De Niro, as a once great actor, has sunken into lunacy and it is his scariest role because it shows us America's psychotic collapse.
So why would De Niro transform himself from a great actor — and artist—into a crisis actor? Using his gifts to promote demagoguery and political manipulation impaired his ability to shift mercurial common-man handsomeness into urban sociopathy — against all artistic compassion. He sank to the pits of selling out — lower than those European careerists Arletty and Maurice Chevalier, who risked their reputations by collaborating with the Nazis during the years of France’s occupation in World War II. Yet at least they always entertained.
This is worse than the mobsters De Niro portrayed so convincingly in GoodFellas, Casino, and The Irishman. Those roles, despite the characters’ appalling behavior, struck a nerve because they were so credible. But political stunts such as the appalling moment De Niro came onstage at the Tony Awards having only two things to say (“F*** Trump”) displayed mental defectiveness. They show what it looks like to be deluded in an elitist media bubble. Of course the ideologically biased Broadway community gave him a standing ovation.
Our former trust in De Niro’s great artistry was based in his sensitivity — including the insanity, illogic, and meanness that is difficult to countenance in politicians who have gone over to the dark side out of greed and power-madness. But De Niro’s real-life misbehavior comes across as crazed rather than revelatory. And recent crank roles in Killers of the Flower Moon and Amsterdam don’t win back the admiration he has lost. No Hollywood screenwriter could imagine such a downfall. De Niro sunken into lunacy is his scariest role because it shows us America’s psychotic collapse. National Review