Review: Robert De Niro as ‘The Comedian,’ a Has-Been Seeking a Comeback

Seeing the reviews - meaning absolutely every review - after I rented this movie I expected to stop it 10 minutes in. Doesn't anyone who reviews movies for a living have a sense of humor anymore? And any characters besides white men must, of course, be flawless or it's patronizing or worse. This is a funny movie unless your always poised to be outraged and offended.

Sorry -- but I found this a surprisingly good movie. "Surprisingly" because I didn't think that DeNiro could play a comic believably. He can -- a comic of the type he is supposed to be in the film. BTW, the complaint that his character is more sour/bitter than funny misses the point. Jackie Burke (the character DeNiro's playing, is basically a sour, even bitter guy who can be/and at times is fairly (but not hilariously) funny in just that mode (e.g. the scene at his niece's wedding). But then his character shouldn't be hilariously funny or he wouldn't be who Jackie Burke is -- a 74 year old who made it big on a sitcom for a while many years ago and who exists in the minds of those who remember him at all only as the character he played on that show.

P.S. the complaint that DeNiro's character is patronizing toward women is absurd. Of course he is -- given his age, background, and temperament, how could he be otherwise? If he hadn't been edgy and hostile in that cable TV confab scene, his character and the movie as a whole would have had no dramatic credibility. What next -- Captain Ahab wasn't nice to whales?

Who ever wrote this review did a real great job in describing the story line. But he apparently doesn't know how to enjoy laughing at our selves and make fun of so many life's aspects. DeNiro was perfect, even if he doesn't expect an Acadamy Award.

OMG, I saw a much different movie the evening of Feb 3, thought the direction was wonderful, and laughed my head off. De Niro and Mann had such outstanding chemistry that my heart ached for her return when she was absent without excuse for a long stretch. That turned out to be a terrific move setting up the audience for the exquisite scene with the elderly crowd in Florida, which in turn led to the climax of the story. Highly recommended as one of the ten best movies of the last 57 weeks.

De Niro has, indeed, been practically phoning it in for a long time. The last film he was in where I was truly engaged was Ronin. Regarding The Comedian, it does start with an interesting premise, but Taylor Hackford, the director behind An Officer And A Gentleman??

You'd really need a director with an edge -- a Jonathan Demme, David Cronenberg, Todd Solondz, maybe even Alan Parker (or god forbid, Martin Scorcese). I'm even wondering what a Woody Allen would have done with this picture. This sort of film can, and in this case, apparently has, fallen into formulaic feel-good type of entertainment. A big mistake. I think DeNiro is potentially capable of it, but he's doing movies for the money (apparently needing it since a divorce); and he needs material and a director to push him into really uncomfortable emotional territory.

Another "watch for cable" flick for Mr. De Niro, who's almost always worth watching, if not paying for.

Dirty Grandpa was as pathetic a movie as can possibly be made, I guess he made it even lower. Amazing to hear the disgusting and filthy mouthed actor in Dirty Grandpa (a vehicle made just for him) criticize Trump for his foul verbiage.

II am really at a loss for what plagues Robert De Niro. In several of his films of late (Dirty Grandpa not withstanding) his performances are good, but the films are bad. I'm thinking of Being Flynn, The Intern and even Hands of Stone. De Niro shows up and does a solid job, but it seems the filmmaking lets him down.

I've seen just about everything this actor has done (much of it during the summer I decided to abandon my dissertation). The point is, in an emotional slight of hand, for a few months I transferred the research skills used for my dissertation to examining this actor's career. In one of the few interviews available at the time, in reference to the intensity with which De Niro attacked his roles, I believe he was quoted as saying something like, "I won't always be doing this." I took this to mean that he had chosen not to continue immersing himself so seriously in role after role after role.

He also said his future was in directing. De Niro directed two great films, The Good Shepherd being the better and totally underrated one. I wish he had continued in that direction.

Still, as a dedicated fan, I am not giving up. I look forward to the Scorsese project. Let's keep our fingers crossed!

Not even streaming for free.

"Review: Robert De Niro as ‘The Comedian,’ a Has-Been Seeking a Comeback". this is an excellent description of De Niro's later-stage career. someone should tell him that he can't (and shouldn't attempt to) do comedy or romance.

DeNiro once got great vehicles, the way a great comic gets great lines. Each has to deliver what another wrote, not easy when the script or line is second-rate or worse.
For some reason, DeNiro has been accepting scripts King Kong couldn't lift and the acting shows his disappointment and resignation. Better an unforgettable cameo in an otherwise-forgettable movie than a starring role in a completely forgettable one, but the money is way worse. Too many dogs and that disappears, too. The failed comic becomes a waiter or barkeep....

I thought DiNiro was terrific in the Bradley Cooper film (Silver Linings Playbook?) where he played Coopers OCD father and bookmaker. You can't be the Raging Bull every time out. Give the guy a break. Also Leslie Mann is much under appreciated as a comic actor.

Taxi Driver, The Deer Hunter, Raging Bull. Wow. They really were the days.
DeNiro lost me as a fan with Meet The Fockers. Today, if he has a major role in a film, that serves as a red flag NOT to view that film. To borrow a phrase, "So Sad...".

DeNiro has been phoning it in for years. He's doing it for the money and I don't blame him, but I will not pay for any of his movies that have become over the years basically silly junk.

Unless he plays a violent nut, he has no 'zing'.

It used to be that I looked forward to a DeNiro movie coming out. Now I cringe. 'Dirt Grandpa' - really? Is he that desperate for money that he has to take on these terrible roles? I think it's time he called it quits.

Going against the grain, here, but I liked the trailer! Actually laughed out loud several times.

This is too formulaic to be a useful criticism

Ms. Dargis' review of "The Comedian" is right-on.
As impressive as Mr. De Niro's resume is, frankly, he has never been funny. It's just not in his DNA.

Manohla nails it here in her review with one exception. Leslie Mann is absolutely fantastic; this is an Oscar (supporting actress) worthy performance that will be ignored because the film is such a misfire.
Manohla goes into PC mode in condemning the actress for playing the role of an unenlightened woman. In fact, Mann's performance is so strong because she's far less wide-eyed than in movies directed by her husband, and she presents a real if flawed character who grows by movie's end. It's no mystery why she took the role; why anybody else did is unfathomable.

Robert De Niro stopped "generating good will," with me, at least, when he stopped generating good performances, somewhere around the late eighties. Look, I don't blame him for deciding, after about fifteen years of delivering more of his inner soul than arguably any other actor has, for electing to take it easy on his psyche and stop digging down so deep. But there is something cynical and depressing about his late-career film choices.

Why not one word on Danny DeVito?

Despite this sour review I'm eager and anxious to see De Niro's new movie. In fact I love him! How could I not after his laudatory and accurate characterization of trump?

I don't know from this review whether this is just a bad movie or if De Niro is simply past his "best buy" date. I sure hope it's the former; so many of his films have been brilliant, as is he!

I often wonder if the steady decline in the quality of Mr. DeNiro's output is laziness and no interest in maintaining his talent and reputation as a great actor; or just the overall lousy quality of most of the product that comes out of Hollywood. I'd hate to think it's the first; the second is a given.

Bobby D plus Taylor Hackford; you'd think they could make a decent movie.

I always considered Robert De Niro to be an artist. He was my favorite actor. Now he seems more concerned with real estate.

Nice to see the trailer for this. Might be of interest for people wishing to be in the presence of old favorites in the context of something not overtly stupid.

Watching the trailer is a great way to make a decision on whether or not to see the film! My wallet thanks you!

It's really sad to see how DeNiro has descended to a bloated non engaging actor that he once was for so many of us. I prefer to watch only his earlier movies such as King of Comedy.

If this movie is intended as an examination of a stand-up comic's declining fortune perhaps it should be released as part of a double-bill with Scorsese's brilliant King of Comedy. DeNiro's own declining fortune would certainly be on full view.