David O'ConnellDe Niro and Pacino: Resurrecting Reputations?
June 17th 2008 03:30
The upcoming Righteous Kill, which will see the first real sustained meeting of Robert De Niro and Al Pacino, will be a fascinating project regardless of how decent or not the film itself turns out to be. And certainly we have to be realistic in suspecting this won’t be another Heat, where the legendary actors were the headline acts in a project worthy of their standings, but only shared 5 or 10 minutes on screen together.
Throughout the '80’s and '90’s De Niro was my favourite actor (after an earlier fascination with all things Eastwood!) but I honestly feel that his status has been diminished and eroded so much in the last decade by his horrible choice of roles and his lack of discretion in choosing so many commercial projects, that it’s at a point now where I have lost a lot of my respect for the man.
Yes, he’s still a giant in the industry, and Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy will always remain amongst my favourite films of all time. But you just can’t get past the fact that De Niro has sold out – time and time again, turning up for a paycheck in the most depressingly generic, throwaway hack pieces. There’s been an obscene string of them mounting up and believe me, I’ve seen them all…………….Rocky and Bullwinkle, Showtime, Hide and Seek, Godsend, City by the Sea, Stardust, Meet the Fockers, and Men of Honor amongst others – all featuring pale imitations of the once great actor of the 70’s and 80’s when his legend was being forged.
His last great films and performances ended in the mid-90’s with Casino, Heat, Wag the Dog and Jackie Brown. Meet the Parents and The Score are solid, entertaining films in their own way and showed a momentary return to form but there's been nothing in between or since. His recent, second stint in the director’s chair produced the meticulously crafted The Good Shepherd; unfortunately it turned out to be one of the most tedious, mind-numbingly boring films ever made!
Al Pacino is another hero of mine and his recent work hasn’t been much better though he seems less indiscriminate in choosing roles than De Niro and can at least boast of the brilliant Angels in America and Insomnia this decade.
Righteous Kill doesn’t seem like particularly ground-breaking material – a tale of two cops on the hunt for a possible serial killer? But there’s some promise in the fact that the screenplay is by Russell Gewirtz who wrote the excellent Inside Man for Spike Lee a couple of years ago.
Of much more concern is the director: Jon Avnet. Here’s a guy whose gone off the rails over the years since his memorable debut, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café. Richard Gere’s vanity-project Red Corner wasn’t too bad, but Avnet was left floundering in directing for tv after the forgettable The War and Up Close and Personal.
His most recent film before Righteous Kill was an unbelievably lame thriller (also featuring Pacino) called 88 Minutes which was left in limbo and unreleased for a couple of years in the States. To this day it’s the only Pacino film I’ve never seen through to the end, so second-rate and unwatchable is it.
I want Righteous Kill to be great just as much as the next person, and though I have my doubts based on recent track records, there will definitely be great joy in seeing two living legends sparring and sharing significant screen time together for the very first time. Perhaps we’ll all be a little more lenient than usual on this one when it arrives?
Throughout the '80’s and '90’s De Niro was my favourite actor (after an earlier fascination with all things Eastwood!) but I honestly feel that his status has been diminished and eroded so much in the last decade by his horrible choice of roles and his lack of discretion in choosing so many commercial projects, that it’s at a point now where I have lost a lot of my respect for the man.
Yes, he’s still a giant in the industry, and Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy will always remain amongst my favourite films of all time. But you just can’t get past the fact that De Niro has sold out – time and time again, turning up for a paycheck in the most depressingly generic, throwaway hack pieces. There’s been an obscene string of them mounting up and believe me, I’ve seen them all…………….Rocky and Bullwinkle, Showtime, Hide and Seek, Godsend, City by the Sea, Stardust, Meet the Fockers, and Men of Honor amongst others – all featuring pale imitations of the once great actor of the 70’s and 80’s when his legend was being forged.
Al Pacino is another hero of mine and his recent work hasn’t been much better though he seems less indiscriminate in choosing roles than De Niro and can at least boast of the brilliant Angels in America and Insomnia this decade.
Righteous Kill doesn’t seem like particularly ground-breaking material – a tale of two cops on the hunt for a possible serial killer? But there’s some promise in the fact that the screenplay is by Russell Gewirtz who wrote the excellent Inside Man for Spike Lee a couple of years ago.
Of much more concern is the director: Jon Avnet. Here’s a guy whose gone off the rails over the years since his memorable debut, Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle-Stop Café. Richard Gere’s vanity-project Red Corner wasn’t too bad, but Avnet was left floundering in directing for tv after the forgettable The War and Up Close and Personal.
His most recent film before Righteous Kill was an unbelievably lame thriller (also featuring Pacino) called 88 Minutes which was left in limbo and unreleased for a couple of years in the States. To this day it’s the only Pacino film I’ve never seen through to the end, so second-rate and unwatchable is it.
I want Righteous Kill to be great just as much as the next person, and though I have my doubts based on recent track records, there will definitely be great joy in seeing two living legends sparring and sharing significant screen time together for the very first time. Perhaps we’ll all be a little more lenient than usual on this one when it arrives?
Together again after 13 years
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