Robert De Niro Ranked

Welcome to "Ranked", a weekly series where I rank a franchise or filmography from worst to best and hand out assorted superlatives. This week, I'm profiling the films of Robert De Niro-whose latest project "About My Father" opens in theaters today.

Robert De Niro's Filmography Ranked:

38.Shark Tale (F)

37.Joker (D-)

36.Raging Bull (D)

35.The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle (D+)

34.New Year's Eve (D+)

33.Guilty by Suspicion (C-)

32.Stardust (C)  

31.Little Fockers (C)

30.Showtime (C)

29.Analyze That (C)

28.Righteous Kill (C)

27.Heist (C+)

26.Grudge Match (B-)

25.Amsterdam (B-)

24.Hands of Stone (B-)

23.The Score (B-)

22.Analyze This (B)

21.Last Vegas (B)

20.Dirty Grandpa (B)

19.Killer Elite (B)

18.Meet the Fockers (B)

17.The Intern (B)

16.Heat (B)

15.Limitless (B)

14.Joy (B)

13.The King of Comedy (B)

12.The Irishman (B+)

11.Taxi Driver (B+)

10.Cape Fear (B+)

9.Midnight Run (B+)

8.Machete (A-)

7.Cop Land (A-)

6.Jackie Brown (A-)

5.The Untouchables (A-)

4.Meet the Parents (A)

3.American Hustle (A)

2.Silver Linings Playbook (A)

1.Goodfellas (A+)

Top Dog: Goodfellas (1990)

Enthralling, hilarious and tragic, Goodfellas is a densely layered mob opus that manages to stand out even in Martin Scorsese's gem-filmed filmography.  

Bottom Feeder: Shark Tale (2004)

Dreamworks making an animated gangster movie with sea creatures is the kind of unhinged idea that I  typically would enthusiastically support. However, Shark Tale makes horrendous use of that deranged plot by using it as the springboard to create an unfunny, obnoxious film that is never anything less than physically painful to watch.   

Most Underrated: Cop Land (1997)

James Mangold really came into his own with his sophomore directorial effort. This story of a small town New Jersey sheriff (Sylvester Stallone in one of the best performances of his career) who decides to stand up to a powerful group of corrupt New York city cops (Harvey Keitel, Ray Liotta, Robert Patrick, Peter Berg, John Spencer) that have been using his community as a command post for their criminal enterprises after years of looking the other way is a compelling slow burn crime drama that really comes alive in its explosive, pulse-pounding finale. 

Most Overrated: Joker (2019)

With Joker, Todd Phillips wanted the whole world to know that he really loves Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. Congrats man, a lot of people out there do too! I wish I had watched either of those films again instead of choosing to watch a hack like Phillips attempt to mimic the spirit of these Martin Scorsese classics with a Batman villain in the Travis Bickle/Rupert Pupkin role. The lengths that Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix go to sell Joker as some kind of provoctative, shocking and profound character study of a mentally-ill man who finally fights back against the system that has been so cruel to him are embarrassing and the desperation behind their over-the-top showy storytelling/acting approaches makes this one of the most putrid, masturbatory pieces of garbage I've ever had to sit through.          

Most Overhated: Dirty Grandpa (2016)

While it's definitely not great, a deep, talented ensemble cast (Zac Efron, De Niro, Aubrey Plaza, Zoey Deutch, Jason Mantzoukas, Adam Pally, Danny Glover) letting loose with the dumb material they were given is enough to make Dirty Grandpa an amusing sex comedy.