The comedic sequel that Robert De Niro demanded to be made: “You’re going to do it, OK?”
Let’s not lie to ourselves – Robert De Niro has made some pretty questionable career choices. Although he has starred in many acclaimed cinematic masterpieces, excelling in dramatic roles, the actor has also tried his hand at many other genres, resulting in a very varied filmography.
From The War with Grandpa and Dirty Grandpa to The Bridge of San Luis Rey and The Big Wedding, De Niro has picked out his fair share of terrible roles throughout his career. Does his agent secretly hate him? Does De Niro have a penchant for poorly-written comedies and ridiculous storylines? Who knows? It’s a shame that from the 2010s onwards, De Niro has only starred in a handful of good movies, with lots of terrible comedies making up the bulk of his recent credits.
It appears that De Niro is at his best when he is working with people like Martin Scorsese, a long time collaborator who was instrumental in the actor’s rise to fame. Early roles in movies like Mean Streets and Taxi Driver established De Niro as one of his generation’s most talented stars, and the pair soon collaborated on other projects like Raging Bull and Goodfellas.
His performances in Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather Part II, Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter and Sergio Leone’s Once Upon a Time in America further emphasised his star power, resulting in De Niro being labelled as one of the finest actors in Hollywood history.
The ‘90s also saw De Niro appear in many acclaimed films, like Cape Fear, Heat and Jackie Brown, and he began to star in more comedies, proving himself to be capable of humorous roles as well as portraying more brooding, violent and intense characters. Thus, Jay Roach approached him to star in Meet The Parents alongside Ben Stiller and Blythe Danner.
Despite expressing initial uncertainty, he eventually agreed to star in the film, citing a fondness for Roach as a contributing factor. The movie follows Greg Focker as he meets his girlfriend’s family for the first time, with the cultural differences between Greg, who is Jewish and middle-class, and the Byrne family, who are Christian and upper-middle-class, highlighted for comedic effect.
De Niro played the Byrne patriarch, Jack, who is far from fond of Greg. The movie was a significant success, praised for being genuinely funny. Following the acclaim received by Meet The Parents, De Niro was actually the one who pushed for a sequel to be made – resulting in Meet The Fockers, which saw Dustin Hoffman and Barbara Streisand join the cast. Released four years later, the movie was an even greater hit, grossing a whopping $522million.
Talking to First Showing, Stiller revealed that he “never did” sequels until De Niro asked him to reunite with him for another Meet the Parents instalment. He added, “Robert De Niro called me up and said, ‘You’re going to do the sequel. You’re going to do it, OK?’” Stiller continued, “I was like, ‘Alright.’ You really don’t want that call from De Niro.”
Yet, this comedic success didn’t last. They soon reunited for a third movie in the series, Little Fockers, which was a critical disaster. A shining example of one of De Niro’s worst projects, the movie failed to capture the same effortlessly funny essence of the other two films. Released in 2010, this movie helped emphasise the downward trajectory of De Niro’s career, becoming a failing comedy star rather than an acclaimed icon.
