Robert De Niro reminded everyone of how great of an actor he is with the 2019 Martin Scorsese movie The Irishman. The fact that it is a gangster movie should be no surprise to long-time De Niro fans, but some younger fans might be surprised to see such a quality performance from the actor.
That is because Robert De Niro has made more questionable choices over the last two decades than most Oscar-caliber actors. He has sprinkled lowbrow comedies into his filmography over the years and has also been in some lower quality action and horror movies. Here is a look at the five best and five worst films of Robert De Niro's career, based on Rotten Tomatoes'ratings.
Worst: GODSEND (2003) - 4%
In 2003, Robert De Niro signed on to star in a horror movie called Godsend, and it ranks as the worst movie of his career, based on Rotten Tomatoes ratings. Sitting at 4% rotten, the movie stars De Niro as a doctor who offers a family a clone of their deceased eight-year-old son.
As with any movie dealing with cloning, especially with children, the film moved into the morally grey areas of humans creating life. Critics called it a movie full of cheap shocks and murky plotting.
Best: THE GODFATHER, PART II (1974) - 97%
After Francis Ford Coppola helped make Al Pacino a star in The Godfather, he brought on Robert De Niro in The Godfather Part II to portray a young Don Vito Corleone, played in the first movie by Marlon Brando. The film intercuts scenes of De Niro as Don Vito coming to power in the past with Pacino's Michael coming to power in the present day.
While the franchise was still Michael's story, it was De Niro that impressed Oscar voters, winning his first Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Critics loved the film, giving it a 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Worst: THE BRIDGE OF SAN LUIS REY (2005) - 4%
Released in 2005, The Bridge of San Luis Rey was the third adaptation of Thornton Wilder's novel and considered one of the worst. Critics on Rotten Tomatoes gave it a low 4% rotten rating, and fans were not much better, still a rotten score at 36%.
Robert De Niro stars as the Archbishop of Lima in a story where he sends a Franciscan friar (Gabriel Byrne) out to interview people to learn what might have led to the collapse of a bridge that took the lives of five people.
Best: TAXI DRIVER (1976) - 97%
If there is one movie that remains the calling card for Robert De Niro, it is the 1976 masterpiece Taxi Driver. The Martin Scorsese film had De Niro take on the role of a taxi cab driver named Travis Bickle, who is a lonely and depressed New York City resident. He soon becomes obsessed with a campaign manager played by Cybill Shepherd and a teenage prostitute played by Jodie Foster.
The film picked up four Oscar nominations, including one for De Niro for Best Actor in a Leading Role. It was also critically acclaimed, hitting 97% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes.
Worst: NEW YEAR'S EVE (2011) - 7%
Released in 2011, New Year's Eve was an ensemble movie with an all-star cast, but one that critics hated. The film sits at 7% on Rotten Tomatoes, although fans were a little more impressed, even though it still sits at 45% rotten. As the title suggests, the movie follows different characters on New Year's Eve.
With so many actors and celebrities in the movie, no one got a big chance to impress. Robert De Niro took on the role of a man in the final stages of cancer who has refused chemotherapy. His last wish before his death was to see the ball drop one more time on Times Square.
Best: MEAN STREETS (1973) - 97%
While The Godfather Part II earned Robert De Niro his first major awards recognition, it was Mean Streets that unleashed him upon the world. It was De Niro's second movie role in his first year of acting. It was also Martin Scorsese's third directed film and the one that proved he and De Niro were going to be huge stars.
Harvey Keitel stars as Charlie, a young man in New York City who feels responsible for his younger friend Johnny Boy (De Niro). The two end up involved in some illicit criminal activities that lead to tragedy.
Worst: THE BIG WEDDING (2013) - 7%
Robert De Niro starred in the 2013 comedy The Big Wedding with a cast of big-name actors. Names including Diane Keaton, Susan Sarandon, Robin Williams, and Amanda Seyfried star alongside De Niro, making it look like the movie had all the ingredients to be something special.
However, its Rotten Tomatoes score sits at 7% rotten. The film, which tells the story of a family preparing for a big wedding, while having to deal with estrangements and past issues resurfacing. Critics called it contrived with few laughs.
Best: A BRONX TALE (1993) - 97%
Out of all the movies on this list, A Bronx Tale is likely the most personal for Robert De Niro when it comes to its immense critical acclaim. That is because the film — rated 97% fresh — is one that he directed as well as starred in. De Niro created a coming-of-age crime drama that allowed him to return to the world he made his own in the '70s.
De Niro not only directed the movie but also starred as Lorenzo, the father who watches his son get in deep with a local mobster. Chazz Palminteri, who wrote the script and the stage play that the film was based on, stars as the gangster while Lollo Brancato Jr., played Lorenzo's son.
Worst: LITTLE FOCKERS (2010) - 9%
Robert De Niro found a second career when he took on a key role in the Ben Stiller comedy franchise Meet the Parents. De Niro showed his comedy chops, playing the straight man to Stiller's hapless Gaylord Focker. That movie ended up with two sequels, including Meet the Fockers, which added Dustin Hoffman to the mix, and Little Fockers.
Little Fockers was the worst of the batch, according to Rotten Tomatoes' film critics, sitting at a low 9% rotten. Critics called it lazy, despite its star-studded cast.
Best: BRAZIL (1985) - 98%
While Robert De Niro was best known for the dirty and grungy crime movies from the '70s, the highest-rated movie of his career based on Rotten Tomatoes is one that he only had a supporting role in. It was a high-fantasy sci-fi film by Monty Python member Terry Gilliam.
Brazil tells the story of a dystopian future where poorly maintained machines almost rule the totalitarian world. Robert De Niro stars as a renegade air conditioner repairman, a job illegal in this world, causing the government to label him a terrorist. Critics call it a "visionary Orwellian fantasy" and an "audacious dark comedy."