) living a rural comfort is lured back into his former profession by the scheming director Michael Mann."

Finally, look closer at the title pictures above.

De Niro as Jake LaMotta (young & skinny, old & fat).

These two pictures are a perfect example of De Niro's decline and fall.

De Niro was once the ferocious, raging, pull-no-punches, younger Jake LaMotta. He was an absolute bull. He was a force of nature. A freakin' hurricane. He became that character. He lived it. He breathed it. He would ask his brother, with a straight-face, "Did you fuck my wife?" and then he would beat the shit out of him in front of his wife and kids because he wasn't convinced.

Then, later in his career, De Niro became the hefty, has-been, soft, older Jake LaMotta. He was washed-up. Punch-drunk. Desperately doing any gig he could get. Reciting Shakespeare, making crude jokes. He became that fat-man, puffing on a cigar, looking into a mirror, and pathetically imitating Marlon Brando's character from "On the Waterfront" (1954).

From Robert to Bob.

From A-List to C-List.

From Travis Bickle to Fearless Leader.

From Character to Caricature.

The Actor Formerly Known as Robert De Niro.