Ranking all of Robert De Niro movies from worst to best
There may not be any other actor in the history of cinema whose filmography so effortlessly flitters from undisputed masterpiece to incontestable tripe than Robert De Niro. One of the greatest actors to have ever graced the silver screen, rubbing shoulders with the likes of Marlon Brando, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Meryl Streep, De Niro has established a vast and eclectic filmography.
His close collaborations with some of the industry’s greatest minds came way back at the start of his career in the 1960s when he would create an early partnership with Brian De Palma, shortly before his relationship with Martin Scorsese would begin in the 1970s. Creating the likes of Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and New York, New York together before the director had even reached the peak of his artistry.
By 1980, De Niro was a two-time Academy Award winner, picking up Oscars for his roles in Francis Ford Coppola’s Godfather: Part II and Scorsese’s sports drama Raging Bull, with half of Hollywood coming calling as a result. Collaborations with the likes of Michael Mann, Terry Gilliam, Alan Parker and Quentin Tarantino followed, yet once the actor entered the 21st century, his career took a noticeable slump.
In celebration of seven decades of serving cinema in front of the camera, we’ve decided on the somewhat arduous task of ranking every one of his movies from worst to best, charting every one of his films – yes, even Shark Tale.
Ranking every Robert De Niro movie:
104. The Bridge of San Luis Rey (Mary McGuckian, 2004)
On paper, The Bridge of San Luis Rey should have been a success. Not only did the Mary McGuckian-directed film feature De Niro, but the star-studded cast also included F. Murray Abraham, Kathy Bates, Gabriel Byrne and Geraldine Chaplin. However, a great cast doesn’t necessarily make a great movie, such as in this case.
Based on a Thornton Wilder novel from 1927, The Bridge of San Luis Rey was a commercial disaster, recouping less than 10% of its $24million budget at the box office. Over the course of 104 movies, for our Mary McGuckian’s film is the very worst of De Niro’s career, being largely unwatchable tripe.
103. New Year’s Eve (Garry Marshall, 2011)
Over the last couple of decades, De Niro has turned his hand to comedy to varying results. Despite the huge names attached to 2011’s New Year’s Eve, with Halle Berry, Jessica Biel, Zac Efron, Sarah Jessica Parker and many more starring alongside De Niro – it failed to hit the right note.
Set over the span of 24 hours, New Year’s Eve follows the stories of various individuals who are all somehow connected. De Niro’s character Stan Harris is sadly dying in hospital from cancer with the intention of making it to midnight for one final time, as his last wish. The whole thing just feels like a poorly made commercial, making for the kind of movie that makes your trust in humanity dampen.
102. The Big Wedding (Justin Zackham, 2013)
In 2013, De Niro starred in the Justin Zackham comedy The Big Wedding, once again appearing alongside an ensemble cast with actors including Robin Williams and Diane Keaton involved in the project.
In the film, De Niro portrays Don Griffin, whose son Alejandro is getting married, which means he needs to get along with his ex-wife Ellie. Through a set of unexpected circumstances, they bizarrely pretend to still be husband and wife, leading to unintended moments of ‘comedy’ that is largely boring and poorly constructed.
101. Godsend (Nick Hamm, 2004)
For the 2004 thriller Godsend, De Niro appeared as Dr Richard Wells opposite Greg Kinnear, who played Paul Duncan and Rebecca Romijn as Jessie Duncan. The latter two are a comfortable couple with an eight-year-old child, and everything is perfect until he dies.
Soon after his death, Wells enters their lives and offers to illegally clone their dead son, which leads to frightening results. The plotline verges on the ridiculous, and even De Niro wasn’t able to turn it into anything adequate, despite his best attempts.
100. The Bag Man (David Grovic, 2014)
For 2014’s The Bag Man, De Niro returned to his crime roots, but this time he wasn’t working with a script by Martin Scorsese. Playing the veteran gangster Dragna, who employs a hitman named Jack to pick up a bag on his behalf, but at no point must he dare see what is hidden in the item.
Bloodshed occurs, with many lives being lost on the way as Jack secures the bag, and chaos ensues. Taking in less than half a million dollars at the box office, even De Niro’s star status wasn’t enough to get eyes on The Bag Man, with the actor giving the kind of performance that screams ‘just give me my paycheck already’.
99. The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight (James Goldstone, 1971)
In 1972, De Niro was yet to become the go-to actor for films about mobsters set in New York City, but he was naturally already making it his niche. In The Gang That Couldn’t Shoot Straight, the fledgling actor portrays thief Mario Trantino, who arrives in the Big Apple from Italy for a cycling tournament.
Rather than go home after the race is abandoned, Trantino stays in New York City and finds himself embroiled in a series of cons which inadvertently have disastrous consequences for those close to him. Based on a Jimmy Breslin novel of the same name, the totally aimless movie featured De Niro before he’d properly found his feet, giving you little reason to watch the film at all.
98. Little Fockers (Paul Weitz, 2010)
2010’s Little Fockers is the third and final film in the Meet The Parents series. While the first two movies offer comedic relief and are fun-filled viewings, the last instalment in the trilogy fails to recreate the magic.
By comparison to the earlier movies, there is no fun to be had in Little Fockers. Puerile and blandly constructed, Little Fockers is the kind of film that was forced into production by a studio who had little care at all about critical success.
97. Bloody Mama (Roger Corman, 1970)
Set in the 1930s, this 1970 film stars Shelley Winter as Kate ‘Ma’ Barker, a violent, threatening woman. She was abused during childhood and emotionally mishandled her children, including De Niro’s character Lloyd, who is consumed by his drug addiction.
They are a family of dysfunctional criminals who are destined to come to a disastrous end as a result of the horrific hand they’ve been handed. It was directed by Roger Corman, who later called Bloody Mama one of his favourite films, despite it being a tonal mess.
96. Savage Salvation (Randall Emmett, 2022)
In recent years, De Niro has taken on whatever project he wants, and nobody has earned that right more than him. However, 2022’s low-budget Savage Salvation despite the important subject matter at the heart of the film.
America is riddled by the opioid crisis, and in this film, Jack Hutson’s character tries to enact revenge upon the drug dealer who caused his fiance to lose her life to an overdose. However, De Niro is mainly a bit part of the movie and offers little importance to the bland story that offers very little at all to the audience.
95. The Young Wolves (Marcel Carné, 1968)
During the late 1960s, all De Niro wanted to do was act and get experience in front of the camera. Gaining experience was the most important factor to him, and it didn’t even matter if the film was in English.
The Young Wolves, directed by Michael Carné, only features De Niro in a small, uncredited role, but it was a start for him. The French-Italian movie follows the story of Alain, portrayed by Christian Hay, who is stuck in a love triangle. Still at the dawn of his career, De Niro was barely a proficient English-speaking performer by this point, making his role in The Young Wolves pretty poor.
94. The War with Grandpa (Tim Hill, 2020)
As he’s become an elder statesman in Hollywood, De Niro has been unafraid to express his lighter side, such as in 2020’s The War with Grandpa. He plays the recently bereaved Ed Marino in this eye-rolling family film, which sees him take his grandson’s room at his daughter’s house and follow their journey from enemies to friends.
Far from De Niro’s finest hour, this is a sad step-down for the Oscar-winning star who once thrilled audiences with emotionally dense characters. Here, he could be played by any am-dram wannabe.
93. The Wedding Party (Brian De Palma, Wilford Leach, Cynthia Munroe, 1969)
1969’s The Wedding Party, directed by Brian De Palma, was only De Niro’s second film in a starring role. At this point, he was far from the finished article and was still honing his acting skills, but showed vital signs of promise.
De Palma was a student when he made The Wedding Party, and you can certainly tell whilst watching the film. De Niro portrays Cecil during his wedding day in this comic flick, but no jokes really land and little drama is really conjured, making for a boring watch.
92. Showtime (Tom Dey, 2002)
By the time 2002 rolled around, De Niro had stopped chasing Academy Awards and joined forces with Eddie Murphy for the buddy-cop comedy Showtime. With these two on board, and an interesting plot of the duo being stars of a reality television show about police officers, the film had the ingredients for a classic of the genre.
However, without the necessary jokes required, it wound up receiving two nominations at the Golden Raspberries and being panned by audiences for good reason. Despite its hefty budget, and the star power of the men in the lead roles, Showtime lost many millions at the box office.
91. Hide and Seek (John Polson, 2005)
In 2005, De Niro starred alongside Dakota Fanning in the twisted thriller Hide and Seek. After losing his wife to suicide, De Niro’s character moves with his daughter to upstate New York in search of a fresh start but can’t escape the horror.
His daughter, portrayed by Fanning, becomes haunted by an ‘imaginary’ friend named Charlie, also played by De Niro, who is the one responsible for their nightmarish life. It’s a creepy watch, but not for the right reasons, never truly hitting the beats that it wants to, creating an awkward mess of twisted scenes.
90. Killing Season (Mark Steven Johnson, 2013)
The 2013 action film Killing Season saw De Niro star alongside John Travolta for the first time, as the pair played soldiers who fought on opposite sides during the Bosnian War. Following the end of the atrocity, their worlds collide, and the pair form a bond before Travolta’s character reveals who he really is.
Despite their differences, they find common ground. While Killing Season does attempt to express a positive message, the execution is a different story, with De Niro working on auto-pilot, bored of the very words that are coming out of his mouth.
89. The Family (Luc Besson, 2013)
The Family sees De Niro once again playing the role of the head of the table in a Mafia family in this black comedy from 2013. For safety reasons, they are forced to relocate on numerous occasions, including to Normandy in northern France.
However, despite moving to a different part of the world, they are still not safe, and trouble continues to surround them. The movie was based on the French novel Malavita and was a moderate success at the box office, but was panned by critics, with De Niro playing a sad version of what used to be his strongest archetype. It makes for pretty dismal viewing.
88. Sam’s Song (Jordan Leondopoulos, John Broderick, 1969)
In 1969, De Niro made the jump to the leading role for the first time in Sam’s Song, directed by Jordan Leondopolous. In the film, De Niro portrays a filmmaker who spends a weekend in Long Island with old friends and subjects himself to the high life.
Over his time in Long Island, a woman named Carol waltzes her way into their lives, leading to a series of horrifying events that puts everyone in jeopardy. Although the film offers some clever ideas, the majority of Sam’s Song simply doesn’t land.
87. Jennifer on My Mind (Noel Black, 1971)
There’s little to write home about in the 1971 movie Jennifer on My Mind when it comes to Robert De Niro. While the tragic love story, set in Venice and featuring a truly debilitating heroin addiction, has its moments of emotional power, it lacks depth.
De Niro plays Mardigian, the cab driver, and delivers all of about 20 words, meaning this piece is often forgotten for good reason.
86. Dirty Grandpa (Dan Mazer, 2016)
There’s a good chance that this piece of filmmaking could divide the room. Known for his dramatic roles, it can feel genuinely disarming to see De Niro crack a smile beyond one tinged with murderous malevolence. However, in the 2016 hit Dirty Grandpa, he does just that.
Starring as Zac Efron’s grandfather, De Niro takes the uptight Jason Kelly on a raucous road trip to enjoy spring break in Florida. Depending on when you saw this film, it could represent a cacophony of teenage guffaws. However, it is unequivocal tripe in comparison to De Niro’s other features.
85. Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (Kenneth Branagh, 1994)
Just like Frankenstein’s monster, Kenneth Branagh’s film is an ungodly, intriguing and ultimately hideous abomination, spliced together from different components to make something worth less than the sum of its parts. But of all the inexplicable things about it – why is De Niro the monster? What we’d give to be in the studio board rooms to hear what sort of conversation brought about this casting.
He is by far the most interesting thing about this film, but that’s not saying much because De Niro gives a borderline-pantomime-worthy performance here. Perhaps this could have yielded something interesting with a better director, but all the squinting, slurred words, and grunting make for a genuinely embarrassing blot on De Niro’s CV.
84. The Comedian (Taylor Hackford, 2016)
2016, it would seem, was a rather tough year for De Niro. Now, perhaps lacking the physical menace to allow him to play roles akin to his impressive filmography, De Niro took on the role of ageing insult comedian Jackie Burke.
The Comedian has a truly inspiring cast that includes Danny De Vito, Harvey Keitel and Leslie Mann, yet it rarely delivers more than a few laughs and the odd heartwarming moment. The kind of movie you may not turn off but would never watch again.
83. Righteous Kill (Jon Avnet, 2008)
Adding the names of Al Pacino and Robert De Niro, arguably the two greatest actors of the last 100 years, may seem like a guaranteed win for any filmmaker, but the 2008 film Righteous Kill failed to provide a worthy setting for these heavyweights.
Two veteran New York City detectives try to track down a serial killer who may well be wearing a blue uniform. It’s a piece of cinema that is best watched at home after a few drinks and with little moving through your brain.
82. Heist (Scott Mann, 2015)
No prizes for guessing the premise of this movie, but this time De Niro is on the wrong end of a crime. Taking up another role as a casino owner, Francis ‘The Pope’ Silva, De Niro is the main attraction for this action thriller.
Also starring Dave Bautista in one of his earliest roles and Jeffrey Dean Morgan, a gritty heist movie ensues with little to no narrative outside of the action.
81. Freelancers (Jessy Terrero, 2012)
Jessy Terrero directs this piece of Friday night fodder. Far from De Niro’s finest work as an actor, he takes on the role of the head of a unit of rogue NYPD cops who use guns instead of laws to enact justice.
Also featuring 50 Cent and Forest Whittaker in starring roles, this movie is all about the grit, the glitz and the glamour of living life as a gangster with a police badge. It’s so silly that is almost works.
80. The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Des McAnuff, 2000)
A few of our readers may be disappointed to see De Niro’s villainous role in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle so low on our list, but when De Niro appears as ‘Fearless Leader’, it results in a little piece of us dying inside.
Cleary a movie pursued only for the paycheque at the end, the absurd performance is one that De Niro likely shudders at. Combine this with a movie that is entirely directionless, and you have a recipe for disaster.
79. The Comeback Trail (George Gallo, 2020)
It’s always fun to see some of the older guys get their chance to rub shoulders with one another again. The comeback Trail may not be the best work of De Niro’s impressive career, but it is still heartening to see him star with Tommy Lee Jones and Morgan Freeman in a madcap caper.
The movie sees two movie producers try to kill their star in an attempt to pay off their debt to the mob. It has moments of joy from De Niro and Zach Braff, but never truly catches alight like you might hope.
78. Killer Elite (Gary McKendry, 2011)
Another entry and another action movie which can be best left for another day if you’re short of time. 2011’s Killer Elite will not be the movie you remember when thinking of Robert De Niro. However, it isn’t without its moments of pulsating action.
Starring Clive Owen and Jason Statham, a killer-for-hire is forced to track down the abductor of his mentor. He must kill the members of the British Armed forces responsible for his son’s death. As we say, if you have something else better to do, it’s probably worth doing first.
77. Red Lights (Rodrigo Cortés, 2012)
Red Lights from 2012 is one of the more interesting movies further down on our list. Far removed from the guns and girls of previous entries, this film focuses on two doctors, played by Sigourney Weaver and Cillian Murphy, as they try to uncover the secrets of the world’s most famous psychic.
De Niro takes on the role of said psychic, who has returned following the mysterious death of his main critic, and is the main draw of this psychological thriller.
76. 15 Minutes (John Herzfeld, 2001)
De Niro is once again a cop with a maverick attitude in 2001’s 15 Minutes as he attempts to stop two serial killers who are intent on videotaping all of their crimes. In a movie that predates the true birth of social media, it feels somewhat jarring to watch De Niro and Edward Burns try to track down the murderous pair.
However, outside of this fascination, this is just one more of De Niro’s many forgettable movie roles. Beyond his insatiable sneer and always impressive delivery, there’s little else here to be truly enthralled by.
75. Arthur and the Invisibles (Luc Besson, 2006)
Starring Freddie Highmore and Mia Farrow, with direction from Luc Besson, Arthur and the Invisibles from 2006, had good footing to be a great movie. However, it fell down with some surreal visuals and spherical storytelling.
This was a notably small role for De Niro, taking up the role of King, but nevertheless, it goes down as an acting credit. However, on reflection, we imagine this is one that won’t feature too highly on De Niro’s impressive resume.
74. Shark Tale (Bibo Bergeron, Vicky Jenson, Rob Letterman, 2004)
We’re getting a little contentious now. If you were a kid in 2004, then chances are Shark Tale was a summer blockbuster that you definitely saw. The son (Jack Black) of a notorious gangster shark, voiced by De Niro, Lenny must find his own way in a Dreamworks vision of submerged life.
Will Smith steals the show as Lenny’s confidant Oscar, but even a cameo from Martin Scorsese couldn’t save this piece in the harsh light of adulthood. Far from a Dreamworks masterclass.
73. Grudge Match (Peter Segal, 2013)
Revisiting the boxing ring 33 years after Raging Bull, but this time with a comedic twist and a far inferior director, De Niro plays Billy ‘The Kid’ McDonnen. An ageing boxer with a score to settle, McDonnen’s story is one of rivalry, redemption, and what is supposed to be a whole bunch of laughs.
De Niro very much plays second fiddle to Sylvester Stallone’s Henry ‘Razor’ Sharp, which suits us fine – it means that Stallone is the lumped with Kevin Hart making annoying jokes the whole time, whereas De Niro sees his sidekick in the form of Jon Bernthal, who plays his estranged son that comes out of the woodwork. The only redeeming factor of this film, really, is seeing De Niro briefly interact with Joe Rogan alumni Joey Diaz.
72. Analyze That (Harold Ramis, 2002)
Billy Crystal was perhaps the ultimate box office draw for a while in the 1980s. His unique delivery and neighbourhood smile endeared him to millions. In 1999, he had another crack at making a blockbuster when he pitched Analyze This, a clever movie which saw a psychologist attempt to get into the mind of a notorious gangster. It was sharp and genuinely funny.
What wasn’t funny was the follow-up three years later. Essentially another edition of the same gags and mishaps, the sequel rarely lives up to the original and Analyze That is case and point.
71. One Hundred and One Nights (Agnès Varda, 1995)
If there is one word to describe Agnès Varda’s 1995 movie One Hundred and One Nights, then it is ‘experience’. Not only is the movie centred on a 100-year-old man who has devoted his life to cinema, spending the last remaining days of his life having a young woman rekindle his love of filmmaking, but it also has a wide-ranging and impressive cast.
As well as starring Michel Piccoli and Mathieu Demy, there are roles for Harrison Ford, Gérard Depardieu, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Sandrine Bonnaire and Alain Delon, as well as Robert De Niro. It’s more than watchable.
70. Born to Win (Ivan Passer, 1971)
In this early 1970s movie, De Niro plays Danny, one of two corrupt cops who serve as brief antagonists to the main character, hairdresser-turned-drug-addict J. It’s strange to think how quickly an actor’s career can change – in less than three years, he’d be leading a Palme d’Or winning film by Scorsese and would never look back.
However fleeting, his appearance in Born to Win gives us more of that young, fresh-faced De Niro, which feels so strange to us after his cemented status as a grizzly old man. It’s a shame Ivan Passer didn’t think to utilise him more, and he probably came to regret it because he’s infinitely more charismatic and compelling than George Segal as J. At best, it’s a missed opportunity.
69. Stone (John Curran, 2010)
De Niro has Ed Norton’s absurd and vaguely offensive performance as a convict from ‘The Hood’ to thank for making his own seem subtle and nuanced. In John Curran’s 2010 crime thriller, De Niro plays Jack Mabry – a parole officer who is on the brink of retirement. When he receives a new inmate, Norton’s ‘Stone’, and finds himself attracted to Stone’s wife Lucetta, a psychological and erotic thriller begins to unfold.
While the whole thing is a bit of a schlocky affair, De Niro is convincing in his passion for the prison inmates, and he effectively communicates the sense of fear and anxiety of impending retirement and an uncertain future.
68. What Just Happened (Barry Levinson, 2008)
Hollywood attempting to poke fun at itself is always a difficult thing to get right. If executed properly, it can be a searing and hilarious satire, but if fumbled, it can come across as try-hard, if not downright boring. Unfortunately, Barry Levinson’s ‘insider’ film about producer Ben falls into the latter, and De Niro does very little to elevate the movie.
Plagued by personal problems, as well as having to navigate stereotypical Hollywood types like a ball-breaking studio exec and a tantrum-throwing, melodramatic British director, Ben’s life spirals further and further out of control. While De Niro effectively communicates the character’s exhaustion, one can’t help wondering if he was the right choice for a deep dive into the industry’s inner workings. Still, the film is far from being a complete failure.
67. Great Expectations (Alfonso Cuarón, 1998)
Why anyone would ever try to follow in the footsteps of the great David Lean’s 1946 adaptation of Great Expectations is anyone’s guess, but Gravity director Alfonso Cuarón gave it a shot anyway. Transporting the 18th-century London story to the (then) modern-day warranted the film’s existence to some degree, as did the casting of De Niro as the thuggish Abel Magwitch – renamed in this film ‘Arthur Lustig’.
It’s no surprise that he’s playing a mobster, but with his shaved head and prominent moustache, he at least visually looks distinguished – and his dying reveal at the end, where it turns out that he’s been the secret benefactor of the hero all along, is genuinely moving. As twists go, De Niro manages to deliver ‘the villain is actually the good guy’ trope well.
66. Stanley & Iris (Martin Ritt, 1990)
Roles like these make you question whether De Niro is genuinely a workaholic. Between films by the likes of Scorsese and Coppola, he just can’t help himself taking on work that is clearly inferior – in a way, there’s something endearing and admirable about it. In Stanley & Iris, he plays Stanley, an illiterate cook in a canteen.
When he befriends grieving widow Iris, who also works in the same building, she helps him to read, and a blossoming romance develops. De Niro can’t read or write, but you wouldn’t know it – he possesses all the charm and smoothness we’ve seen him demonstrate before without any real residual psychological effects of lacking a basic human skill. At the happy end, his character has finished a huge arc, but the performance stays exactly the same.
65. The Good Shepherd (Robert De Niro, 2006)
De Niro’s second directorial effort wisely sees him in a supporting role, allowing Matt Damon as Edward Wilson to take the main stage. Skipping occasionally through several decades, we’re presented with a portrait of the CIA – from its conception in the 1940s to becoming the dominant intelligence agency in the world.
De Niro gives himself the role of General Bill Sullivan, an incredibly functional and pragmatic character who appears only when he needs to advance the plot by either telling Edward that he should go somewhere or recruiting him to join something. As a standalone role, it’s nothing special, but he gives a serviceable performance which helps keep the ball moving.
64. Flawless (Joel Schumacher, 1999)
In this somewhat misguided buddy movie, director Joel Schumacher stepped away from the 1990s Batman franchise and decided instead to do his own take on The Odd Couple. Central to the film are the two performances of undeniably great actors: De Niro and Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Once again, De Niro plays a tough guy (this time a security guard), sharing an apartment with Hoffman’s flamboyant drag queen. They don’t like each other. But a criminal incident causes De Niro to have a stroke, and he must enlist the help of Hoffman to regain his speech through singing lessons. It’s very dated, particularly how De Niro’s paralysed face and slurred speech are played for laughs, but he turns in a convincing performance of begrudging vulnerability.
63. The Fan (Tony Scott, 1996)
This mid-1990s psychological thriller sees De Niro revisiting The King of Comedy territory by playing an overly obsessed and slightly maniacal fan. The Fan follows De Niro as Gil Renard, a knife salesman (?) who is utterly transfixed by baseball player Bobby Rayburn, played by Wesley Snipes. As his obsession becomes more dark and concerning, Gil starts to insidiously insert himself into Bobby’s personal life.
While very, very silly, it is enjoyable, and De Niro’s character is genuinely interesting. Rather than opt for the generic character trait of Gil being a socially awkward introvert, he’s strong and assertive, which makes his private obsession seem all the more of an unexpected secret – almost like he leads a double life.
62. Last Vegas (Jon Turteltaub, 2013)
The 2010s saw De Niro fully transition into a bonafide old man, and suddenly his strange toilet humour and low-brow comedy choices started to pay off, for the pure shock value alone of seeing a greying icon continually debase himself. Last Vegas sees him team up with an impressive cast of other golden oldies, including Morgan Freeman, Kevin Kline and Michael Douglas.
In the vein of The Hangover, Jon Turtelaub’s film sees the four over-60s get into a whole lot of trouble during ‘one last bash’ in Vegas. There’s booze, viagra jokes and a smattering of romance. De Niro has more to work with than most; he plays the reluctant, grumpy member of the party who refuses to do anything. Credit where it’s due, there’s plenty of fun and laughter to be had here.
61. New York, New York (Martin Scorsese, 1977)
Scorsese has made clear that he deliberately made everything about his follow-up to Taxi Driver as artificial as possible, as a homage to and parody of the classic MGM musicals. Unfortunately, that extends to the performances as well. With Liza Minelli, you can forgive her less-than-impressive acting chops because she turns in some absolutely show-stopping tunes, but De Niro only has his performance, and it isn’t great.
Just because they’re an iconic pair doesn’t mean they should work together on everything. Playing Jimmy Doyle, a smooth jazz saxophonist during the mid-20th century, De Niro barely turns in a performance at all. He looks uncomfortable with a sax at his lips, unexcited when romancing Liza Minelli and generally uninterested in everything around him. Whilst still simmering with quality, it’s no wonder both De Niro and Scorsese were spurned to make the masterful Raging Bull straight after.
60. Amsterdam (David O Russell, 2022)
While it looks like De Niro’s character in Amsterdam could just as easily be the exact same one in Scorsese’s upcoming Killers of the Flower Moon, it is nevertheless a very pleasurable watch in a generally underappreciated film. The ‘tough guy’ De Niro is a tired trope, but a deft director can bring new life into it, and despite his troubling off-set antics, David O Russell is a good director.
De Niro plays Gilbert Dillenbeck, an influential war vet-turned-politician – a small but pivotal role in the ensuing 1920s caper. Offered vast sums of money to be installed as a ‘puppet’ president, Gilbert is urged by the main trio (consisting of Christian Bale, Margot Robbie and John David Washington) to accept – and he subsequently helps draw out a shady, covert group of fascists intent on turning the US into the next Nazi Germany.
59. Hi, Mom! (Brian De Palma, 1970)
In this incredibly strange dark comedy, Brian De Palma has De Niro do something even stranger – reprise the role of Jon Rubin from his previous 1968 film Greetings, even though the films are barely related. It’s not a sequel, it’s not a reboot – it’s just another weird De Palma film with De Niro in it, so why not make him the same character?
There are very few young De Niro roles that don’t impress, and this one is no different. Equally handsome, charming, mildly threatening and with a huge capacity for freakiness, De Niro as Jon is constantly compelling and makes for an impressively solid vehicle to showcase De Palma’s satire of 1970s New York.
58. Mistress (Barry Primus, 1992)
Taking another detour into the realm of dark comedy exactly ten years after The King of Comedy, De Niro plays Evan, a cut-throat businessman who promises to finance the central character’s screenplay on one condition: that his mistress be granted a part in the upcoming movie. “If we’re gonna do it, we’re gonna do it my way,” he says.
Mistress falls into the category of mid-career films where De Niro effectively turns in a sort of pastiche performance – a parody of himself. How many ‘tough guy’ De Niro’s have we seen? Plenty. Does he look particularly good with long, slicked-back grey hair as Evan? Yes. Does he deliver a surprisingly great comedic performance? Yes.
57. True Confessions (Ulu Grosbard, 1981)
De Niro steps into the shoes of a Catholic priest, Desmond Spellacy, in this fairly gripping 1980s tale of faith, corruption, and redemption. As Spellacy, he effectively portrays the complexities of a man torn between his spiritual vows and earthly temptations – as the city’s crime underbelly slowly reveals its sinister secrets, his internal conflicts become even more palpable.
It’s no career-best, but with his moments of quiet reflection and bursts of passionate outbursts, De Niro’s performance definitely makes True Confessions an engaging watch, especially for those intrigued by the interplay between faith and fallibility.
56. Machete (Robert Rodriguez, 2010)
Taking on a supporting role in this gritty pulp extravaganza, De Niro portrays Senator John McLaughlin, a drawling Southern politician. Set against the backdrop of the Mexican border, De Niro brings a sort of half-baked charm to his character. His motives, hidden behind a snake-oil salesman veil, unravel as the blood-soaked plot thickens.
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have a tendency to swap actors, so just over a decade after Jackie Brown, Rodriguez too was able to utilise the power of the Niro in a small role. Is it as good as his turn in Tarantino’s third film? Not quite, but it still remains a beloved pulpy action flick for good reason.
55. Hands of Stone (Joanthan Jakubowicz, 2016)
One of De Niro’s greatest performances came in Raging Bull, Martin Scorsese’s 1980 biopic of the boxer Jake LaMotta (more on that later), and with Jonathan Jakubowicz’s sports film Hands of Stone, De Niro was afforded the chance to play the trainer rather than the fighter in a similar way Sylvester Stallone has in the Creed films.
Hands of Stone tells of the Panamanian former professional boxer Roberto Duran, played by Edgar Ramirez, while De Niro plays the iconic boxing trainer Ray Arcel, who notices Duran’s raw ability and immense potential. Boxing films come in their hundreds, but this one was something of a throwback to De Niro’s Raging Bull moment.
54. The Ages of Love (Giovanni Veronesi, 2011)
In 2011, De Niro starred in an Italian production, The Ages of Love, directed by Giovanni Veronesi. The movie is divided into three segments, all connected by a taxi driver symbolising Cupid, with De Niro starring in the final vignette with Monica Bellucci. As the sequel to Manual of Love and Manual of Love 2, The Ages of Love rounds off the trilogy with its intergenerational exploration of romance.
While most characters in the film are barely fleshed out, De Niro as Professor Adrian, who falls for his friend’s daughter, Viola, a Parisian model, gives one of the strongest performances. De Niro and Bellucci’s segment leaves a lasting impression on the audience, redeeming the movie from its otherwise sparse characterisation and thin plotlines.
53. Everybody’s Fine (Kirk Jones, 2009)
With Sam Rockwell, Kate Beckinsale, and Drew Barrymore, De Niro starred in the American Christmas comedy Everybody’s Fine in 2009, a remake of the Italian film of the same name from 1990. Kirk Jones’ film follows De Niro’s patriarch Frank Goode, whose children all cancel on his festive plans, leading him to take a trip to visit them all individually, soon discovering that they’re not doing as well as he thought.
Everybody’s Fine is your typical Christmas comedy-drama, released alongside a slew of other identically-postered sentimental flicks. Despite the illustrious cast, the movie doesn’t feel a cut above its counterparts, although De Niro imbues his performance with loveable charm.
52. Meet the Fockers (Jay Roach, 2004)
After Meet the Parents debuted in 2000, Jay Roach followed up the successful comedy with Meet the Fockers, which preceded the final instalment in the trilogy, Little Fockers. The 2004 movie sees Ben Stiller’s Greg Focker introduce his family to his fiancee Pam’s parents (De Niro’s Jack and Blythe Danner’s Dina). The families couldn’t be more opposite, causing plenty of humorous incidents.
Meet the Fockers remains De Niro’s second-highest-grossing movie, falling behind 2019’s Joker. The movie is loved for its comedic performances from a star-studded cast, although critics were slightly more apprehensive. Still, that didn’t stop Roach’s film from grossing a whopping $522million worldwide.
51. Falling in Love (Ulu Grosbard, 1984)
During the early 1980s, De Niro starred in many movies which, although critically acclaimed, were commercial flops, like The King of Comedy and Once Upon a Time in America. After these box-office failures, De Niro opted for a romantic comedy alongside Meryl Streep, Falling in Love, but that was also a massive financial bomb.
The movie follows De Niro’s Frank and Streep’s Molly as they meet at a bookstore during a mad Christmas rush. A mixup occurs, leading them to end up with each other’s packages, making for the perfect conversation starter when they bump into each other months later. Of course, a romantic connection ensues, and the pair have great chemistry. However, the movie doesn’t boast much apart from two decent performances from two of Hollywood’s greatest actors.
50. Men of Honor (George Tillman Jr., 2000)
George Tillman Jr.’s Men of Honor is the motivational tale of Master Chief Petty Officer Carl Brashear, who became the United States Navy’s first African American master diver. Cuba Gooding Jr plays Brashear, determined to fight racism and become a diver after De Niro’s Master Chief Petty Officer Leslie William ‘Billy’ Sunday is no longer able to dive.
Although De Niro gives a strong performance, the movie has continued to divide audiences with its approach to racism. While some critics praised the film for its inspirational and uplifting message, others, especially contemporary viewers, see the movie as dismissing the severity of racism in America, instead promoting individualism.
49. The Last Tycoon (Elia Kazan, 1976)
In this classic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s unfinished novel, De Niro plays Monroe Stahr, the golden boy of Hollywood’s studio era. Set against the backdrop of old-world glam and politics, his performance is that specific brand of early De Niro – stiff and awkward, yet somehow powerful, and guided wonderfully by directing legend Eliza Kazan.
The journey of Stahr, as he navigates love, loss, and the cutthroat world of film production, is captivating, with De Niro confidently at the helm. The film also boasts an insanely stellar cast, including Tony Curtis, Jack Nicholson and Robert Mitchum, but it’s a testament to ol’ Bobby that it’s his elegant embodiment of Stahr that leaves an everlasting mark.
48. The Intern (Nancy Meyers, 2015)
De Niro gave an endearing performance in 2015’s The Intern alongside Anne Hathaway, playing a retired widower, Ben, who decides to intern at a fashion startup based in his old office. Despite initially clashing with Hathaway’s uptight CEO, Jules, they soon form an unlikely friendship, with Ben dishing out his life wisdom.
Although the movie received mixed reviews, it was certainly Quentin Tarantino-approved, telling the media at the time: “One of my favourite movies this last year was Nancy Meyers’ The Intern. They’re not considering that for the Oscars even though I think Robert De Niro gave one of the best performances this year in that movie.”
47. Guilty by Suspicion (Irwin Winkler, 1991)
The prolific Hollywood producer Irwin Winkler, known for backing several De Niro-Scorsese collaborations, such as Raging Bull and Goodfellas, made his directorial debut in 1991 with Guilty by Suspicion. The filmmaker enlisted De Niro as his leading man, with the actor playing a fictional director named David Merrill, who, upon his return to Hollywood, witnesses the rise of the ‘Red Scare’.
Merrill is affected by the House Un-American Activities Committee, with Winkler basing the character on John Berry, who was blacklisted during the 1950s and forced into exile in France. Although Guilty by Suspicion is a typically overlooked entry in De Niro’s back catalogue, he gives a fantastically powerful performance.
46. Backdraft (Ron Howard, 1991)
Ron Howard’s Oscar-nominated movie Backdraft saw De Niro star alongside a stacked cast list, including Kurt Russell, Donald Sutherland, Jennifer Jason Leigh and William Baldwin. The action thriller sees a group of firefighters go on the hunt for a dangerous arsonist wreaking havoc in Chicago. With a Hans Zimmer score and spectacular special effects, Backdraft was praised for its enjoyable and immersive action, even if many firefighters criticised the movie’s realism.
However, the actors, including De Niro, dedicated themselves to the role by embarking on real firefighting training and accompanying Chicago firefighters on call to experience the pressures of the job. Howard once explained, “De Niro met different fire investigators. When they rolled cameras, I realised he adopted the posture of one guy, the attitude of another and the sort of cadence and command of the vernacular from a third.”
45. Greetings (Brian De Palma, 1968)
De Niro was fortunate enough to collaborate with the directing icon Brian De Palma when the two film legends were still in the early part of their respective careers. A year before the 1969 Troma-produced farce film The Wedding Party, De Niro performed in De Palma’s black comedy Greetings.
It was the actor’s first major role, and the film itself was actually the first American movie to be given an X rating by the Motion Picture Association of America (although it was later lowered to an R). Greetings tells of a group of men looking to dodge the Vietnam War draft in a style of true satire. It’s an important movie in the careers of both De Niro and De Palma, giving them both one of their first critical hits.
44. Jacknife (David Hugh Jones, 1989)
By 1989, De Niro had already been a big name in the film industry for the best part of two decades, but he refused to rest on his laurels and continued to work tirelessly to become one of the greatest actors of his generation. The last year of the 1980s saw the release of David Jones’ Jacknife, in which De Niro stars opposite Ed Harris and Kathy Baker.
De Niro plays a Vietnam War veteran by the name of Joseph Megessey, who struggles to fit into society in the throes of PTSD, a character we’d seen the actor perfect over the preceding years, only this time ‘Megs’ is tasked with helping a fellow veteran escape his alcoholism, confront his dark memories of conflict and begin to enjoy life once more. For De Niro, this is an underrated performance.
43. City by the Sea (Michael Caton-Jones, 2002)
The turn of the new millennium arguably saw De Niro depart from the kind of iconic performances that gave him his unrivalled stature as an actor, at least until more recent years. Still, he had a decent effort or two still left in him and delivered a commendable performance in Michael Caton-Jones’ 2002 crime drama City by the Sea.
The film tells of De Niro’s New York City police veteran detective Vincent LaMarca, whose father was executed for murdering a child he’d kidnapped for ransom. There’s a deep guilt in Vincent that De Niro depicts admirably as he tries to break free from his past and make amends for his father’s actions.
42. Joy (David O. Russell, 2015)
Although De Niro’s best-known collaborator is Martin Scorsese, the actor has also frequently worked with David O. Russell, appearing in movies such as Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle, Amsterdam and Joy. In the latter, De Niro stars as Rudy Mangano, the titular character’s father, played by another serial Russell collaborator, Jennifer Lawrence.
Based on a true story, the movie follows Joy Mangano, the inventor of the self-wringing mop, who becomes a self-made multi-millionaire. While most praise was reserved for Lawrence, De Niro gives a solid supporting performance, with both actors demonstrating strengths greater than Russell’s script.
41. We’re No Angels (Neil Jordan, 1989)
In 1989, De Niro appeared in Neil Jordan’s remake of Michael Curtiz’s 1955 comedy We’re No Angels alongside Demi Moore and Sean Penn. However, like many of the actor’s projects from the 1980s, We’re No Angels was a box-office flop, grossing just $10.5million against a $20m budget. Set during the Great Depression, De Niro and Penn play convicts who end up on the run with a killer named Bobby.
Soon enough, they end up posing as priests to escape being caught, finding their lives forever changed by their new holy positions. We’re No Angels is a lighthearted slice of fun which intends to entertain rather than cause deep contemplation, with De Niro giving an enjoyable performance nonetheless.
40. Being Flynn (Paul Weitz, 2012)
Paul Weitz’s 2012 drama Being Flynn sees De Niro as the father of Paul Dano’s Nick Flynn, a troubled aspiring writer who finds himself working at a homeless shelter. Here, De Niro’s Jonathan Flynn can be found, with the pair frequently coming to blows due to their similar, volatile natures. Based on the memoir, Another Bullshit Night in Suck City by Nick Flynn, the movie blends serious family drama with comedy, although it received mixed reviews from critics.
Still, De Niro’s performance is one of the film’s greatest assets, giving a captivating portrayal of an ex-con man and alcoholic. He uses a beautifully nuanced approach to convey the complexities of his character’s situation, which is marred by substance abuse and homelessness.
39. The Score (Frank Oz, 2001)
The Score saw De Niro appear alongside Marlon Brando in his final film role back in 2001. The heist movie, also starring Angela Bassett, Edward Norton and Gary Farmer, sees De Niro play Nick Wells, a professional safe-cracker who plans on retiring until he is pulled into one last heist. Although the movie was directed by Frank Oz, De Niro is sometimes listed as an uncredited director due to the rocky filming conditions where Brando refused to listen to Oz, frequently referring to him as ‘Miss Piggy’.
An underrated heist flick, De Niro gives a wonderful performance alongside Norton, helping to create a complex and thoroughly enjoyable thriller.
38. Stardust (Matthew Vaughn, 2007)
De Niro appeared in Matthew Vaughn’s fantasy adventure film Stardust in 2007, playing Captain Shakespeare of the Caspartine. He starred alongside an ensemble cast including Michelle Pfeiffer, Claire Danes, Mark Strong, Rupert Everett, Sienna Miller and Ian McKellen. Stardust reflected De Niro’s versatility, playing a character light years away from that of Raging Bull‘s Jake LaMotta or Taxi Driver‘s Travis Bickle.
In one sequence, De Niro dons a corset and pink dress and dances around flamboyantly as intense swashbuckling scenes are intercut between, making for a humorous contrast. It’s not the type of role you’d expect from De Niro at the start of his career, but as the years have progressed, the actor has continually proved himself to be willing to work in any genre.
37. Mad Dog and Glory (John McNaughton, 1993)
Given De Niro’s stature as an actor, he’s been afforded the opportunity to work with some of the finest performers cinema has ever known, and in 1993, he delivered once again in a John McNaughton crime comedy-drama called Mad Dog and Glory, opposite Bill Murray and a young Uma Thurman.
De Niro stars as Wayne’ Mad Dog’ Dobie, a quiet Chicago Police crime scene photographer who is teased by the rest of the department for having never drawn his gun. However, when Mad Dog saves local gangster Frank Milo’s life, his life changes, and he receives a ‘thank you’ gift in the shape of Uma Thurman’s bartender character, Glory.
36. Three Rooms in Manhattan (Marcel Carné, 1965)
Sure, Robert De Niro is one of the greatest actors of all time, having delivered countless genius performances over the years, as proven by this list. But like any actor, De Niro had to start somewhere, and his film debut arrived in the 1965 French drama Three Rooms in Manhattan, directed by Marcel Carné.
Carné’s film is based on the 1946 novel of the same name by Belgian writer Georges Simenon and tells of the blossoming romance between a French actor by the name of François and an American woman called Kay. Three Rooms in Manhattan may not be the best-known of De Niro’s films, but it’s arguably one of his most important.
35. Marvin’s Room (Jerry Zaks, 1996)
Robert De Niro and Leonardo Di Caprio are two of the most immediate names one associates with the work of Martin Scorsese, but the two actors had actually worked together prior to the latter ever performing for the iconic director. After This Boy’s Life, De Niro and DiCaprio both starred in the 1996 drama Marvin’s Room, directed by Jerry Zaks.
The film was based on the Scott McPherson play of the same name and tells of a woman and her rebellious son returning to the home they left in disarray. Meryl Streep plays the mother, Di Caprio the son and De Niro the doctor of the mother’s first husband in this truly star-studded cast. It’s not a ‘perfect’ movie, but it is a brilliantly constructed drama.
34. Analyze This (Harold Ramis, 1999)
Given the fact that De Niro had played so many organised criminals throughout the latter half of the 20th Century, he was well placed to play a mob boss in the throes of an anxiety-induced crisis at the conclusion of the second millennium. Harold Ramis’ 1999 mafia comedy Analyze This saw De Niro confess all to his therapist.
He plays Paul Vitti, the head of a crime family who visits a sceptical psychotherapist, played by Billy Crystal. De Niro delivers his unique take on comedy, while Crystal himself lends the film a generous air of quality. Perhaps we might view Analyze This alongside the iconic HBO TV show The Sopranos, which contains similar themes.
33. Limitless (Neil Burger, 2011)
There was real hype surrounding the 2011 science fiction thriller Limitless, directed by Neil Burger and written by Leslie Dixon, upon its original release. Based on Alan Glynn’s 2001 novel The Dark Fields, the film stars De Niro alongside Bradley Cooper, Abbie Cornish, Andrew Howard and Anna Friel.
Limitless tells of a struggling writer by the name of Edward Morra, who comes across a new drug called NZT-48 which vastly increases the use of his brain, improving his life beyond measure. De Niro plays the finance tycoon Carl Van Loon, who initially helps Morra, but eventually becomes the film’s villain. A frenetic, well-told action thriller, Limitless is a wild ride.
32. The Mission (Roland Joffé, 1986)
We’re so used to seeing De Niro play characters either in the modern age or, at best, in the height of the Italian American crime syndicates, so it’s always refreshing when he finds the iconic actor in a period far before his birth. We got just that with 1986’s The Mission, directed by Roland Joffé and written by Robert Bolt.
De Niro stars alongside Jeremy Irons, Ray McAnally and Liam Neeson in the film, which tells the experiences of an 18th Century Jesuit missionary in South America. De Niro’s portrayal of Captain Rodrigo Mendoza, who kidnaps South American natives and sells them to plantations, is one of his most nuanced performances for sure.
31. The Wizard of Lies (Barry Levinson, 2017)
There’s always an air of scepticism surrounding the dreaded direct-to-TV movie, but in 2017 Barry and Sam Levinson got it right. Their biopic movie The Wizard of Lies is based on the 2011 Diana B. Henriques non-fiction book of the same name and has De Niro portray the disgraced former businessman-come-fraudster Bernie Madoff while Michelle Pfeiffer plays his wife, Ruth.
Madoff was once a Wall Street banker who developed one of the biggest investment funds on the market. However, it transpires that he’d been running the largest Ponzi scheme known to humankind, resulting in a widely-publicised scandal and 150 years in prison. De Niro’s portrayal of the former financier was bang on the money.
30. Ronin (John Frankenheimer, 1998)
Could this be Robert De Niro’s first foray into the samurai film? Unfortunately not, but that doesn’t stop John Frankenheimer’s 1998 action thriller from being one of the actor’s better efforts. It was written by John David Zeik and David Mamet (under the name Richard Weisz) and features one hell of an ensemble cast.
De Niro teamed up with the likes of Stellan Skarsgard, Sean Bean and Jonathan Pryce to deliver a thrilling tale about a team of former special operatives taking on a heist job to take possession of a strange, well-protected briefcase as their loyalties are put to the test. De Niro’s certainly on form here, and the car chases are particularly impressive.
29. Night and the City (Irwin Winkler, 1992)
There had already been a film adaptation of Gerald Kersh’s 1938 novel Night and the City, the 1950 film noir directed by Jules Dassin, but in 1992, Irwin Winkler delivered the narrative once again in a neo-noir style with a script from Richard Price. De Niro stars opposite Jessica Lange in this spot-on adaptation.
He plays Harry Fabian, a lowly New York lawyer who spends his time hanging out at a dodgy bar called Boxers, that Helen, the woman he’s having an affair with, co-owns with her husband. Helen has dreams of leaving her husband and having her own bar, which has Harry conjure up his own dreams of becoming a boxing promoter.
28. Sleepers (Barry Levinson, 1996)
While we often associate De Niro with his performances in Martin Scorsese’s movies, it’s clear to see that he’s offered his fair share of efforts to Barry Levinson too, who directed the 1996 legal crime drama Sleepers, an adaptation of Lorenzo Carcaterra’s 1995 book of the same name. Sleepers is full to the brim of acting talent, and it’s a great film too.
De Niro features alongside Kevin Bacon, Brad Pitt, Dustin Hoffman and Minnie Driver, to name but a few stars, in a harrowing film telling of a group of young boys who are sent to a juvenile centre after a prank injures an elderly man. At the centre, the boys are subject to serious sexual abuse and torture, and the second part of the narrative sees their quest for justice and revenge.
27. Joker (Todd Phillips, 2019)
There have been several excellent portrayals of Batman’s arch-nemesis, the Joker, over the years, but Joaquin Phoenix’s effort in Todd Phillips’ Joker stood on its own two feet, even against the glory of Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson’s previous attempts. There’s also a brilliant parallel in Phillip’s film to some of De Niro’s best previous movies.
De Niro plays the talk show host Murray Franklin, whom Arthur Fleck (soon to become the Joker) idolises. De Niro pays homage to the talk show host character Jerry Langford from Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, which also features a celebrity-obsessed wannabe comedian. There are also shades of Taxi Driver in Joker, a brilliant character study of one of cinema’s most notorious clowns.
26. Cop Land (James Mangold, 1997)
James Mangold’s second feature film Cop Land followed the success of his 1995 debut Heavy, setting him up to take charge of The Wolverine, Logan and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. De Niro features as part of a brilliant cast, including Sylvester Stallone, Harvey Keitel and Ray Liotta, marking the coming together of four titans of cinema.
Cop Land tells of a New Jersey small-town sheriff, Freddy Heflin (Stallone), who battles against the corruption of a group of New York City police officers who also live there. He’s assisted by De Niro’s investigation unit lieutenant Moe Tilden, who helps him to build a case against their underhand dealings. Brimming with talent, De Niro certainly adds to Cop Land’s quality.
25. Silver Linings Playbook (David O. Russell, 2012)
As De Niro has performed for the likes of Martin Scorsese and Barry Levinson on several occasions, he’s also offered his acting services to David O. Russell more than once, notably in the 2012 romantic comedy-drama Silver Linings Playbook. The actor stars alongside Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Tucker.
Russell’s film is based on Matthew Quick’s 2008 novel of the same name and tells of a bipolar man who moves back in with his parents after being released from a psychiatric hospital with the hopes of winning back his estranged wife. De Niro plays the man’s father in this heartwarming tale and Oscar-winner that was a sympathetic and accurate breakdown of life with mental health conditions.
24. American Hustle (David O. Russell, 2013)
Just a year later, De Niro followed up with yet another performance in a David O. Russell film and another also starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence. American Hustle was inspired by the FBI Abscam sting operation of the 1970s and 1980s. De Niro and Cooper are also joined by Jeremy Renner, Christian Bale and Amy Adams in one of Russell’s most successful movies.
De Niro did only have a cameo role in American Hustle, but that ought not to take away from having the 2013 black comedy crime film so high on this list. Bale and Adams play two con artists who are made to take part in a sting operation against several corrupt New Jersey politicians.
23. Brazil (Terry Gilliam, 1985)
Science fiction isn’t the first film genre we think of when bringing Robert De Niro to mind, but he actually featured in one of its best-ever efforts, Terry Gilliam’s dystopian dark comedy Brazil. Jonathan Pryce stars in the lead role alongside De Niro, Michael Palin, Bob Hoskins and Ian Holm.
Brazil tells of a lowly bureaucrat who grows tired of his joyless job and his tiny abode while trying to track down a woman who keeps appearing in his dreams. The brilliance of Gilliam’s film is its dystopian world, undoubtedly influenced by George Orwell’s 1984 and Franz Kafka. De Niro’s role as the suspected terrorist Archibald Tuttle is one of his most memorable appearances.
22. Wag the Dog (Barry Levinson, 1997)
It’s fair to say that Dustin Hoffman is of similar cultural stature to De Niro, and the 1997 Barry Levinson movie Wag the Dog saw the two film icons finally star in the same film. It’s a political black comedy satire telling of a spin doctor and a Hollywood movie producer who spin a false war in Albania to distract from a sex scandal with the US president.
Funnily enough, Wag the Dog was released just one month before the infamous Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal and the Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory bombing by the Clinton administration, which had audiences draw fair comparisons between real life and the movie. De Niro’s performance as the spin doctor Conrad Brean might just be one of his most underrated.
21. Midnight Run (Martin Brest, 1988)
Catching De Niro in a buddy road action comedy is any cinema fan’s ultimate dream, and that’s just what we’re afforded with Martin Brest’s 1988 film Midnight Run. Charles Grodin stars opposite De Niro with supporting efforts from the likes of Yaphet Kotto, John Ashton, Dennis Farina and Phillip Baker Hall.
Narratively, we find De Niro’s bounty hunter character Jack Walsh contracted by the bail bondsman Eddie Moscone (Grodin) to track down an accountant by the name of Jonathan ‘The Duke’ Mardukas, who has recently embezzled $15million from a notorious Chicago crime boss. Midnight Run is truly chaotic, but that’s precisely what makes it one of De Niro’s better films.
20. Meet the Parents (Jay Roach, 2000)
Ah, this absolute gem. It was an absolute joy to watch De Niro not take himself so seriously in the classic 2000 comedy movie Meet the Parents, directed by Jay Roach. It tells of a kind-hearted nurse who must visit his girlfriend’s parents for the first time, one of whom just so happens to be De Niro’s Jack Byrnes, a former CIA operative and Vietnam War veteran.
Jack hates Ben Stiller’s Gaylod’ Greg’ Focker’ (what a name) from the off and makes it fully clear that he does not approve of his relationship with his daughter Pam (played by Teri Polo). The iconic moments featuring De Niro in Meet the Parents are too many to list here, but it’s certain that the actor delivered one of his most off-kilter performances. For our money, this is his finest comedy role.
19. 1900 (Bernardo Bertolucci, 1976)
De Niro has had the chance to work with some of the best and most exclusive filmmakers of all time, including Quentin Tarantino, Francis Ford Coppola and Bernardo Bertolucci. In 1976, he worked with the latter for the period drama 1900, where he starred alongside Gérard Depardieu and Laura Betti in a film that told the story of a class struggle in 20th Century Italy.
Topping over five hours, Bertolucci’s film is a tough watch, but there’s much to get out of it for viewers dedicated enough to sit through its epic chronicle, with De Niro leading the line with an excellent performance.
18. This Boy’s Life (Michael Caton-Jones, 1993)
There’s no doubt that De Niro was one of the most prolific stars ever to come out of Hollywood throughout the 20th century, so it was only apt that he would help to foster the talents of a new generation towards the tail-end of his career. In 1993, he would work with a young Leonardo DiCaprio for This Boy’s Life, a brutal drama that told the story of a rebellious teenager and his abusive stepfather.
Based on the memoirs of the same name by writer Tobias Wolff, the film saw De Niro play the same stiff, cold gangster we’ve seen in Scorsese crime flicks. However, this time, he was leading a coming-of-age drama. The transition works perfectly, and De Niro delivers one of his most mesmerising performances.
17. Angel Heart (Alan Parker, 1987)
When we consider the greatest De Niro movies of all time, too often do we immediately go to the films of Martin Scorsese, but there are other releases from iconic names that share similar greatness. Alan Parker’s Angel Heart is a fine example of this, being one of De Niro’s most underrated movies, telling the story of a private investigator who is hired by a mysterious man to find a singer named Johnny Favorite.
An unlikely horror thriller in De Niro’s crime-heavy filmography, the actor thrives in Parker’s genre-bender, giving an eerie performance alongside the likes of Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet and Charlotte Rampling.
16. Awakenings (Penny Marshall, 1990)
Versatility is a word that we often use to describe De Niro, with the actor capable of taking on a wide variety of challenging characters who can blend into a number of genres. The character of Leonard Lowe in Penny Marshall’s 1990 Oscar nominee is the perfect example of this, with the actor playing a catatonic patient who is gradually brought back to normality after a revolutionary new drug.
Much of the film focuses on Lowe’s relationship with Robbie Williams’ Dr. Malcolm Sayer, with the pair creating an unlikely on-screen bond that would inspire the film with a rousing energy and make for one of De Niro’s most surprising movies.
15. A Bronx Tale (Robert De Niro, 1993)
Critics would call De Niro’s 1993 directorial debut A Bronx Tale Scorsese-lite, and whilst it might not compare to Goodfellas and the like, it remains a riveting crime drama. Starring De Niro alongside Chazz Palminteri, Lillo Brancato and Joe Pesci, the story follows the life of a father who becomes concerned when he sees his son befriending local gangsters in the New York Bronx.
With De Niro behind the camera, it’s no surprise that the star put himself front and centre of his own movie, leading the line with ferocity and command, with his character being the linchpin of this riveting tale.
14. The Irishman (Martin Scorsese, 2019)
Having built his career on explosive crime movies that picked apart the psyche of the lead characters, when fans discovered that De Niro was re-teaming with Martin Scorsese for the 2019 Netflix release The Irishman, they were unsurprisingly ecstatic. With lead stars Joe Pesci, Al Pacino and De Niro each being significantly older than they used to be in their respective 20th-century crime flicks, Scorsese focused on the lives of a trio of criminals looking back on their lives.
Nominated for ten Academy Awards, Scorsese’s film was an epic which stood at three and a half hours long, that melded the past and the present, using de-ageing CGI to tell an innovative tale that proved to be one of De Niro’s greatest collaborations with the filmmaker.
13. Cape Fear (Martin Scorsese, 1991)
If this list should tell you one thing, it’s that Robert De Niro is incredibly good at playing particularly rotten fellows, and his role in Scorsese’s 1991 film Cape Fear is a fine example of this. Adapted from John D. MacDonald’s 1957 novel The Executioners, as well as the original 1962 film of the same name, Cape Fear tells the story of a convicted rapist who is released from prison and immediately sets out to find the lawyer who tried to defend him.
Sharpening his teeth to appear more physically intimidating for the role, De Niro’s performance in Cape Fear might be his most menacing of all time, helping to tie the entire movie together as a riveting and effective thriller.
12. The Untouchables (Brian De Palma, 1987)
Taking on the role of Al Capone was something that De Niro was greatly interested in throughout his time at the top of his game in the 1970s and 1980s. He finally took up this dream in 1987, collaborating with director Brian De Palma for the prohibition thriller The Untouchables, which followed a police force that was set up to stop Capone and his gangster cronies in their tracks.
Although he doesn’t appear much in the movie, De Niro captures Capone’s grandeur, hovering over the film with an overbearing presence that makes the entire film feel more intense and dramatically stirring. As for when he’s on screen, the actor is familiarly dedicated to recreating the icon’s every characteristic.
11. Jackie Brown (Quentin Tarantino, 1997)
If Martin Scorsese was the director who held Hollywood in a vice-like grip in the latter stages of the 20th century, then American filmmaker Quentin Tarantino was certainly the man who was going to take things forward into the new millennium. Having already won the Palme d’Or for 1994’s Pulp Fiction, Tarantino followed things up with Jackie Brown three years later, a stylish crime thriller that was considerably more restrained than his previous films.
De Niro played Louis Gara, an unintentionally humorous gangster who has little time for frivolities in Tarantino’s crime drama about drug smuggling, with the actor forming part of a riveting ensemble that also included Samuel L. Jackson, Pam Grier and Bridget Fonda.
10. Once Upon a Time in America (Sergio Leone, 1984)
‘Once Upon a Time’ prefaces some of the most classic stories of all time, no less than Sergio Leone’s own pair of classic movies, 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West and 1984’s Once Upon a Time in America. An odyssey of 20th-century crime, Leone’s tale follows a former Prohibition-era Jewish gangster who is forced to face up to the ghosts of his past when he returns to his old stomping ground.
With all the class of a Scorsese flick and the cinematic proficiency of Leone, Once Upon a Time in America revisits the magnetising romance of the suited and booted gangster, with De Niro starring alongside the likes of Elizabeth McGovern, James Woods and Joe Pesci.
9. Casino (Martin Scorsese, 1995)
Predictably, our top ten greatest Robert De Niro movies of all time include a large number of Scorsese titles, with the iconic director putting the actor front and centre for many ambitious projects. One such overlooked classic is the 1995 Goodfellas follow-up Casino, a film that tells the story of a casino executive and a mafia member who are competing for financial dominance in Las Vegas.
Often considered to exist under the shadow of Goodfellas, Casino is fantastic in its own right, giving Scorsese a chance to flex his cinematic muscles and deliver some of his greatest shots to date.
8. Mean Streets (Martin Scorsese, 1973)
Scorsese’s journey towards critical and commercial success began back in the early 1970s, specifically with the release of Mean Streets, the first film that would establish him as a master of the crime genre. As well as Scorsese’s breakout hit, the film would also prove to be the very first critical success for De Niro, who starred in the movie as a volatile crook whose friends and coworkers are desperate to keep in line.
De Niro stars alongside Harvey Keitel in this classic crime flick that would prove to illustrate many of the formative traits that would later go on to define some of Scorsese’s very best movies. As a first attempt, it’s a pretty remarkable piece of cinema.
7. Heat (Michael Mann, 1995)
By the 1990s, fans and critics knew exactly what De Niro was all about, but Michael Mann’s Heat offered another string to the actor’s bow, with the film being an entirely more melodramatic version of Scorsese’s po-faced crime flicks. Starring opposite Al Pacino, De Niro plays a master criminal whose latest robbery prompts an intense investigation by a determined arm of the LAPD.
Showing off an intimidating performance that rivals 1991’s Cape Fear, De Niro walks the tightrope of Mann’s script perfectly, delivering a performance that is aptly suited to the tone and style of this carnival of an action movie.
6. The Deer Hunter (Michael Cimino, 1978)
The Vietnam War was understandably a major subject of discussion throughout the late 20th century, with cinema playing an integral role in holding up a mirror to the actions of the American government. Michael Cimino’s The Deer Hunter was one of the very first films to be released following the end of the war in 1976 and was certainly a pioneer of its genre, thanks to its critical views of the conflict.
The film itself follows the lives of a group of friends in small-town Pennsylvania, whose lives are changed forever once they return from Vietnam. A dark and tender study, Cimino’s five-time Oscar winner is as successful as it is thanks to its fantastic central performances from De Niro, Christopher Walken, Meryl Streep and John Cazale.
5. The King of Comedy (Martin Scorsese, 1982)
De Niro often played the same kind of person in each of Scorsese’s movies, adopting a tough-guy persona to play gangsters, crooks and convicts, but in The King of Comedy, he is allowed some true versatility. Leading the film with a dominating performance, De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, an enthusiastic yet undoubtedly unsuccessful comedian whose desperation to reach the top of his game leads him to a wild behavioural spiral.
Penned by Paul D. Zimmerman, The King of Comedy thrives as a result of its tight script that melds genres to create something equally hilarious, disturbing and eye-opening, with De Niro’s Pupkin becoming an icon of cinema in the process.
4. Goodfellas (Martin Scorsese, 1990)
Perfectly embodying the style and vibrancy of 1990s filmmaking, Scorsese’s Goodfellas was a fine example to the rest of the industry, demonstrating how the following decade should be played out in terms of cinematic excellence. His story followed the story of the real-life American mobster Henry Hill, with the film detailing his relationship with his wife and fellow criminals.
Boasting a stellar cast that included De Niro, Joe Pesci and the late Ray Liotta, Goodfellas is a beacon to the brilliance of Scorsese and his regular cast members, being perfectly put together, carried out and performed
3. The Godfather: Part II (Francis Ford Coppola, 1974)
Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to his mammoth cinematic achievement of The Godfather is one of the few sequels in cinematic history to rival the quality of its predecessor, if not surpass its greatness. Set both before the events of the first film and following its events, Part II effortlessly weaves between two timelines, drawing a fascinating comparison between how a young Vito Corleone (Robert De Niro) managed with being the head of the mafia in his youth, whilst Michael experiences his own challenges in the future.
One of cinema’s greatest-ever expressions of the American dream, Coppola’s sequel is a joyous odyssey that painstakingly examines the psychologies of some of life’s most ruthless (and undeniably stylish) criminals.
2. Taxi Driver (Martin Scorsese, 1976)
There are few films that have both won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival and also captured the hearts and minds of cinema fans across the world. A fraught emotional drama, Scorsese’s troubled tale follows Travis Bickle, a scarred Vietnam War veteran whose life as a taxi driver in New York City leads him down a path of violence and bitter revenge at the city he sees morally crumble around him.
Nominated for four Academy Awards, Taxi Driver is the perfect synthesis of Scorsese’s deft direction, Paul Schrader’s complex screenplay and the lead performance of De Niro, who seems eerily comfortable within the skin of Bickle, a mentally unstable antihero.
1. Raging Bull (Martin Scorsese, 1980)
No movies in the filmography of De Niro or Scorsese so heavily rely on such a powerful central performance as Raging Bull, with the 1980 movie arguably standing as the pinnacle of both icons’ careers. Penned by a duo of masterful screenwriters Paul Schrader and Mardik Martin, the story follows the true story of Jake LaMotta, a professional American boxer whose own violence outside of the ring forced him out of the ring.
Whilst the film features some of Scorsese’s finest cinematic compositions, this movie is De Niro’s to command and mould to his liking, giving an unrivalled depth and complexity to the character of LaMotta. Playing a deeply troubled character, De Niro delivers a performance that swells with pain and torment, leading to a final scene that sees the actor mirror Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront, “I coulda been a contender”. It’s pure cinema.
