When you hear the name Robert De Niro these days, it’s usually synonymous with poor career choices. The once legendary actor has made a habit lately of choosing some pretty crummy roles and he seems to be phoning in all of his recent performances. He’s not the actor he once was and while it’s still always nice to see him show up in a film, he won’t be winning any more Oscars anytime soon if he continues down this path. But then again, he’s Robert freakin De Niro, does he need anymore Oscars or awards?
Variety is reporting that De Niro has settled on his next project, Luc Besson‘s upcoming gangster film titled Malavita. Besson will write and direct the film, which is based off of Tonino Benacquista‘s novel Badfellas. The film will center on “Giovanni Manzoni, a former criminal living with his family, whilst under the name of “Fred Blake,” in a small Normandy village.”
Knowing Besson and knowing his films, expect lots of stylized action and some over the top violence, which could be a nice change of pace for De Niro. It’s been a while since we’ve seen him in a film like this and hopefully it turns out alright.
I’m generally a fan of Besson’s work and despite De Niro’s recent career choices, he’s always watchable. So all things considered, I’m looking forward to this one. That being said, it would be nice to see De Niro return to form and give us another one of his legendary performances.
Will that ever happen? Likely not, but we can dream, right?