Photo: Focus Features
What the hell? The Coen brothers score No. 1 and their biggest box-office opening ever ($19.4 million) with Burn After Reading, a movie that most critics rated "meh." I still hold that a middling outing from the Coens is worth more a hit from a hack (hello, Tyler Perry). What really burns me is that a hunk of cinematic excrement like John Avnet's Righteous Kill can actually amass $16.5 million despite crushing reviews and a trailer that lets you know exactly what kind of junk it is. Is it residual affection for the star shine of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino? Many reviews of Righteous Kill argue that De Niro and Pacino haven't made a good film in decades. So I've put together a test. Below is a list of films that De Niro and Pacino made just in this decade so far, 13 each. Look and weep or cheer. Check out the list, then we'll talk.
ROBERT DE NIRO
Righteous Kill (2008)
Stardust (2007)
The Good Shepherd (2006)
Hide and Seek (2005)
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (2005)
Godsend (2004)
Meet the Fockers (2004)
Analyze That (2002)
City By the Sea (2002)
Showtime (2002)
15 Minutes (2001)
The Score (2001)
Meet the Parents (2000)
AL PACINO
Righteous Kill (2008)
88 Minutes (2008)
Ocean's Thirteen (2007)
Two for the Money (2005)
The Merchant of Venice (2004)
Angels in America (2003)
Gigli (2003)
People I Know (2003)
Stuck on You (2003)
The Recruit (2003)
Insomnia (2002)
Simone (2002)
Chinese Coffee (2000)
De Niro earns points for the failed but fascinating The Good Shepherd, which he also directed, and The Score, just for watching him act with Marlon Brando. And don't say watching him act with Pacino in Righteous Kill should also count (that wasn't acting, it was shameless showing off). Meet the Parents was certainly better than its boorish sequel Meet the Fockers. The others? They were not merely beneath him, they were beneath contempt. To watch him with Dakota Fanning in Hide & Seek is to see a legend brought low.
Pacino was brilliant and then some as lawyer Roy Cohn in Angels in America, but that was for TV. He was also memorable as Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, if anyone had remembered to see it. And he was superb as a dark knight of a cop for director Christopher Nolan in Insomnia. But the rest offered Shouty Al histrionics that verged on self parody. Gigli was a famous flop, and 88 Minutes, from the same director of Righteous Kill (did Pacino not learn to steer clear?) marked a career nadir. But three solid turns in three risky movies win the day over a series of De Niro paycheck performances.
Agree? Disagree? Pick the best and worst movie each actor starred in this decade. Now's your chance to roll.
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Erik Schwob | September 24, 2008 1:25 PM
I have to give the nod to Pacinio for drama, DeNiro for comedy. Meet The Parents is a comedy classic, Insomnia is fantastic film noir. But looking at those duds, its obvious these guys in the millenium just either don't read the scripts and collect the paychecks or feel they can phone in a performence on name value.
Phelgmingway | September 24, 2008 10:57 AM
I just read Jeff's comments and he's dead on.
Deniro-Scorcese
Pacino-Lumet
That might be the cure for what ails these two actor's careers. A jump start that might get them on a roll. "Before the Devil Knows Your Dead" was excellent. I'd highly recommend it! And I've been waiting to see Deniro and Scorcese together again since "Cape Fear" (I never saw "Casino").
Phlegmingway | September 24, 2008 10:46 AM
Travers pretty much nails it with his assessment. I don't know how the two actors that I respected the most in the 1970's and 1980's -the ones that seemed to define integrity in thier craft-
could now be the ones with so little credibiltiy and self-respect.
And just as I'm writing this in my local coffee shop...in the background, right on cue, is "Cavatina", the theme from "Deer Hunter". I still think that's Deniro's best performance.
basser | September 19, 2008 9:38 PM
I don't think it's really Pacino and DeNiro who are the villains here - at least not in full. A great script, a great director and a great cast make a great movie. Pacino and DeNiro can act their hearts out, but if the script is a stinker, or they aren't led strongly by a very good director, then it's not completely DeNiro's and Pacino's fault. I know they might take some of the blame, but a turd of a movie can't be solely blamed on the actor. The screenwriters and directors and producers also must share in the shame ...
emanuel frantzeskakis | September 18, 2008 3:08 AM
too bad for both deniro and pacino. just saw rightous kill and what can i say. they looked like they retired from the nyc police deoartment 20 years ago.
The Truth | September 17, 2008 2:11 PM
Gotta go back to "The Insider" for Pacino's last great film role. Great movie, great performances by Pacino, as well as Crowe and Christopher Plummer.
Blake | September 17, 2008 9:14 AM
I thought Insomnia was one of the most intelligent, respectful, adult thrillers of the past decade, and that owes a great deal to Pacino (not to slight Robin Williams or Hillary Swank). It's easily Nolan's best movie. Also, The Recruit may not have been brilliant, but it was a lot of fun. Surely that counts for something?
RLEe | September 16, 2008 5:50 PM
When I can tell that a movie is garbage, I steer clear. Hence, I have seen almost none of these films. Looks like 21st-century De Niro peaked at the very beginning.
Jeff | September 16, 2008 5:05 PM
I like seeing the Jack Nicholson comparison earlier because there is one actor who has had great roles in the last 10 years (About Schmidt, the Departed) that fit with age. I think maybe if Deniro gets back together with Scorsese for a great role that might be the only chance he still has to revive his carrer. Al Pacino maybe can do one with Sydney Lemut who proved he still had it with Before the Devil Knows Your Dead. Even if these reunions don't work I would be very interested in seeing them. I would really just like to see these guys take risks again!!
Miss Dorothy Mantooth | September 16, 2008 4:05 PM
Wow, I had no idea until I saw the list what little I've enjoyed from either one in the last 8 years. Only Meet the Parents in truly memorable to me, and Insomnia was great acting, though not a success.
It looks like we need to re evaluate their reputations as current cinematic royalty. Past? Absolutely. Present? Not so much.
lukeee | September 16, 2008 3:09 PM
Insomnia is a great movie. It is true that he is more interesting in the restrained roles. Insomnia sort of took the cliche Pacino and uses it to its advantage by completely reversing it, setting up an even more intrigueing, suprising, character.
Jonathan | September 16, 2008 2:06 PM
Peter, have you seen the new brazilian movie Elite Squad? It´s like City of God, so I think you´re gonna enjoy it.
Andrew D | September 16, 2008 12:39 PM
What about Pacino's People I Know?
Sure, nobody saw it..but his desperately tragic press agent...Eli something or other..was superb.
dryer | September 16, 2008 12:11 PM
Its funny that both actors last great movie came within 3 years at the start of the millineum (15MINUTES & INSOMNIA). That they both continue to this Brando-esque path into obscurity is frankly sad and unnerving. Do we have any real icons of cinema left ? Im afraid the system is bound to canabalize itself if the art itself isnt respected by its elders.
logan | September 16, 2008 11:55 AM
de niro's last good part was in jackie brown and that was in 97.
your mom | September 16, 2008 11:28 AM
I point to the case of Gene Hackman. He said in an interview that he only works now if they can pay him. And now you never see him in films. The best movies right now are independent ones. DeNiro and Pacino are a bit too old for some of the best studio roles, and the inedependents, I'm sure, don't want to pay them what they're worth, so I'm sure they're stuck. Older actress can still get work, it's whether or not they can get the "star" treatment which they think they deserve on a film. I wonder if there's a bit of this with these two actors.
To be fair, I think Pacino has acknowledged that the quality of the script is inversely proportioned to the amount of money being offered (less money=better script). So except for comic book films, studios dont' seem to cut the mustard with they're big budget productions any more, because they have to test them for likeability above all.
It's everyone's problem, is what I'm trying to write.
morgan | September 16, 2008 10:22 AM
I agree.....it made my day to hear the audience gasping at the sudden brutal violence....
...but it was definintley a good gasp !
IF only no country could have pulled in this money...
erik | September 16, 2008 9:27 AM
i cant undrestand what are you people talking about , these two iconic actors deliever an outstanding performence in each film they make!
granted ,it cant be all scarface or goodfellas but compared to the leading men in the industry today , no one can touch them !!!
Joe | September 16, 2008 5:48 AM
Henry Fonda, who worked almost until the day he died, made his share of clunkers (anybody remember "The Swarm?"). However, late in his career he also made "Once Upon a Time in the West," one of his best. We keep going because we keep hoping that we'll see a "Donnie Brasco" or a "Good Shepherd" and we remember why De Niro and Pacino are so good. We know what they're capable of and we hope for the best, and get disappointed because the movies aren't up to snuff. Remember, De Niro directed his best performance in a long time in the "Good Shepherd," and Pacino had to play a character nobody else would touch in "Merchant of Venice." We expect too much from them, and are disappointed when they don't do the Godfather and Raging Bull every time out. The sad state of Hollywood movies ensures that we'll still go see them hoping for something approaching their past glories.
Terry McCarty | September 16, 2008 3:47 AM
Where does De Niro's performance as an Art Linson-esque movie producer in Barry Levinson's WHAT JUST HAPPENED? rank on his recent career spectrum?
Anonymous | September 16, 2008 2:04 AM
al pacinos worst are:
s1mone, the recruit and gigli ...
best are:///// none
deniros worst are:
showtime, analyze that
best: good shepherd
Mandela | September 16, 2008 12:29 AM
15 Minutes and Insomnia are the only movies from the last decade of their work that I feel deserve to stand aside eaches classics. Beyond that, The Recruit, Meet the Parents/Fokkers, Analyze This all qualify as decent to good movies that aren't shameful additions to their resume. Everything else reads like the movie choices that Rottentomatoes.com is mulling over with lesser actors contemplating what wrong (Cuba Gooding Jr. and Wesley Snipes for instance). At least Pacino is still acting, even if he really just hams it up these days. Deniro has not even tried since Flawless in the 90's.
Arijit | September 15, 2008 11:57 PM
Why blame only them? Look at the quality of scripts and directors these days. All the movie industry wants to do is score a box office hit with crappy crowdpullers and rehashes. These are guys who deliver with great scripts. GIVE THEM SOMETHING GOOD!! Wake up Hollywood!
Anthony | September 15, 2008 11:13 PM
i'll go as far as to say that personally i haven't really enjoyed any of their movies since "Heat", Pacino especially I have lost interest in as I'm just tired of his onscreen antics, I wish he'd do a film where he would act the way he did in the early yrs
Mark | September 15, 2008 9:46 PM
As a fan of these two great actors, I've been disappointed by a lot of their choices these past few years. At least Pacino, when he overacts, is still fun to watch ("Devil's Advocate"), but watching DeNiro lately is just painful. I dont know if its simply bad choices, bad advice or just laziness...but both should take a look at Jack Nicholson and see how he's turned his "Golden" age into some of the
best work of his career. Continuing to challenge himself and reinvent himself ("Bucket List" not withstanding)...maybe that would inspire them.
Me-two | September 15, 2008 9:00 PM
Robert Deniro's greatest role was the gay pirate in Stardust
Edogg | September 15, 2008 8:26 PM
I have to agree with Travers. But I do think DeNiro's performance in Meet the Parents was a career high in his comedy routine. Meet the Parents is hysterical because of the interplay between Stiller and DeNiro. However, I am getting sick of Al doing the "Al Pacino Show" in all of his movies. He's best when he's understated like in Angels and Insomnia.
Homestar | September 15, 2008 7:44 PM
I'm just happy 'Burn After Reading' topped the box office, but then again when you advertise the movie as a comedy (despite the fact it's directed by the screwball Coens) with George Clooney and Brad Pitt every middle aged woman will drag their husbands to see it.
I was surprised to find the whole theatre laughing when I went, as I assumed it would be typical Coen brothers comedy that most people don't enjoy or find funny. As I expected though, a few people gasped when the violence switch flipped on (which I'm sure they didn't expect since half of the audience are people that sit through medicore comedies such as the love guru and any recent film starring Adam Sandler).
Smitty | September 15, 2008 7:33 PM
Neocons beware, these are the consequences of privatized social security.
miles snow | September 15, 2008 4:26 PM
I have yet to see "Righteous Kill" but I have to agree that Pacino and DeNiro have been coasting more often than not within the past 15 years or so. DeNiro hasn't really given a great performance since Michael Mann's "Heat" which was way back in 1995. It was a physically commanding performance that seemed like a masterclass in how to underplay. Since then he has taking on a series of films that have failed to really challenge him as an actor and it seems like he has been mugging through them simply for the paycheck.
Pacino will occasionally deliver the goods as he did in "Angels in America" and "Insomnia" as Travers mentioned. He allowed himself to fit comfortably into character in both films and his best moments as Roy Cohn and Will Dormer were when he wasn't saying or doing anything...when Al chooses to become restrained he becomes much more interesting to watch. More than that though, I think that Pacino's biggest problem is simply in his film choices. He needs to stop working with directors like John Avnet and go more with guys like Chris Nolan or Mike Nichols (gifted actors directors who seem to know how to motivate and really push him).
DeNiro needs to find something to do with Martin Scorsese again.....those two haven't worked together since "Casino" and they are both due for a collaboration. I think DeNiro is still capable of doing great work if a truly great role came his way and Marty could be the man to find him one.
brett | September 15, 2008 4:00 PM
They just dont CARE anymore.
Theyre old.