MovieChat Forums > Analyze This (1999) Discussion > In acting, De Niro can do anything but.....

In acting, De Niro can do anything but...

posted 20 years ago by Yankee222
38 replies | jump to latest

...cry. This becomes especially apparent in this, otherwise quite entertaining movie. Don't get me wrong, I'm De Niro's greatest fan. I think he is the most outstanding, most convincing, and simply best actor out there. I have never seen a scene in which I didn't see De Niro as being totally into his role, that is, until I watched "Analyze this". There is this one scene where he breaks down in front of Billy Crystal and starts crying because some kind of childhood memory gets to him. His crying wasn't genuine of course but it also wasn't convincing being an actor's crying. Now I know it's a comedy and all but still... Thoughts?

Las Vegas washes away your sins. It's like a morality car wash.

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] dinaga 20 years ago

jang_k, I totally agree with you. It cracked me up too, as I couldn't believe De Niro could cry, in a COMEDY. LMAO! It was hillarious! :)))

[–] 20 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ascferme 20 years ago

In an interview with Patrick Stoner he said he tried to make the crying scenes real especially the one in the scrapyard, and on the dvd he comments that it was real and he used the commercial at the end of the movie to make him cry.
I think he gave it his best shot anyway.

http://www.whyy.org/flicks/past.html (3rd Robert De Niro link)

[–] KingBriscuit 19 years ago

I love DeNiro but the problem is that he is only good at being an angry tough guy...They shouldn't have directed him to cry...Harold Ramis used to be funny...Analyze This is corny, contrived and is no better than Mickey Blue Eyes.

[–] shoosh 19 years ago

I thought those scenes were hilarious, cuz I kept saying to myself, that's Robert De Niro crying! Because he has a reputation of being such an angry tough guy, those scenes were very funny. And who knows, maybe that is how he cries.

[–] dejuanp 19 years ago

I think the first crying scene was meant to be funny. The scene at the scrapyard was more of him actually crying.

[–] spoonfulweighsaton 19 years ago

Ummm... no one's seen The Deer Hunter? Perhaps his crying was weak in this particular film, but I certainly would not identify it as a general weak point.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] vash_and_wolfwood 19 years ago

God knows De Niro can cry. In acting, if you ask me, he could do just about anything. Dee Hunter, Flawless, those movies have very beliveable crieing scenes with Robby. I think the way he cried in this movie was for sheer comedy. Seeing a Mob boss weeping like that did make me chuckle, and none the less it was the same man we had seen as Travis Bickle, or in other touch guy roles.

[–] joliet_jane 19 years ago

God knows De Niro can cry. In acting, if you ask me, he could do just about anything. Dee Hunter, Flawless, those movies have very beliveable crieing scenes with Robby. I think the way he cried in this movie was for sheer comedy. Seeing a Mob boss weeping like that did make me chuckle, and none the less it was the same man we had seen as Travis Bickle, or in other touch guy roles.

I agree 100%. Watching him cry in The Deer Hunter broke my heart.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] moviefiend-1 19 years ago

i think peeps look into the crying scenes way to much...their *beep* funny, nothing more nothing less.

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] apriloreilly13 18 years ago

it was somewhat believable.. but not very much.. i fould it REALLY funny i started *beep* myself laughin... it was kinda believable.. but more unrealistic

(k)-*-April-*-
(*)Muah(*)

[–] john-2519 18 years ago

De Niro crying in Goodfellas in front of Ray Liotta .. a touching point in the movie . He sure can do anything!:)

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] 18 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Levane 18 years ago

dont forget "sleepers" there he is not crying(almost crying) but makes such face that makes you wanna cry.
now about "analyze this" crying scenes.well its a comedy,his goal was to make you laugh seeing him crying,and i think it worked

[–] jam_cl1987 18 years ago

de niro is an expert in all aspects of acting, his crying in this was obviously meant to be idiotic and seamed like he was a big baby. Take raging bull and goodfellas as examples. In raging bull in the scene where he is in the prison cell and crying that is the way someone cries when they are right at the bottom and it seams like there is no way up, just letting everything out and blubbering..he portrayed it perfectly..im sure everyone has cried like that at least one low time in their life just a life is unfair type. Also, in goodfellas when he found out tommy had been whacked his cry was of complete disbelief in what had just happened and he had to release his anger somehow.

Anyways i think deniro has always been the full package and the way he cried in analyze this is perfect to fit the comedy and his character.

[–] adrinegdakian 17 years ago

i agree, it wasn't good crying because i think it was supposed to be funny.....doy

[–] BrianZKing-1 17 years ago

You're De Niro's biggest fan but you haven't seen Deer Hunter, Raging Bull, The Mission, Awakenings, Goodfellas, Sleepers, or Flawless?

I haven't killed a man since 1984

[–] themill 17 years ago

I thought it was great to see DeNiro crying in this, really funny in my opinion. I don't know about it being so unconvincing, though. If you think about it, people cry in a lot of different ways, and it doesn't even always strike us that they're crying. I know a person that looks like he's silently laughing with tears coming out of his eyes, for example. Haven't seen the scene in a while, though, so maybe it does look faked.

[–] the_darkness_of_poetic_humor 17 years ago

Well I wouldn't really look deep into this movie for him crying and having it be realistic(I mean, it is a comedy). But as for Deniro being convincing at crying in a movie..........yeah then The Deer Hunter comes to mind for that!!!

[–] waseemee 17 years ago

I knew Robert De Niro couln't cry a long time a time ago, can any remember in the Goodfellas when Joe Pesci is shot, the way he crys when he finds out he is dead is comical.

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] supernova_painkiller 11 years ago

I saw The Deer Hunter (one of my fav movies ever!) and his crying scene at the russian roulette was not very well succeeded in terms of tears. But very convincing in terms of expression. What I mean is he cries without shedding tears, although is not very convincing most of the times, sometimes it works... it worked there.

[–] nginx 13 years ago

Crying isn't really De Niro's weak point. He has done it before and he can be extremely convincing when he wants to but let's face it, this was a comedy and I got the feeling they tried to make the crying parts funny instead of emotional and even though the crying sounded fake, it actually worked because the audience got a chuckle out of it everytime he did it.

When De Niro broke down again after watching the TV commercial right before the big meeting, I thought that was hilarious and its the way he cried that actually made it so hilarious.

He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither ~ B. Franklin

[–] kikyoCE 12 years ago

I love the crying scenes they're funny!