Customer Reviews

De Niro: A Biography

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

When a biographer can't even get the most basic facts right, there's good reason to wonder about the rest of his research, too. In addition to a raft of rudimentary errors pointed out by other readers, Baxter also misidentifies the author of Helter Skelter (it's Vincent, not Steven, Bugliosi); refers to the cult film Spider Baby as Spider Boy; confuses Milton Berle with Arthur Godfrey (this incident is so mangled it's impossible to know who Baxter really means) and claims that Mean Streets (released in 1973) got lost in the shuffle because so many other high-profile movies were released that same year--including A Clockwork Orange (1971) and Deliverance (1972). But why go on? A real mess.

There are so many examples of gratuitous name dropping in this "biography" that it is indeed a chore to get through it. As a fan of much of De Niro's work, I also realize he has made some poor role choices but Baxter has little to say that is positive. I learned some details regarding De Niro's early life and training that were somewhat interesting so I give it 2 stars for that but it seems that a better biography with more balance might be a better choice for the general reader. Actually then later chapters seem rushed as if Baxter was more concerned about hitting a deadline than producing a good and balanced book.

This is a really terrible book. For starters, it's unfair. Most biographers should find a balance between negativity and praise - a good example is Laurence Leamer's recent Arnold Schwarzenegger biography, "Fantastic," which details his faults and strengths.

"De Niro" (oh, what a unique title!) by John Baxter is a terribly painful ordeal. It's clear from the beginning that he dislikes De Niro, and considers his last good performance to be in the film "Taxi Driver" (1976) -- thereby forgetting "The Deer Hunter" (1978), "Raging Bull" (1980), "The King of Comedy" (1983), "Brazil" (1985), "Midnight Run" (1987), "Awakenings" and "GoodFellas" (1990), "Casino" and "Heat" (1995). (I'm one of De Niro's fans who also likes his comedic ventures, but if you're a snobby film critic, chances are you'll consider "Casino" his last great film, if that.)

Anyway, Baxter's first mistake is that he tries to offer film criticism. Simply put, he sucks at a critic because he can't get his facts straight. He says "Awakenings" came out in 1987. Claims "Deliverance" came out the same year as "Mean Streets." Incorrectly quotes De Niro and Scorsese on many occasions, as well as erroneously makes assumptions about their box office failure "King of Comedy." He misspells names frequently, occasionally making mistakes altogether (replacing one name with an entirely different one). He gives incorrect plot summaries and seems to like comparing Pacino and De Niro in his section on "Heat" and other films - a mistake, I think, since they're two very different actors, and anyone who tries to compare them is doing something utterly pointless. I mean, really, they're two great actors - let's just get over with it already, okay?

Another thing Baxter does is try and make a claim to support the fact that De Niro is stupid, inarticulate, weird (because of his intense privacy), and so on and so forth. I think that's a very cheap shot. He's inarticulate BECAUSE he is shy, dumbass. Privacy doesn't automatically make someone a reclusive weirdo. I'm a private person, too, and am not very good at expressing myself through speaking publicly. I don't think that's "strange" - it's just different personalities. If I had to define Baxter's personality, I'd say he's one of those arrogant snobs who belittles others to make himself feel better. But that's my opinion.

Baxter is a really bad writer and he can't get any of his facts straight. His bio is unauthorized and as a result he has nothing worthwhile to say; save your cash and wait for an authorized biography in the future.

From the start, it is obvious that Baxter is not a fan of DeNiro. He seems to feel that DeNiro has wasted his talents by taking on roles in bad movies or hasn't lived up to his early promise. True, perhaps, in some respects, but if you were to believe Baxter, DeNiro's last great performance was Taxi Driver in 1976! Baxter criticizes DeNiro's acting in Raging Bull, one of the most amazing performances by any actor on film. Aside from his obvious lack of enthusiasm for DeNiro's acting, I have to question a lot of the facts of this book. By the second or third page of the book, when Baxter states that Awakenings was released in 1987 (it came out in 1990) I couldn't help but wonder what other mistakes I would find. There were many, too many to remember. His descriptions of film plots are often wrong, his descriptions of characters in films are often wrong (saying that John Cazale in Dog Day Afternoon was robbing a bank so that his lover could have a sex change operation--it was actually Pacino's character's lover! Anyone who even saw the film ONCE would know this). How can I believe anything Baxter writes about DeNiro's personal life when he can't get basic, easily verified facts about films right? I just hope one day someone will write a biography of this great actor that does justice to his awesome talent.

I have read worse biographies I am sure but I have never been compelled to actually post a review anywhere.

The early years actually offer some promise but just as the author accuses De Niro of taking the money and running after a good start, the author does exactly the same by completely fudging the facts from the 80's onwards..his "critique" of Analyse This and Meet the Parents are so acidic you can almost hear the gritted teeth as he admitted to the box office success..

Anyway its a hack job not worthy of parting with cash for..an unspeakably nasty piece of work..and the book is pretty rubbish too.

Baxter certainly doesn't seem to be in love with his subject! Reading this book, you would think that De Niro has only made a couple of decent films.

While De Niro has certainly made his share of lemons, the talent of the man only comes out sporadically in this biography and you don't get a sense of what he is really like.

I wouldn't recommend it.

Even though I knew very little about Robert De Niro when I started I really didn't learn a lot from this book. That's perhaps not surprising from an unofficial biography of a very private man. But what is more surprising, not to say annoying, is how little Baxter values De Niro's work. Other than 3 or 4 films we are constantly told that De Niro phoned his part in, or that the film was a critical or financial flop, proved Robert can't do comedy, that he was acted off the screen by another actor or has failed to command the fees of Tom Cruise. The pinnacles of Baxter's criticism are where he grudgingly praises De Niro's stellar performance in Cape Fear only to dismiss it by saying 'it's in the wrong film' and Heat, where apparently Pacino and De Niro are both so great that they somehow 'cancel each other out'.

I hate sycophantic biographies as much as the next guy, but if you have no appreciation for a subject why write a book? (A paycheck perhaps?)

All I took away from this was a list of films I'd like to check out. Two star for being readable.