10 Best De Niro Movies That You Need Watching Update 04/2024

Best De Niro Movies

Metacritic ranks Robert De Niro’s most critically acclaimed films, and these are the ten most popular.

It is safe to say that Robert De Niro is one of the best-known and best-loved movie performers of all time. With a career spanning more than half a century, there are several examples of the actor’s best work to choose from, as well as many examples of his best movies.

Accordingly, here are Metacritic’s top ten highest-rated movies by De Niro, to give a clearer picture of what critics have deemed the actor’s greatest works. Intimate family dramas to vast mobster tales. If you’re a fan of Robert De Niro, you should see all of these films.

1. Silver Linings Playbook (81)

Silver Linings Playbook

This romantic comedy-drama, written and directed by David O. Russell, got De Niro’s first Oscar nod in over two decades for his supporting part.

As the father of the protagonist, a guy who is trying to put his life back together after a violent event, he shows to be a dynamic theatrical sparring partner for his son, Bradley Cooper, who plays the protagonist’s son. Cooper and co-stars Jacki Weaver and Jennifer Lawrence were also nominated for Best Actress that year.

2. Brazil (84)

As a strangely rebellious handyman figure in Terry Gilliam’s nightmarishly comic future dystopia of Orwellian bureaucracy and strangling cities, De Niro is one of his most memorable supporting actors.

As a symbol of hope for the main character’s search for a beautiful woman who emerges in his dreams and breaks the soul-crushing monotony of his life, the character According to Gilliam’s longstanding Monty Python partner Michael Palin, this was De Niro’s second choice of roles on the film after he was unable to land the part of Jack Lint (who took the part of Lint).

3. The Deer Hunter (86)

The Deer Hunter

During The Deer Hunter’s Oscar nominations, De Niro was nominated for Best Actor along with his co-stars, Christopher Walken and Meryl Streep, for Best Supporting Actor and Actress, with Walken winning.

With both good and negative responses to its portrayal of the lives of Vietnam War veterans, The Hurt Locker was nominated for Best Picture and Best Director at the 86th Academy Awards, further cementing its reputation as one of the most well-received war movies ever made.

4. Raging Bull (89)

Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro have been two of the most important filmmakers in De Niro’s career, according to moviegoers.

It was De Niro’s best performance at the Oscars and the beginning of a long-lasting friendship with co-star Joe Pesci in this film on Jake LaMotta and Scorsese’s fourth work with the actor.

5. American Hustle (90)

American Hustle

After the success of Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustler reunited Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence with Christian Bale, Amy Adams, and Jeremy Renner in its strong cast.

In this epic tale of con artists coerced into collaborating with the FBI, Robert De Niro only has a small role, yet the film was a huge smash with critics and moviegoers alike, collecting 10 Oscar nominations.

6. The Godfather Part II (90)

Francis Ford Coppola’s follow-up to The Godfather, The Godfather Part II, was Robert De Niro’s first Oscar nomination and win as Don Corleone’s younger self.

Even though Metacritic gives the second film a score of 90 out of a possible 100, it still falls short of the original in the eyes many moviegoers, who argue over whether or not the second film is better than the first.

7. Goodfellas (90)

Goodfellas

In this true-life narrative of mobster Henry Hill’s ascension through the ranks, De Niro teamed up with Martin Scorsese and Joe Pesci. It’s hard to argue that De Niro and Pesci don’t steal the show when they play Hill’s crazy mob associates.

Several of the films and television shows that followed Goodfellas were influenced by the film’s quickfire approach, which would be explored further by director Martin Scorsese and editor Thelma Schoonmaker on a number of later projects, many of which involved De Niro and Pesci.

8. Taxi Driver (94)

De Niro’s performance as Travis Bickle, a crazy Vietnam veteran who works as a taxi driver in New York City, is one of the actor’s most recognizable roles, creating one of the most memorable movie characters of all time.

From the filmmaker and actor team, Bickle marked the beginning of a lengthy line of complicated characters that spanned decades and ran right up until the present day.

9. The Irishman (94)

The Irishman

As seen by their most recent collaboration, which saw the director and actor reunite with Pesci and tackle similar themes from Goodfellas, the friendship between Scorsese and De Niro is stronger than ever.

There are several key events in 20th century American history that Frank Sheeran is said to have been involved in, and The Irishman chronicles his adult life as it unfolds. With the help of technology, De Niro, 74, was able to play Sheeran in sequences that span several decades with Pesci, and their chemistry together was as powerful as it was inRaging Bull for critics.

10. Mean Streets (96)

When De Niro and Scorsese first worked together, no one could have predicted the impact it would have on their careers, but it nonetheless helped push both actors into the iconic position they enjoy today.

As a result, De Niro would become the film’s most memorable aspect, while Scorsese’s depiction of low-level criminals in New York City would become a theme that the two would explore frequently throughout their careers.