Amsterdam (2022) Review
Amsterdam (2022) rates 4 out of 10 on the rewatch scale. David O. Russell assembled one of the largest casts of the decade to tell a true story about a 1933 plot against the American government, and buried it under…
Actor: Robert De Niro
Robert De Niro built his reputation on preparation that bordered on the absurd. He drove a New York cab for months before Taxi Driver, gained sixty pounds for the later scenes of Raging Bull, and learned to play saxophone for New York, New York. The reputation for immersion was earned before it became a joke.
His partnership with Martin Scorsese produced nine films and most of the performances that define him: Mean Streets, Taxi Driver, New York New York, Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, Goodfellas, Cape Fear, Casino and The Irishman. The Godfather Part II won him Best Supporting Actor and Raging Bull won Best Actor.
The later career divides opinion sharply. He spent the 2000s in comedies that traded on the persona, Meet the Parents and its sequels, and critics who watched him in the 1970s found it difficult. He has been candid that the work was work.
The best of the recent performances, in Silver Linings Playbook and The Irishman, show the instrument is intact. What changed was how often he chooses to use it.
