How accurate was De Niro's portrayal of LaMotta in Raging Bull?

^^Great post Jaffay, thanks for linking that, I enjoyed it. I found the stuff from Chartoff especially instructive.

 

you're welcome

 

You calling him a liar?! :fire

The man was a MONSTER and I don't want to read any more words questioning Jake's honesty! :bart

 

Can,I stick my nose in?
DENIRO ,is a great actor ,but I dont think his range is that wide.
I dont think he is particularly effective in comedy,and he is often hammy in it,imo.
In six of the films you selected Deniro played a mobster, hardly varied.
I dont believe he would be credible as a cowboy for example,and he has never attempted the classics.
Contrast his roles with those of some of those that have shared the screen with him,Robert Duvall ,for instance .Sean Penn,Dustin Hoffman.
Deniros obvious predecessor is Brando ,Brando played much more diverse characters,different nationalities ,and even the classics,[Mark Antony].
That doesnt mean that Deniro isnt great ,he clearly is,Spencer Tracy had a narrow range as an actor ,but he was a great one ,imo.
I think there are actors around as good as Deniro ,who has often taken cameo parts ,probably to pay for alimony.Gene Hackman ,for example,and the aforementioned Robert Duvall,Tommy Lee Jones is pretty good too .How about Tom Hanks? He tries different roles ,as does Johnny Depp.

 

I don't know, DeNiro made me laugh like hell in "King of Comedy". Also in, "Night and the City". Even in "Midnight Run", though his role was more of a straight man to ... I just blanked on the other guy, though he grew up no more than two miles from me.... still don't have it... Anyway, DeNiro as a cowboy, that might be a stretch. Though I wouldn't put it beyond him.

CHARLES GRODIN ... a real funny guy.

 

De Niro was brutal in Taxi Driver .... best movie of the 70s

 

You might think I've got my head up way too deep in the man's ass, but I've been watching his films for the past four years now and I sincerely think Mickey Rourke is the best actor out there, and in my mind the best to come after Marlon Brando. I love De Niro just as much as the next guy, I always root for him even in the crap he's been doing lately, but I just think Rourke is much more talented. The one time they starred together in Angel Heart Rourke blew him off the screen in every scene they had.

I don't dispute the fact that the films he's been involved have often fallen short, almost every one of his films has somekind of problem to it, with the notable exceptions being the recent films Sin City and The Wrestler. See his performances in Rumble Fish, The Pope of Greenwich Village, Year of the Dragon, Angel Heart, Barfly and Johnny Handsome, I fell in love with the guy's work.

 

Are YOU Mickey Rourke?

Hey I like him too. I missed him when we hadn't seen much of him for a few years. So whattya think? Where's he go now? It doesn't much matter that he didn't get the Oscar for the Wrestler, right? His comeback is underway. He's got a look now, let's face it, that won't lend to a variety of roles, but he could easily do a few extreme tough guy type things, pick up 15 to 20 million and tell Hollywood to go **** themselves, which I have a hunch is what he wanted to do all along. More power to him.

 

Sweetpea..movie history is studded with the names of great actors with multiple, high level performances in major movies...just right off my head are 2 names..John Wayne and Robert Mitchum..besides the previously named Jimmy Stewart, and referencing just one movie apiece that the three were in, respectively, rivals or surpasses anything DeNiro was ever in, and they are...The Searchers (John Wayne)...The Night of the Hunter (Robert Mitchum) and Anatomy of a Murder (Jimmy Stewart).

 

Never seen those films, but I very seriously doubt they surpass The Godfather II, Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, The Deer Hunter, Once Upon a Time in America, Goodfellas, Heat, Casino, etc. Sorry, but I don't see how you can name an actor who's had a more impressive list of top films.

Granted, I'm a film buff in training and have a long way to go before I'm well-rounded enough to comment on the actors you actors/films are mentioning. But list any actor and their top 10 or so films and see if they surpass De Niro's work. Obviously his versatility is subjective (though I consider him very underrated in that regard), but as far as great films go, what actors have held lead roles in better/more top films?

 

Research, rather, WATCH those films I mentioned and you'll change your mind, or at least give you pause to possibly reconsider..to answer that last question, John Wayne.

 

ROFL Chinxkid I ain't Rourke, the man's had such a bad life I'm glad I'm not him.

You know he's been quite broke ever since quitting the movie business, then not being able to box anymore, he turned down a lot of big Hollywood films back in the day, told a lot of Hollywood insiders to go phuck themselves.

Honestly, I don't like what he is doing with his career now, Iron Man 2 etc. But I think it's important for him to make some money until he goes back to searching for the more challenging roles.

I'd love to see him work with Darren Aronofsky again, I tell you that.

About Robert De Niro, I probably have to agree, no one's had a better resume of films but that doesn't make him a great actor, just tells him how smart he is in picking projects. I'm sure Al Pacino, Dustin Hoffman, Robert Duvall or some of the other 70's old geezers have a great top ten too, one that rivals De Niro's... and Mickey Rourke probably has one of the worst out there of a top actor, but still it's what he does in them, not the films themselves that should "rate" his acting, if we decide to see it that way.

 

Yeah, far be it for me to give Mickey career advice, and farther be it for him to take it from either one of us, but that's just what I'd do if I were him. He may the flavor of the day in Hollywood today, but I'm sure he has not forgotten that not too long ago no one in Tinsel Town had a taste for Rourke, and so it will probably be again. Don't get me wrong, I agree with you 100%, Mickey's a fine actor. I first took notice of him in Body Heat in that small role. I'd never seen him before, but there was something about him that was memorable.

 

Bloody hell !
Admits to two rapes.
Mugging guys when he was old and grey haired ? That's kind of funny. ... unless you're the victim.

Jesus, his best behaviour was probably inside the ring.

 

Agreed .. I've read a lot that he was a real animal back in the day ..