Can't wait to see legendary actor Robert De Niro cutting loose as a filthy old man in Dirty Grandpa? Before you do, it might be worth reminding yourselves of those priceless De Niro comedy performances that you've forgotten about...
WARNING: STRONG LANGUAGE
The King of Comedy
The year: 1983
The lowdown: Those who've seen this Martin Scorsese classic would probably hesitate to describe it as a 'comedy,' especially given it revolves around a deluded, aspiring stand-up comedian and his stalker-ish tendencies.
Nevertheless, it does demonstrate De Niro's razor-sharp timing as he plays Rupert Pupkin, a talentless no-hoper so determined to make it big, he pursues and eventually kidnaps his comic idol (played by the legendary Jerry Lewis). Pupkin's ignorance is in De Niro's hands an exquisite blend of the painful and the hilarious, a character so blissfully unaware of his own considerable shortcomings that it becomes perversely magical to watch.
Brazil
The year: 1985
The lowdown: De Niro only makes a small appearance in Terry Gilliam's off-the-wall sci-fi classic, but it's a scene-stealing one nonetheless. As a sort of weird hybrid between a spy and an electrician, his character Harry Tuttle is gleefully ridiculous, a riposte to the accusation that De Niro has no sense of humour.
In spite of his limited screen time, De Niro's appearance is also key to the plot: Tuttle is a terrorist sought by the dystopian powers-that-be, but owing to a clerical error a completely innocent person by the name 'Buttle' has been incarcerated in his place.
It's the kind of darkly comic plot development we expect from Gilliam – and any movie that gets De Niro to play a renegade air conditioning specialist is fine by us.
Midnight Run
The year: 1988
The lowdown: De Niro's best comic performance? It's got to be this one, a riotously funny star turn in which he plays grumpy bounty hunter Jack Walsh. Charged with bringing embezzler Jonathan Mardukas (Charles Grodin) from one side of America to the other, Walsh finds his ostensibly simple operation complicated by rivals, the FBI and ruthless gangsters.
The key to De Niro's success is how straight he plays it: there's very little winking to the audience and no overt acknowledgement that he's sending up his tough guy image. In fact, as a character Walsh could easily have stepped out of any of De Niro's gangster movies, and it's the actor's burgeoning frustration at Grodin's pedantic accountant, not to mention their delightful chemistry, that provides a steady string of enormous laughs.
Mad Dog and Glory
The year: 1993
The lowdown: This forgotten oddity casts De Niro against type as meek police photographer Wayne 'Mad Dog' Dobie who, after saving the life of mobster Milo (played by Bill Murray), finds himself 'offered' a companion in the form of Glory (Uma Thurman).
The movie is a peculiar one and is best remembered for the way in which the roles are reversed, Murray being the tough guy and De Niro being the more understated one. It's best demonstrated in this clip, surely the only scene in which you get to see Pete Venkman beating the life out of Jake La Motta.
Analyze This
The year: 1999
The lowdown: A year before De Niro embarked on the first blockbusting Meet the Parents movie, he delivered a brilliantly sly turn in this sharp comedy as a mobster who begins visiting a psychiatrist in order to resolve his deep-seated issues.
Imagine if the characters from the likes of Goodfellas and Casino were put on the couch and you have the pitch of Analyze This, one that takes great relish in having De Niro send up the roles for which he became famous. And in the form of Billy Crystal, he was also gifted an unexpectedly terrific sparring partner.
What are your favourite underrated De Niro comedies? Tweet your choices @Cineworld. Dirty Grandpa is previewing from today.
