Robert De Niro

Made films the shows talk about.

Wikidata Q36949: matched by corpus:resolve, told apart by the only person by that name on Wikidata.

Counted as director. The films the hosts said they directed, which the two lists below run through too: A Bronx Tale (1993); The Good Shepherd (2006); The Score. Count them as actor (37 films), producer (1 film) instead.

Draws on

What the speakers say they, or a film of theirs, drew on. Each is a speaker's account: “the maker said so” when they report the maker's own words, “the host's read” when the read is theirs.

Goodfellas (1990): 1 line

  1. unmapped (borrowing) · through A Bronx Tale (1993), which they directed: Goodfellas ⇒ A Bronx Tale (the host's read). The bar-introduction scene of nicknamed mobsters is called a borderline Goodfellas ripoff.
    “Meeting everyone in the bar, which is just a borderline Goodfellas ripoff.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:55:08 · Bill Simmons (0.60 sure it was them)

Marlon Brando: 1 line

  1. people (acting lineage) · them, directly: Marlon Brando ⇒ Robert De Niro (the host's read). Brando laid the groundwork for De Niro's natural yet acrobatic style, which De Niro then took to an infinite level.
    “Brando now has laid the groundwork for De Niro to be as naturally simplistic, but also acrobatic.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 0:43:33 · David Krumholtz (0.60 sure it was them)

Drawn on by

What the speakers say drew on them or a film of theirs, marked the same way.

Leonardo DiCaprio: 1 line

  1. lineage (influence) · them, directly: Robert De Niro ⇒ Leonardo DiCaprio (the maker said so: a story Leo tells). Leo met De Niro on This Boy's Life, watched every De Niro movie and got hip to Scorsese through them.
    “He met De Niro working on this boy's life and he watched every De Niro movie and he really connected with the De Niro Scorsese movies.”
    The Big Picture · The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 11 - 'The Wolf of Wall Street’ · 0:27:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

The Sopranos (1999): 1 line

  1. lineage (influence) · through A Bronx Tale (1993), which they directed: A Bronx Tale ⇒ The Sopranos (the host's read). Ryan argues A Bronx Tale influenced The Sopranos more than any other movie, with Sonny and Tony Soprano close in how they hold the neighborhood.
    “I think Bronx Tale... influenced the Sopranos more than any other movie, but I don't think people think that.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:23:20 · Chris Ryan (0.60 sure it was them)

What the speakers said they did

Directing (3) everyone in directing

Acting (77) everyone in acting

Other (11) everyone in other

Producing (1) everyone in producing

What was said about them, by kind

career (5)

  1. career (career-comparison): Robert Duvall → Robert De Niro. Duvall phoning it in beats De Niro sleepwalking or Pacino just yelling.
    “De Niro, when he's phoning it in, really is sleepwalking. Chino, when he's phoning it in, is just yelling.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Judging The Judge · 1:18:10 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. career (career): Robert De Niro → Rocky and Bullwinkle. De Niro's nadir: after a great run he began taking paychecks around 2000, starting with Rocky and Bullwinkle.
    “But then in 2000, he just started taking paychecks and he did Rocky and Bullwinkle.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:09:33 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  3. career (career): Robert De Niro → Dirty Grandpa. De Niro's later dirty-grandpa era of cheesy comedies, the 2016 Zac Efron film as the example.
    “Dirty grandpa is a movie with Robert De Niro and Zach Efron, as the 2 leads.”
    The Rewatchables · A CR Month Mailbag! · 0:10:01 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. career (career arc): Robert De Niro → Midnight Run. From Midnight Run through Goodfellas, This Boy's Life, Cape Fear and this film, De Niro played different parts each time.
    “This is such a great De Niro stretch, basically, from Midnight Run.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:34:12 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
  5. career (career context): Robert De Niro → The Irishman. De Niro's 21st-century highs include The Irishman, where he plays an interior role.
    “he's wonderful in the Irishman. And the Irishman, he has kind of an odd role. It's a very interior role”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:08:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

contrast (2)

  1. contrast (contrast): Robert De Niro → Robert Altman. The hosts debate whether De Niro's preparation-heavy method fits Altman's improvisational process.
    “I think that something about the way Altman works, I think, is probably counterproductive for De Niro for the way De Niro works.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:34 · Wesley Morris (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. contrast (contrast): Robert De Niro → Mark Wahlberg. De Niro wins the 'Mark Wahlberg Award' of the year, like Wahlberg's The Fighter: a quiet-hero producer-star who gets only a picture nomination.
    “Wahlberg and the fighter.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Fifth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid (Ad-Free) · 1:17:46 · Griffin Newman (0.40 sure it was them)

craft (1)

  1. craft (craft): Robert De Niro → Midnight Run. Simmons calls De Niro the Michael Jordan of cigarette-smoking, citing Jimmy Conway and Jack Walsh in Midnight Run.
    “the way Jack Walsh smoked the midnight run.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Margin Call’ With Bill Simmons, Ryen Russillo, and Brian Koppelman · 1:25:50 · Bill Simmons (0.75 sure it was them)

lineage (1)

  1. lineage (influence): Leonardo DiCaprio → Robert De Niro. Leo met De Niro on This Boy's Life, watched every De Niro movie and got hip to Scorsese through them.
    “He met De Niro working on this boy's life and he watched every De Niro movie and he really connected with the De Niro Scorsese movies.”
    The Big Picture · The 25 Best Movies of the Century: No. 11 - 'The Wolf of Wall Street’ · 0:27:15 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)

people (6)

  1. people (acting triumvirate): Robert De Niro → Al Pacino. De Niro, Pacino and Hoffman are the three rewriting the rules of acting as ethnic American leads.
    “I think there's a triumvirate.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 0:19:39 · Griffin Newman or David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. people (acting lineage): Robert De Niro → Marlon Brando. Brando laid the groundwork for De Niro's natural yet acrobatic style, which De Niro then took to an infinite level.
    “Brando now has laid the groundwork for De Niro to be as naturally simplistic, but also acrobatic.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 0:43:33 · David Krumholtz (0.60 sure it was them)
  3. people (performance contrast): Robert De Niro → Heat. Even in Heat his intensity is a burning ember; here he is softer and the everyman.
    “But this one, he really is the everyman.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 0:35:08 · Chris Ryan (0.40 sure it was them)
  4. people (reunion): Robert De Niro → Joe Pesci. De Niro and Pesci pass in the same scene without sharing one.
    “We get De Niro and Pesci in the same scene, but not really.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:02:56 · Bill Simmons (0.50 sure it was them)
  5. people (counterfactual director): Robert De Niro → Martin Scorsese. If Scorsese directed, the film would be more thrilling but less breezy and easy to rewatch.
    “If Martin Scorsese shoots the movie, it's fucking exciting.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:40:21 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
  6. people (reunion): Leonardo DiCaprio → Robert De Niro. First on-screen pairing since This Boy's Life (1993), with Marvin's Room also a joint credit.
    “since De Niro and Leo appeared on screen together, since this boy's life in 1993.”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 0:06:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)

programming (1)

  1. programming (iconic pairing): Leonardo DiCaprio → Robert De Niro. Ryan predicts Rick and Cliff will be tied to Brad and Leo as Michael Corleone is to Pacino and LaMotta to De Niro.
    “we will like associate Rick and Cliff with Brad and Leo the way we do, you know, Michael Corleone with Al Pacino or, you know, like Jake Lamano with Robert De Niro.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood’ Live From Sundance With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:04:40 · Chris Ryan (0.70 sure it was them)

theme (1)

  1. theme (underplaying comparison): Peter Sellers → Robert De Niro. Speaker pairs Mandrake with De Niro's underplayed Jackie Brown as deceptively difficult acting.
    “to actively play someone who's got so little going on is so deceptively difficult because you watch something like this, like Mandrake”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Dr. Strangelove... with Sean Fennessey (Ad-Free) · 0:13:19 · Griffin Newman (0.60 sure it was them)

unmapped (6)

  1. unmapped (discovery): Robert De Niro → Joe Pesci. De Niro saw Pesci in The Death Collector and felt they would have chemistry.
    “De Niro had somehow seen the death collector on tape and was like, this guy's interesting.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 1:07:02 · Griffin Newman or David Sims (0.40 sure it was them)
  2. unmapped (white whale): Bob Fosse → Robert De Niro. Fosse wanted De Niro for Snyder and was attached to a Winchell film with him.
    “a Walter Winchell movie that's going to star Robert De Niro, his big white whale at this point”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Star 80 with Julie Klausner · 1:30:19 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)
  3. unmapped (joke): Robert De Niro → Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy. Ron Burgundy reference when toilet break is discussed.
    “Ron Burgundy flew toward.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘A Bronx Tale’ With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, and Van Lathan · 1:17:38 · unknown (0.10 sure it was them)
  4. unmapped (signature obsessions): Martin Scorsese → Robert De Niro. Simmons sums up Scorsese as loving De Niro, the Stones, and people getting hit over the head with a glass in a bar.
    “He loved Bob De Niro, called him Bob, the stones, and people getting hit over the head in a bar with a glass.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Departed’ With Bill Simmons and Chris Ryan · 0:25:28 · Bill Simmons (0.65 sure it was them)
  5. unmapped (self-positioning): Edward Norton → Robert De Niro. Norton was positioning himself as the new De Niro in the late 90s.
    “positioning himself as like, I'm the new De Niro.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Fight Club with Alex Ross Perry (Ad-Free) · 1:17:44 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
  6. unmapped (considered for Hartman): Robert De Niro → Full Metal Jacket. Kubrick considered De Niro and Ed Harris for Hartman.
    “So Kubrick considered a number of actors to play Gunner Sergeant Hartman, Robert De Niro, which is interesting to imagine, Ed Harris, who probably would be good.”
    Blank Check — Patreon · Full Metal Jacket with Jon Gabrus (Ad-Free) · 1:04:56 · Griffin Newman (0.50 sure it was them)

verdict (1)

  1. verdict (verdict): Robert De Niro → The Irishman. De Niro wins the 'Mark Wahlberg Award': will a movie into existence, produce it, play the lead well, and let everyone else get nominated.
    “De Niro wins the Mark Wahlberg Award for the year”
    Blank Check — Patreon · The Fifth Annual Blank Check Awards with Joe Reid (Ad-Free) · 1:17:28 · Griffin Newman (0.45 sure it was them)

what-if (4)

  1. what-if (casting what-if): Robert De Niro → Anthony Hopkins. De Niro went far down the road for the Hopkins part, including a table read, but kept worrying about the bear.
    “They go really far down the road with De Niro.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:11:44 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. what-if (what-if): Robert De Niro → The Player. Bill proposes De Niro in the Fred Ward part, overqualified, as the right-era move after Goodfellas and Cape Fear.
    “Could he have just played the Fred Ward part for like 4 scenes.”
    The Rewatchables · 'The Player' With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Wesley Morris · 1:19:11 · Bill Simmons (0.70 sure it was them)
  3. what-if (what-if): Kevin Spacey → Robert De Niro. An 80s De Niro, with Cape Fear and Taxi Driver in him, could have been John Doe.
    “I think there's some kind of time frame from the 80s when De Niro could have been this guy”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Se7en’ With Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan · 0:46:28 · Bill Simmons (0.55 sure it was them)
  4. what-if (casting what-if): Robert De Niro → Do the Right Thing. Spike campaigned for De Niro as Sal; Wesley argues his baggage would have tipped the film's equal-weighted balance and made it a different movie.
    “Spike Lee campaigned for Robert De Niro as so.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 0:59:56 · Sean Fennessey (0.80 sure it was them)

Fun items about them

  1. fun, about Robert De Niro: At the SAG Awards for Oppenheimer, Krumholtz found De Niro posing for fans outside the bathroom like a Disney mascot and saying cheese reflexively.
    “With every fan picture, he reflexively says cheese.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 1:39:11 · David Krumholtz (0.85 sure it was them)
  2. fun, about Robert De Niro: Trump slammed De Niro as punch drunk for making one too many boxing pictures, to which the hosts reply with Raging Bull and Grudge Match.
    “His slam on him was, oh, he's punch drunk.”
    Blank Check with Griffin & David · Raging Bull with David Krumholtz · 1:41:59 · Griffin Newman or David Sims (0.35 sure it was them)
  3. fun, about Robert De Niro: At the table read De Niro kept saying the bear concerned him; Bill does the Jimmy Conway voice.
    “The bear still concerns me.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘The Edge’ With Bill Simmons and Van Lathan · 1:12:53 · Bill Simmons (0.85 sure it was them)
  4. fun, about Robert De Niro: Spike wanted De Niro for Sal but he declined; Wesley says De Niro's baggage would have tipped the film's equal balance and made Sal someone to root for.
    “It becomes the movie about how Robert De Niro is a racist or something.”
    The Rewatchables · ‘Do The Right Thing’ With Sean Fennessey and Wesley Morris · 1:00:08 · Wesley Morris (0.65 sure it was them)
  5. fun, about Robert De Niro: William Hale opens a ballet studio and poses with ballerinas, played for laughs; the film treats him as simply Satan.
    “He opens like a dance studio, the William Hale, like a ballet studio, and like is posing outside with all the ballerinas”
    The Big Picture · ‘Killers of the Flower Moon’ Is Astounding · 1:09:55 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)