Sometimes even the most prestige actors take on absolutely bizarro roles. It can leave the most ardent fans with a frown face that Florence Pugh has become famous for. And one such film, starring Robert De Niro, is rapidly climbing the Netflix global charts this week.
Winner of two Academy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Life Achievement Award—Robert De Niro’s filmography is actually dotted with such roles. Even serious actors need to let it loose on sets and have fun with their work sometimes. Plus, some of these films, where actors love hamming it up, tend to be easy paychecks.
The stalwart is known for classics such as The Godfather, Taxi Driver, Goodfellas, and more. But that hasn’t stopped him from experimenting with lighter and more comedic roles. He played the role of whimsical Captain Shakespeare in his sole project in 2007, Matthew Vaughn’s Stardust, a fantasy adventure film based on Neil Gaiman’s 1999 novel of the same name. Captain Shakespeare was actually an endearing character as the leader of pirates who flew an enchanted flying ship. But in and as Dirty Grandpa, endearing is not the mind that will pop into anyone’s head.
Dirty Grandpa is a 2016 American comedy film that follows the misadventures of a young lawyer from Atlanta (played by Zac Efron) as he embarks on a road trip to Florida with his recently widowed grandfather (De Niro) during spring break. The film includes a scene where Efron’s character walks in on his on-screen grandpa totally going to town on himself on a Lazy-Boy chair. And, of course, there is a lot of booze, party scenes and the usual.
The film is directed by Dan Mazer (a frequent collaborator with Sacha Baron Cohen) and written by John Phillips. Aubrey Plaza, Zoey Deutch, Dermot Mulroney, and Julianne Hough appear in supporting roles.
When co-star Mulroney was quizzed by Metro about De Niro’s decision to be in this film, he laughed and said, “He must have a great sense of humour.”
On a more serious note, Mulroney said, “And it seems to be he just goes from project to project and I really admire that about him. And maybe it shows you just how hard it is to make a great movie because there’s the greatest actor who’s not always in the greatest movies. I get it. I’ve shared that experience. Not to say I’m as great as him!”
Dirty Grandpa was a surprise hit at the box office despite several critics bemoaning that this comic caper is the worst thing they have ever seen. Currently, it is nestled in at the seventh spot in the top ten list with 5.57m hours viewed.
