Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are arguably the greatest director-actor team in American cinema. It was magic from the moment De Niro swaggered into a bar to “Jumpin’ Jack Flash” in “Meant Streets,” and they went on to make seven more films together before Leonardo DiCaprio eventually superseded him as the director’s go-to actor.
Not all of them were hits. “New York New York” received mediocre reviews and “The King of Comedy” was a massive flop that many people didn’t get at the time, only becoming regarded as another Scorsese classic after critical reappraisal. Despite the odd wobble, their partnership has provided De Niro with some of his most memorable roles, such as Travis Bickle in “Taxi Driver” and Jimmy Conway in “Goodfellas,” and won him his only Best Actor Oscar to date for “Raging Bull.”
Their collaborations took a 24-year hiatus (not counting the $70 million promo “The Audition”) after “Casino” in 1995, which, incidentally, was the year that De Niro had his famous sit-down over coffee with Al Pacino in “Heat.” The scene marked the first time that the actors, perhaps the most gifted of their generation, met together onscreen. When De Niro finally reconvened with Scorsese, it was also with Pacino again for “The Irishman.” The film was a welcome return to form for the two actors, giving us a reminder of why they are so revered.
De Niro had kept himself busy since the turn of the century, but, like Pacino and some other big names from the ’70s, his roles were largely a dim shadow of his previous heights. For every nice turn like his performance in “Silver Linings Playbook,” there were quite a few duds like “Showtime” and “Dirty Grandpa.” In the same period, Leonardo DiCaprio established himself Scorsese’s new muse.
