This evening the 2013 Fall Movie Preview gets kicked off with a trio of comedies featuring Robert De Niro. Apparently the guy never stops working and we’ll have September De Niro comedy, November De Niro comedy, and December De Niro comedy. This is in addition to Mr. De Niro appearing in David O. Russell’s awards contender American Hustle in December, but we’ll cover that picture later on.
Not too long ago on the blog, I wrote an extensive post about Bob’s decline in the film world over the past decade plus. You can find it here:
https://toddmthatcher.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/what-about-bob-the-decline-of-de-niro/
For quite some time now, De Niro has not exactly been choosy about what movies he picks to be a part of. New Year’s Eve anyone? Godsend? Hide and Seek?
Bob’s history with comedy has seen highs (Midnight Run, Analyze This, Meet the Parents) and lows (Analyze That, Little Fockers, Showtime). It remains to be seen what category this trio of titles falls into.
September De Niro comedy is The Family, where the star once again parodies the fact that he’s played several gangsters in much more serious pics. Here, De Niro plays an ex Mob boss in the witness protection program living in France. Tommy Lee Jones costars as the lawman tasked with keeping him in line and Michelle Pfeiffer plays De Niro’s wife. Pfeiffer did the Mafia parody thing some 25 years ago in Jonathan Demme’s well-regarded Married to the Mob. While this sounds like a tired premise, The Family has some talent behind it in the form of director Luc Besson. He’s directed good films such as 1991’s La Femme Nikita, 1994’s The Professional, and 1997’s The Fifth Element. I hope it works. The Family comes out September 13.
Moving to November De Niro comedy – we have Last Vegas, a high concept pic bringing together four Oscar winners: De Niro, Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, and Kevin Kline. It basically looks like Grumpy Old Men meets Bachelor Party but the impressive cast could bode well at the box office, as long as its not terrible. Jon Turtletaub, best known for directing the National Treasure flicks, is behind the camera. Last Vegas is out November 1.
And, finally, December De Niro comedy is Grudge Match, which teams De Niro and Sylvester Stallone as grumpy old boxers who engage in one last bout. Of course, it’s not lost on the makers of the pic that both leads have starred in very well-known pugilistic tales before (the Rocky franchise and Raging Bull). Like Last Vegas, the high concept could work with audiences and Warner Bros. has scheduled its release for Christmas Day. NOTE: NO TRAILER FOR THIS AT PRESS TIME.
So if you’re in the mood for a comedy this autumn and you like De Niro, have no fear. This is a gold mine for you!
The 2013 Fall Movie Preview will continue shortly with more comedy offerings that don’t have Bob in it….
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