#228. Robert DeNiro

We all know Robert DeNiro’s acting career is practically synonymous with the films directed by Martin Scorsese. Movies like Mean Streets (1973), Taxi Driver (1976), Raging Bull (1980), Goodfellas (1990), and Casino (1995) all helped establish Robert DeNiro as a de-facto mafia character actor. While he has used this to his benefit, the acting skills of DeNiro are much more varied than a flat, archetypical Mafioso. And while his career has followed a somewhat similar path to Christopher Walken, in that he had more serious roles earlier in his career, only to now play in more slapstick comedies, both men have been successful in their own rights. This week’s two films highlight some different roles Robert DeNiro has performed apart from the classic mobster roles: from stoic to silly.

The Deer Hunter
Year: 1978
Rating: R
Length: 183 minutes / 3.05 hours

The heyday of Robert DeNiro’s career was definitely in the mid-1970s to early-1980s. By the time he appeared in The Deer Hunter (1978), he had already won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as Vito Corleone in The Godfather: Part II (1974). Before he was nominated for Best Actor in the 1978 Best Picture winner, he was also nominated for Best Actor in the aforementioned Taxi Driver (1976). And while he has received nominations for Best Actor in Awakenings (1990) and Cape Fear (1991), as well as Best Supporting Actor in Silver Linings Playbook (2012), his only other win has come through his long-time collaborator, Martin Scorsese. Raging Bull (1980) saw DeNiro acting at his best and Scorsese directing at his best. Still, The Deer Hunter was an important step for Robert DeNiro to eventually claim that gold statue.

The titular Deer Hunter is none other than Mike Vronsky (Robert DeNiro), a young man who lives in Pennsylvania with his two friends, Nick Chebotarevich (Christopher Walken) and Steven Pushkov (John Savage). Mike holds to the hunting mantra of “one-shot,” and kills a deer with a single bullet on a hunting trip before the three friends are shipped off to the Vietnam War. Years later, they find themselves in a prison camp where the guards force the prisoners to play Russian roulette. In a risky move, Mike plays a round with three bullets and manages to take down his captors and escape. Another few years pass and Mike finds that Stephen has returned home, but Nick has not. Tracing Nick’s whereabouts, Mike ends up in Saigon right before its fall, finding Nick playing Russian roulette for money. Unfortunately, “one-shot” is all it takes to settle things between the two of them.

Brazil
Year: 1985
Rating: R
Length: 132 minutes / 2.2 hours

While some actors can take their craft very seriously, Robert DeNiro seems to have fun with it. Of course, with as many violent and intense films as he has been in, it is refreshing to see him in some minor, bit parts that don’t revolve around the mafia. One such example is that of “Captain Shakespeare” in the 2007 fantasy film, Stardust, wherein the flying pirate puts on a tough exterior for his men while hiding a sensitive, sophisticated, and intelligent inner core. These roles are often funny, playing on DeNiro’s dry comedic timing, no doubt enhanced by the plethora of mobster roles he has had to perform in the past. In the case of Brazil (1985), DeNiro actually wanted a bigger part but was rebuffed into a smaller role because the character he wanted to play was already promised to a long-time collaborator of the director.

Archibald Tuttle (Robert DeNiro) is a heating engineer who works by his own rules. Unfortunately, this leads to him being labeled as a terrorist by the government. Through a mistake made by a misprinted form, a Mr. Archibald Buttle is taken away, and Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) is sent to investigate the error. While there, he runs across Jill Layton (Kim Greist), a woman who bears a striking resemblance to the damsel in distress who regularly appears in Sam’s daydreams. It is around this time when Tuttle appears and helps Sam escape two agents from Central Services. Things spiral out of control for Sam as he tries to learn more about Jill. Because of the misuse of his position, Sam is strapped in a chair and tortured by his friend, Jack Lint (Michael Palin) until Tuttle arrives and saves him. Of course, as the film ends, the audience finds that not all was as it seemed.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 delightful DeNiro roles

Bacon #: 1 (Sleepers / Kevin Bacon)

#056. Danger Drivers!

Question: what is the most dangerous part of your job? For most of us, it’s not the ergonomic stress on our bodies or even the slipping hazard from that coffee spill in the break room, but instead the drive to and from work each day. After all, let’s face it, EVERYONE’S town has the worst drivers. Just getting on the road with people who will text, make phone calls, eat, or do any number of distracting activities while driving terrifies me, that’s for sure. Each day, as I get to my cubicle or walk in my front door, I’ll mutter to myself, “Well boys, we cheated death again.” And yet, how much more dangerous would your job be if your career was comprised entirely of driving? Sometimes the people on the road aren’t the only hazards one has to deal with when getting behind the wheel for the daily grind. This week’s two films focus on feats of endurance and skill needed to perform these dangerous driving duties.

Taxi Driver
Year: 1976
Rating: R
Length: 113 minutes / 1.88 hours

Having never actually ridden in a taxi, I can only speculate, but I for one would rather walk to my destination than take a cab. There seem to be too many risks for the convenience of getting where I need to go expediently (even with the minimal chance of getting in the Cash Cab). Let’s just say that many stereotypes surround taxis, not only for their drivers but for their fares as well. While the fares are usually drunk, in a hurry, or both, the taxi drivers are uncouth, foreign, and the worst/fastest drivers imaginable. Of course, these are merely stereotypes perpetuated over the years. Nonetheless, most taxis rarely visit the nice parts of town, which just adds another layer of danger upon the already dangerous job of a taxi driver.

Only one type of person would willingly take the night shift as a taxi driver. There’s a certain unwholesomeness to those who need cab service in the wrong part of New York in the wee hours of the morning. And yet, Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) suffers from insomnia due to his involvement in the Vietnam War. As such, he has decided that the best way to use his condition is to work during the times he cannot sleep. Unfortunately for those who make up the seedy part of New York, Travis has a lot of pent up aggression just waiting to get out. After seeing so much injustice, he takes it upon himself to dole out some vigilante justice on the early morning streets. After all, he just wants to know, “You talkin’ to me? Then who the hell else are you talkin’ to?”

The Wages of Fear
Year: 1953
Rating: Not Rated
Length: 131 minutes / 2.18 hours

If you think about it, being an astronaut is perhaps the most dangerous profession imaginable. To get to outer space, one has to strap themselves to a pile of explosives nearly 40 stories high and light the fuse. Seriously. However, that’s a more controlled explosion than if you were taking two one-ton truckloads of nitroglycerin through the mountains to blow out an oil rig fire. At least when you’re going to space, you can let the explosives explode. The Wages of Fear (1953) is perhaps the most intense and nerve-racking film about driving ever created. I, for one, no longer complain about potholes like I used to after watching this movie. In fact, I feel we are very blessed for the paved bliss we get to drive on every day.

Imagine the scene: you’re hanging out in some South American town, just waiting for a gig that will get you enough money for your next drink while you wait for the job that would get you out of poverty. Then a few oilmen come with a proposition. They need four drivers to take two trucks into the mountains to blow out an oil rig fire. Each day the fire rages, they lose a lot of money, so they are willing to pay very handsomely for the service of these drivers. However, to get to the fire quickly would require the right equipment. In this case, we have two old, beat up trucks with no shocks that are now carrying enough nitroglycerin to demolish a small village. With the mountainous roads being less than ideal, one small jolt could make the difference between a huge payout or death itself.

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 fatal fields of employment  

#055. Jodie Foster

Often, certain actors or actresses get pigeonholed into certain roles. They play one character very well in one movie and are thereafter typecast as that type of character. While it is unfortunate, Jodie Foster is one of these actresses. If you were to ask a random person on the street the first Jodie Foster film they could think of, most often the film named is in the thriller genre. Much like Jamie Lee Curtis, who essentially founded the classic horror genre, Jodie Foster was a protagonist in many thriller-type movies, like Panic Room (2002) or Flightplan (2005). Not that there is anything wrong with these films, it’s just that she’s been acting for nearly her whole life. One would assume people could, at the very least, name a movie she was in that she actually won an award for. This week’s two films look at an Oscar-worthy performance, as well as a nomination that would propel a young actress (at the time) toward the career she has today.

The Silence of the Lambs
Year: 1991
Rating: R
Length: 118 minutes / 1.96 hours

If I were to pinpoint where Jodie Foster became synonymous with thriller heroines, it would have to be in The Silence of the Lambs (1991). Not only is her character strong and independent as a young FBI agent, but the antagonists she is put up against are some of the most memorable in cinema. It’s no wonder that she won her second Oscar (the first for Best Actress in 1988’s The Accused) for her role as Clarice Starling, which is placed at #6 of the top 100 heroes in American cinema (mere places behind The Silence of the Lambs‘ villain, Dr. Hannibal Lecter). Speaking of Hannibal Lecter, Anthony Hopkins won a Best Actor Oscar for his role as the cannibalistic killer. In fact, The Silence of the Lambs is only one of three films to have won “The Big Five Academy Awards,” which are Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay (adapted by Ted Tally).

Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is not going to let the fact that she is young or a woman deter her from being the best FBI agent she can be. When she becomes involved with a case to track down and capture a serial killer who targets women and removes their skin, she calls upon the knowledge and experience of a former psychiatrist, Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Unfortunately, Hannibal is in jail for being a cannibalistic serial killer. Clarice slowly gets Hannibal to give her insight, but at a price that Dr. Lecter has calculated to his advantage. With a better knowledge of the madman she is trying to find, Clarice soon finds herself uncomfortably close to a man who would love nothing more than to kill her and add her skin to his sick and twisted collection.

Taxi Driver
Year: 1976
Rating: R
Length: 113 minutes / 1.88 hours

While The Silence of the Lambs has ranked as high as #65 on the American Film Institute’s Top 100 lists, Taxi Driver (1976) has placed as high as #47. Even though she was only nominated for an Oscar for her role in this film, one must realize that she was only 13 when Taxi Driver was released. If her first nomination here proved anything, it was that Jodie Foster would eventually develop into a truly Oscar-worthy actress. Of course, with films like Rocky (1976) and Network (1976) out in the same year, Taxi Driver didn’t win any of its four nominations, even Best Picture or Best Actor (Robert DeNiro). However, that does not make this film any less significant in Jodie Foster’s career. After all, the role she had in Taxi Driver was no easy role to play, especially for one as young as she was.

War affects many of us, but perhaps the hardest hit are the soldiers themselves. It can be difficult to readjust to a normal life after being away at war for so long. No conflict epitomizes this reality more than the Vietnam War. Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) is just such a soldier. Due to insomnia obtained from damage to his mental state, he finds the best job for someone in his condition: Taxi Driver. Not only does it mean he has to stay awake for long periods of time, but it allows him to work out some pent up aggression on some of the many lowlifes one comes across when picking up fares. In an unintended turn of events, Travis finds a teenage prostitute by the name of Iris (Jodie Foster), who he takes it upon himself to protect. After all, he fought for her freedom in Vietnam, so why shouldn’t he fight for it in New York?

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 Jodie Foster feats

Bacon #: 2 (Svengali / Holly Hunter -> End of the Line / Kevin Bacon)

#022. Martin Scorsese

There are times when the Academy Awards don’t really make much sense. I suppose that’s why they call them “upsets.” Many years, there will be a film that stands out, but it ends up being snubbed by the Academy. Of course, this means that the director who should have earned it that year, ends up winning the next year for a film that isn’t quite as good, thereby perpetuating the cycle. At any rate, I feel Martin Scorsese is one of those directors who put out a lot of great films, which resulted in his being nominated for Best Director, only to lose to someone else year after year. From 1980 to 2005, Scorsese films were nominated for Best Director six times. It wasn’t until Scorsese’s 2006 film, The Departed, that he finally obtained that gold statuette. Of course, having seen the other films he was nominated for, I feel there were many that were much better than The Departed. This week’s two movies highlight some gems of Scorcese’s career.

Goodfellas
Year: 1990
Rating: R
Length: 146 minutes / 2.43 hours

Two of the themes that Scorsese uses time and again are The Mafia and New York (see Gangs of New York (2002)). Of course, it’s somewhat easy to understand, since whenever anyone thinks of the mafia in America, they generally think of New York. And yet, while The Departed finally won him the Oscar for Best Director, I feel Goodfellas (1990) is a much better mafia film. There are a few reasons for this feeling, including a simpler and more classic plot-line, as well as more memorable scenes and quotations. Of course, there could be a few reasons that Scorsese and Goodfellas lost out to Kevin Costner and Dances with Wolves (1990) for Best Director (and Best Picture, respectively). The most probable theory in my mind is that Francis Ford Coppola‘s The Godfather: Part III (1990) split the mafia vote.

While Scorsese has been nominated for Best Director multiple times, Goodfellas is one of the two times he was nominated for Best Writing.  #92 on AFI’s Top 100, Goodfellas is one of the quintessential gangster films. The plot follows Henry Hill (Ray Liotta) as he becomes more and more involved in his dream job: gangster. Robert DeNiro portrays James “Jimmy” Conway (based on real-life gangster Jimmy Burke) who becomes the close friend and crime partner to Liotta’s Hill. The cast starts to get into trouble when the mob begins dealing drugs, making everyone a little bit paranoid. Conway testifies against the mob and winds up in the Witness Protection Program as Hill just wants to live a normal life.

Raging Bull
Year: 1980
Rating: R
Length: 129 minutes / 2.15 hours

Another commonality between Scorsese films is Robert DeNiro. Martin Scorcese has a knack for directing gritty mob-related films just as well as Robert DeNiro has a knack for playing gritty, mob-related characters. Besides the aforementioned Goodfellas, DeNiro has also appeared in Taxi Driver (1976), which garnered him a Best Actor nomination. However, DeNiro did eventually win Best Actor for his role in Raging Bull (1980). Raging Bull was Scorsese’s first Directing nomination from the Academy, which set him toward a 25-year career of not actually winning said award. As was the case with Goodfellas, Raging Bull lost out to actor-turned-director Robert Redford‘s Ordinary People (1980) for the distinction of Best Picture (as well as Best Director).

Raging Bull is placed at #4 on AFI’s top 100 list, as well as being the #1 sports movie designated by the same institute. What’s interesting is that DeNiro wanted to collaborate with Scorsese on this film, and had to convince the director, instead of the other way around. DeNiro portrays Jake LaMotta, a boxer who rises through the ranks of middleweight boxing. Now, boxing is a very violent sport, but Scorsese manages to make the bouts as brutal as they are beautiful. Unfortunately, as we follow Jake’s personal life, the audience finds out that he can’t keep it in the ring, as he also fights with his wife and brother. Eventually, all good things come to an end, and Jake’s ending is as a lounge act quoting Marlon Brando (from On the Waterfront (1954)).

2 sum it up: 2 films, 2 Scorsese snubs

Bacon #: 2 (Taxi Driver / Robert DeNiro -> Sleepers / Kevin Bacon)