I miss Civello, Bickle, Vronsky, LaMotta, Cady and Noodles.

Where is Travis Bickle? What  I mean is when did the leading actor in Hollywood become the leading actor in Hollywood because of his looks. When Robert De Diro was at the top of his game he was there because he blow away the audience in every film he made. For instance if you look at Mean Streets.


As soon as he walks into a scene you know it is going to change. Your enjoyment of it doubles. Now that is partly because of the way Harvey Keitel and De Niro bounce off of each other but it is mostly to do with De Niro. He was able to bring something so special to the screen. He was able to steal every scene but still be able to be true to his character who is a bit of a bumbling idot. 

One of my favorite things about Taxi Driver is the way it tells the story thorough De Niro's warped eyes. Most actors want to stay likable by the audience so hold back a bit. They do not want to cross the line and become something that the audience can not sympathies with and follow. De Niro pushed the boat out in this film. He was able to go all the way and completely cross the line but keep the audience engaged with him. This worked because he did not care that he was crossing the line. He played true to his character and just wanted to be this best he could be. When you are watching this you end up thinking things you would not usually think. You find yourself hating certain types of people just because Travis Bickle despises them. This is another good thing about the film. At the end of it your are shocked at yourself for thinking those things.


So where did this all go. Why did De Niro fall off his pedestal and not care about the films he makes. In the 70s everyone wanted to work with him. He worked with the leading people in the film industry. The people who were at the forefront of the making films but then he started to make sometimes three films a year. There are rumors that he wanted an influx of cash to pay for a number of things and this is a shame. It is a shame because we will never get another great De Niro film. At least nothing compared to what he his capable of. I don't know if this is because he can't or won't. Maybe he has not had the right film to push him to his limits because the only people who can afford him are the big multi million dollar films. You could say that he would not try and go back to what he is great at because there could be too much of a fall if he gets it wrong but he all ready has fallen so low. All he can do is climb right back to the top and nock Mr RP back down. So lets hope someone does right a truly great script with a wonderful character and maybe De Niro will decide to do it. So here is hoping.


However at first I did think it was a shame that we I never see him again as on from as he used to be but if I do want to see that all I have to do is stick one of his dvds on. Whilst writing this blog and thinking about all the wonderful moments that he has brought to our screens I really want to watch films such as Mean Streets, The Dear Hunter, Raging Bull, Taxi Driver or Once Upon A Time In America again. Or maybe there is an old De Niro film out there that I have still not seen.


I want to leave you with a scene from one of his films. I took me ages to finally pick a clip to put in here. I didn't think it would be so hard to pick a moment but I decided to go with a scene from Cape Fear. In this he is playing a slightly different role than he usually does and it just backs up what I am trying to say bout him being a wonderfully talented actor