Actors/Writers that got worse with Age: A companion thread.

[What Exit?]

Actors Who Got Better With Age

I will put up Robert DeNiro. He was a great actor that started phoning it in years ago.



In a similiar vein, John Hughes had an incredible run as a Writer, Director and Producer but either burnt out or got ruined by the success of Home Alone.

He directed 5 classics from 84-87

1. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
3. Weird Science (1985)
4. The Breakfast Club (1985)
5. Sixteen Candles (1984)

He wrote these classics and decent movies:

1. Christmas Vacation (1989)
2. Uncle Buck (1989) (written by)
3. She's Having a Baby (1988) (written by)
4. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987) (written by)
5. Some Kind of Wonderful (1987) (written by)
6. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986) (written by)
7. Pretty in Pink (1986) (written by)
8. Weird Science (1985) (written by)
9. European Vacation (1985) (screenplay) (story)
10. The Breakfast Club (1985) (written by)
11. Sixteen Candles (1984) (written by)
12. Vacation (1983) (screenplay)
13. Mr. Mom (1983) (written by)

But from 1990's megahit Home Alone on his quality disappeared.

Here are his writing credits from then on:

1. Drillbit Taylor (2008) (story) (as Edmond Dantes)
   ... aka Drillbit Taylor: Budget Bodyguard (USA: poster title)
2. Beethoven's 5th (2003) (V) (characters) (as Edmond Dantes)
   ... aka Beethoven's 5th: Big Paw (USA: alternative title)
3. Maid in Manhattan (2002) (story) (as Edmond Dantès)
   ... aka Made in New York (USA: poster title)
4. Home Alone 4 (2002) (TV) (characters)
   ... aka Home Alone: Taking Back the House (USA: DVD title)
5. Beethoven's 4th (2001) (V) (characters) (as Edmond Dantès)
6. Just Visiting (2001) (screenplay)
   ... aka Les visiteurs en Amérique (France)
7. Beethoven's 3rd (2000) (V) (characters) (as Edmond Dantès)
8. American Adventure (2000) (TV) (characters)
   ... aka National Lampoon's American Adventure (USA: complete title)
9. Reach the Rock (1998) (written by)
10. Home Alone 3 (1997) (written by)
11. Flubber (1997) (screenplay)
    ... aka Disney's Flubber: The Absent Minded Professor (promotional title)
12. 101 Dalmatians (1996) (screenplay)
13. Miracle on 34th Street (1994) (screenplay)
14. Baby's Day Out (1994) (written by)
15. Beethoven's 2nd (1993) (characters) (as Edmond Dantès)
16. Dennis the Menace (1993) (written by)
    ... aka Dennis (UK)
17. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York (1992) (characters) (written by)
    ... aka Home Alone II (USA: short title)
18. Beethoven (1992) (written by) (as Edmond Dantès)
    ... aka Beethoven: Story of a Dog (Australia: cable TV title)
19. Curly Sue (1991) (written by)
20. Dutch (1991) (written by)
    ... aka Driving Me Crazy
21. Career Opportunities (1991) (written by)
    ... aka One Wild Night
22. Home Alone (1990) (written by)

Pretty dismal stuff if you ask me.

[OneCentStamp]

Marlon Brando. He went from brooding, intense, and powerful - an actor who changed the way people looked at the craft of acting - to a guy who played increasingly feeble parodies of himself for the last 25 years of his life.

[pepperlandgirl]

Robert DeNiro has my vote as well. He'll always be one of the greatest actors of all time, but he got lazy at some point and content to rest on his laurels. I'm not sure when that happened, though. Maybe Analyze This was the turning point, I don't know. I'd love to see him do another movie with Scorsese, though. I bet that would bring the spark back.

[What Exit?]

Marlon Brando. He went from brooding, intense, and powerful - an actor who changed the way people looked at the craft of acting - to a guy who played increasingly feeble parodies of himself for the last 25 years of his life.

He had one final good performance in my mind, it was in Don Juan DeMarco opposite Johnny Depp. This was in 1994. But yes, post Apocalypse Now, was in general bad.

Odd that the two actors listed so far both played perhaps one of the greatest characters of all time in Don Vito Corleone.

[OneCentStamp]

Staying in the Italian-American gangster subgenre, let's close out the trifecta and name Al Pacino. In The Godfather, he was a master of understated menace - a physically small, soft-spoken man who nonetheless commanded attention. Now, he's the gravelly-voiced, scenery-chewing overactor of all time. Seriously, he's now the white Samuel L. Jackson: in order to do an impression of him these days, pretty much all you have to do is yell.

[Rube E. Tewesday]

I don't claim to be an authority on John Hughes or his work, but, like everbody, I've seen some. My kid used to love Baby's Day Out, and I'm not sure it's all that much worse than Home Alone. It's just that it's pretty much the same movie as Home Alone. I don't know if Hughes got worse, or if he just kept doing the same thing and people stopped wanting it as much.

[OneCentStamp]

He directed 5 classics from 84-87

1. Planes, Trains & Automobiles (1987)
2. Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986)
3. Weird Science (1985)
4. The Breakfast Club (1985)
5. Sixteen Candles (1984)

Of these five, I would call the first two legitimate classics. I think the other three are very favorably tinged by the pink lens of nostalgia (to me as well!), but if you watch them now and try to keep some objectivity, they're super cheesy. They have not aged well, and in comparison to modern teen movies, they're not quality films at all.

[Glazer]

Steven King ever since the Bachman Books he just quite trying.

[Myrnalene]

I really don't think there is anyone that can top the threadwinner, Robert De Niro. I don't understand why but it's like he set out intentionally to destroy his reputation. Ten years ago he was probably the most respected American actor, and everyone I know is mystified by the turn his career has taken.

[David Blue Three]

Continuing the Godfather/Apocalypse Now link, Francis Ford Coppola followed AN with The Outsiders and Rumblefish, but after that his work became increasingly lackluster.

[pepperlandgirl]

I really don't think there is anyone that can top the threadwinner, Robert De Niro. I don't understand why but it's like he set out intentionally to destroy his reputation. Ten years ago he was probably the most respected American actor, and everyone I know is mystified by the turn his career has taken.

I think his last really good performance was in Jackie Brown and that was 1997. Granted, I haven't seen every single movie of his since then, but I just glanced over his IMDB, and after Rocky and Bullwinkle, it was literally all downhill. He hasn't had a single acclaimed or blockbuster role in the past decade. Before Giggles and I started watching Scorsese movies, we literally had no idea why DeNiro had a career at all. Of course, now we feel awful about our ignorance and are seeking penance, but with a 10 year string of failures, can you blame us?

[What Exit?]

He really wasn't bad in the Cop Buddy movie he made with Eddie Murphy and Shatner but yes, if you only knew his last 10 years, I can well understand why you would not like DeNiro.

[OneCentStamp]

He really wasn't bad in the Cop Buddy movie he made with Eddie Murphy and Shatner but yes, if you only knew his last 10 years, I can well understand why you would not like DeNiro.

IMO, Ronin was the last really good DeNiro movie, and one of my favorite spy/action movies period..