A good old fashioned tale of, well, falling in love. Nothing much else happens in this movie – in fact nothing much happens full stop, but that’s the beauty of it. Robert De Niro is a electrician riding the train everyday to work, he’s married with a kid – nothing much happening there, then – but one day he clocks Meryl Streep and after a few mornings bottling up his desire for her, he finally plucks up the courage to strike up conversation. They’re both cripplingly aware of their responsibilities at home, but they can’t help themselves and inevitably they, ahem, fall in love. Best scene is the one where they kiss for the first time, and De Niro finally blurts out ‘I love you, I really do’.
Read MorePosts Tagged With 'Robert De Niro'
Once Upon a Time in America
This Really Great Big Film comes from Sergio Leone and stars James ‘you would be in hysterics’ Woods and Robert De Niro – proving once again in the opium den scenes that he always looks dead insincere when trying to act happy – in this tale of friends and the nasty things they got up to across a lifetime of being, well, not very nice gangsters basically. It’s just about the full length version which requires a lot of viewing but it’s grand stuff and also features Danny Aiello, which we believe is compulsory for this type of thing.
Read MoreNew York, New York
So bad they re-edited it twice. Martin Scorsese manfully attempted to revive the golden age of the Hollywood musical with a knockabout tale of actress Liza Minnelli and sax player Robert De Niro’s torrid romance in the swing era. Big production numbers and bigger sets jarred somewhat with the prevailing economic thriftiness of the times. The cast’s improvised method acting jarred with the rigid musical structure. De Niro started turning into Travis Bickle. Minnelli, shooting on the same stages Judy Garland once hoofed over, started turning into her mum. The cast-of-thousands opening scene is brilliant, but it’s all downhill from there. Scorsese fudged the romantic ending. Audiences fancied it not. The film barely covered its $14 million costs.
Read MoreGang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight, The
Mob comedy supposedly based on the life of a real mafia boss, though to what extent we’ve no idea as it quickly turns into one brush-daft set piece after another. Old school mafia don Lionel ‘This is my boss, Mrs H. She’s goigeous!’ Stander feuds with young upstart Jerry ‘Detective Lennie Briscoe’ Orbach, whose sister develops a crush on a cycling vicar with a penchant for petty crime (Robert De Niro). Herve ‘De Plane!’ Villechaize takes a lion into a car wash. Best of all, there’s a cartoon title sequence. All would appear to be right with the world.
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Creamguide's Pick of the Day
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The Legendary Bing Crosby
Tuesday, 23.00, Sky Arts 2Doubtless Sky Arts have shown this a thousand times, and probably another channel before that, but we’re a bit quiet this week so it gets in. It’s Bing with all his mates, including Dino and Frank and Bob and of course Dame David, suitably seasonal for this time of year. We don’t know if it’s got him being impressed by Pan’s People, though.
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