Are you looking at me! (De Niro - John Baxter)

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Product:	De Niro - John Baxter
Date:	12/05/01 (34 review reads)
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Advantages: What little is known about him,is revelaed here

Disadvantages: The guy needs to loosen up here

DE`NIRO BY John Baxter

Robert De`Niro is another one of those celebs that shuns the limelight dramatically considering his status and stature amongst the movie greats. He relies on his craft for his standing rather than obvious publicity and money movies.
Lately though he’s had to dip into his less than favored high action low intellect flicks to subsidize his Tribecca studios in the heart of his beloved New York.Films like Ronin and most of his late nineties stuff would never have carried his name unless there were cash problems.

Deniro has six of the top ten films loved by the critics in the 1980s yet the combined gross was less than Terminator two. That is where this guy comes into his own as he refuses when he can to take no brainers that are fodder for Americas mid west.

The authors take on Bobbie De`niros life is a very unauthorized biography and manages to get quite deep into a very wary Italian Americans intensely guarded life and loves.

The actor was born (1943) into the gentile middle class suburb of Greenwich Village in lower Manhattan and enjoyed a relatively solid up bringing. Son to a right pair of Bohemians, Robert was always destined to the arts and his upper class guardians never blocked him from the smell of the grease paint, very rare when you read film biogs as they generally make it through adversity over opportunity.

He dropped out of high school to start working in local theatre, as he knew early on that acting was his destiny, unlike most of his contemporaries, he shunned TV in its early static days and graduated from theatre to the big screen.
His first film was The Wedding Party in 1963, which even then impressed the people working on it as the young kid shined.
From then the brooding Italian paid his movie apprenticeship by taking intelligent roles enabling him to get personal satisfaction out of his work rather than a dash for wealth and fame like most others who fell away of
his time.

De`Niro quickly established himself amongst the famous Italian American great directors with his hard working if abrasive style of method acting, Marlon Brando the most conversant with this style at the time was very impressed with his young protegee and would work with him in later years.

Booby was notorious for not mixing with fellow actors and people on set were warned not to mess with him when he was “in character”, regardless of your standing in the movie world.
Some people found his rather truculent nature unexceptable, even though in most cases it was his intense nature that was the problem. He even upset our beloved Barry Norman by balling out the aging film show host.

His career really took of when he jumped into Brando’s shoes after The Godfather.such was his and Pacinos brilliant performances that the film almost out did the stunning original Francis Ford Coppola classic.

A star was born and it would be a continuos run of critically acclaimed success as he capped his opener in the remaining film from the breath taking Mafiosi trilogy.
Things really went through the stratosphere when he hooked up with another other Italian great in Martin Scorcese.Consider these five films in your all time favorites for a second. Casino, Raging Bull, Mean Streets, Taxi Driver and the under rated but brilliant King of Comedy.Now that is serious talent folks.

Deniros other great passion was dating and pursuing dusky dark skinned girls.Naomi Campbell was one of his flirtations whilst he bared a child from another that raged on in the paternity courts for many a month in the 19990s.

I don’t think I can remember a more harrowing scene in modern cinema than the Russian Roulette one in The Deer Hunter.The acting and sense of the moment were quiet stunning in my opinion and I have yet seen anything recently on the same planet.

His ability to examine the human condition was his
trademark and sadly not good for Americas Fickle (not thick) cinema going audiences. King of Comedy about a slightly demented stand up comic who thought he was the best ever, but no one else did only took 2.5 million at the box office. But cost 30 million to make.

Theres no doubt that Deniro is one of Americas best contemporary actors,but this doesn’t seem to make money from his intelligent powerful films,maybe this is a sad reflection on the intellect and concentration levels of US punters.
It was a similar scenario with all of his ambitious films with high overheads and little return for his brilliant talent. Luckily there were a batch of directors who loved their craft over paychecks that allowed De1niro and the like to bring their unequalled work to the big screen.

Jeez he even made Robin Williams look good in The Awakenings directed by one of Hollywood’s very few female directors. Shame he wasn’t in We are no Angles then he could have played the annoying midget on that bomb.

This is a good read that lets you into the life of one of the film industries most private and illusive great actors.I know if I met him on my travels I would definitely risk asking for an autograph to be in an even more exclusive club who know little of Mr De`niros most intriguing persona.

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