Fallen Idol

The movie is called '' Killer Elite''. It sat on the shelf next to all of the new movie releases. The film came out at this time last year and barely made a ripple with audiences. Just another in a long line of mindless action movies. That is fine with me, for audiences need mindless entertainment along with meaningful statements. Not every film should be art-house films for the elite. I enjoy mindless entertainment like everybody else. The problem with this film is that one of its stars sticks out. His name is Robert DeNiro. And, what is disquieting about seeing his name in a movie like this is that it is just another example of a sad string of bad movie choices by this once great actor.... Robert DeNiro exploded on the national scene in the early 1970's. It was the last Golden Era for moviemaking. After liberating the movies from the previous censorship of Hollywood past, suddenly a new era of daring, controversial, in-your-face style of cinema arrived. Subjects tackled at this time were given a freedom that had not existed before. The shackles were off the filmmakers: now you could do whatever you wanted and express it the proper way. Basically put, real life came out of the closet and flaunted itself royally to the masses. A new kind of actor was also needed to be the ''channel'' from the filmmaker to the audience. An average everyman who didn't look or sound like a movie star. Dustin Hoffman was the first to arrive way back in 1967 with ''The Graduate''. Gene Hackman came on his heels with his blistering supporting role in ''Bonnie and Clyde''. Jack Nicholson roared into the public's mind at the back of a motorcycle in ''Easy Rider''. Robert Duvall had been kicking around Hollywood for over a decade scratching to get in the door. He finally did with a role in ''The Godfather'', which also introduced another ''everyman'' looking actor, Al Pacino. Finally, the puzzle was completed in 1973 when a small movie named ''Mean Streets'' showed up by a promising director named Martin Scorsese. In this film, there is the role of Johnny-Boy, a crazy, neurotic street kid. He has a temper like a firecracker, and, is not afraid to display it. This was the role that made Hollywood pay strong attention to this new actor. A kid named DeNiro..... The emotional range that DeNiro showed in acting was also on display in another small movie at this time, ''Bang The Drum Slowly'', the story of two baseball friends. One friend is dying. DeNiro played the doomed catcher. If you need an example of this man's acting range look at these two films. One film he is a psycho, another a simple man slowly dying. One film shocks in its intensity, the other pulls at your heartstrings. That is the magic of movies: to manuevers one's emotions. DeNiro was ''channeling'' the raw power of acting that his idol, Marlon Brando had pioneered early in his career. It was called ''Method Acting'', but, I have always called it ''Real-Life'' acting, for the situations and behavior reflect all of us if we were experiencing the same circumstances.... After ''Mean Streets'', Hollywood came to DeNiro's door. Francis Ford Coppola cast him as the young Vito Corleone in ''The Godfather, Part Two''. DeNiro won the best supporting Oscar for his portrayal. From then on he wrote his own meal ticket. The list of his  70's - 80' films is staggering in its quality: ''Taxi Driver'', ''The Deer Hunter'', ''Raging Bull'', ''The King Of Comedy'', ''Once Upon A Time In America'', ''Angel Heart'', ''The Untouchables'', and ''Midnight Run'', all testify to this man's diversity and fully-matured talent. As a young man driven to be an actor at this time, I can honestly say he was the template for all of us starting out. He was, first of all, a man who ignored the enticements of fame and fortune. He wasn't in the gossip columns much [ except for the story of him being with his friend John Belushi the night before Belushi's death ], he kept his private life private. That earned all of our respect in the struggling actors ranks. One of the things all actors like to do is imitate their favorite scenes from their favorite movies. All great actors, from Spencer Tracy on to Sean Penn, have those moments, but, the DeNiro movie moments always caused a stir. Perhaps, it would be the famous ''Are You Talking To Me?'', speech to the mirror in ''Taxi Driver''. Or, the Russian Roulette scene from ''The Deer Hunter''. But, the crowning achievement imitations would always come from''Raging Bull'', the film that is by common consensus, the greatest movie in DeNiro's career. He famously gained 60 pounds for some of the scenes as washed-up fighter Jake LaMotta. His moments with the superb, and underrated actor, Joe Pesci, are what should be shown in acting classes. Witness the scene where they are fixing the TV set. DeNiro is trying to find out if his brother is sleeping with DeNiro's wife. The battering back and forth between the two-- so similiar to boxers battering back and forth in the ring--- make for priceless movie magic. Most of the scene was improvised and refined by the time the camera started shooting. But, DeNiro, genius in character, still throws Pesci curves in the scene. There is a close-up of Pesci reacting to the charge of sleeping with his sister-in law. It is a genuine reaction because DeNiro, off-camera, said something foul about Pesci's mother. Joe Pesci's reaction is perfect, as what DeNiro thought it would be when he said the line. The instincts and understanding of Robert DeNiro, performer, were on display in every facet of this movie-- and, all his movies during this extraordinary run of films. No one could touch him onscreen.... DeNiro started off the 1990's strong with ''Goodfellas'' and ''Awakenings''. He continued to show his range, and, maybe, come full circle a little. One story was about about a crazy hoodlum, the other about a comatose patient brought back to life for a short period. Then, his choices became more harder to accept. He overacted embarrassingly in ''Cape Fear''. He played a drab casino owner in ''Casino''. He sparkled in a few scenes in ''Heat''. Then, he discovered comedy. By this time, DeNiro was in his mid-50's and was indeed slowly down. No longer was he the Young Turk actor. He was mellowing and it showed on-screen. Comedy seemed to become his fortress from his working too hard. This is not to demean some of his comedy efforts. The comedy ''Analyze This'' was great fun poking at his most famous characters. Unfortunately, it started a cycle downhill that he has never recovered from. He plays two distinct roles now -- the criminal and the parody of the criminal. For some time, this was ok. I was holding my breath waiting for him to go back to his strengths... I guess I am tired of holding my breath. It is time to exhale. I have to be careful about my expectations from my favorite actors. I know they are aged and do not have the energy to do the great work they once did. I lowered the bar on all of them. The movie business now is very different than the business back in their prime. It is all one movie idea now and even the greats are swept up in the mediocrity. Some like Hackman simply retire with the knowledge that they have done their work and nothing more needs to be said. Some like Hoffman and Duvall seek out the smaller roles that are interesting. Nicholson plays by his own rules-- whenever he wants to say something he will come down from Mulholland Drive and say it. Pacino still seems in fine form, with only an occasional misfire. That leaves DeNiro. He cranks out the movies left and right, but, they are just sad reminders that he is just a shell of his former self. It pains me to write these words, as I have said, he was the ''God'' to all of us actors way back in the old days. I'm rooting for him to ring the bell one more time and knock us on our asses. It will show the younger audiences, who only know him from the ''Meet The Fockers'' type of drivel, what a great actor he is.... In 1997, Robert DeNiro appeared in a small role in Quentin Tarantino's movie ''Jackie Brown''. It was nothing to write home about, but, it least, it wasn't embarrasing. At one point, Samuel L. Jackson shoots him in a car. While DeNiro is bleeding, Sam Jackson says , ''What happened to you, man? Your ass used to be beautiful''..... Yes, at one time, he was the beautiful....