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Was DeNiro vs. Pacino ever really debatable?

A

AStar617

Diamond Member
Everyone loves to try to make the DeNiro / Pacino comparison... I wouldn't go as far as to call Pacino a hack, but the only performances of his that I really enjoy are from his Scarface-and-earlier days--Godfather, Godfather II, Dog Day Afternoon, and Scarface. The only exception to this that I can think of was Devil's Advocate, some later Pacino which I did enjoy very much. (EDIT: Someone reminded me of Donnie Brasco, another later exception.)

What kills me is that most of his allegedly "memorable" performances were at best mediocre (Godfather III, Heat) and at worst laughable (Scent of a Woman, and Glengarry Glen Ross--look at "one of Pacino's best monologues" according to Youtube, artificially stilted string of insults and all). DeNiro wouldn't have to try very hard for his resume to be better than Pacino's, even with his own occasional misses (Godsend).

Thoughts?
 
I agree with the OP. Deniro is the better actor. The man is more versatile.
Pacino is good. But I don't find him all that convincing most of the time.
 
Both were brilliant in their early careers and both starting doing a bunch of crap later in their careers. I prefer Pacino slightly over De Niro, but that's just one man's opinion.
 
i agree, deniro is far better. i mean, i couldn't imagine pacino in the following movies: meet the fockers, analyze that, showtime, and rocky & bullwinkle.

btw, obviously voted for pacino. i appreciate them both, but pacino in the first two godfather movies clinched it for me.
 
Originally posted by: ntdz
Both were brilliant in their early careers and both starting doing a bunch of crap later in their careers. I prefer Pacino slightly over De Niro, but that's just one man's opinion.
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That's about how I feel about them - love them both, but Pacino became LOUD TALKIN' Foghorn Leghorn and De Niro became the grimace pause face.....

 
I'm very curious to hear the Pacino heads defend the Glengarry clip. That scene is just awful, so unnatural. "What are you gonna do about it, a$$-hole." "...to try to earn a living, you fairy, you company man" :roll:
 
Originally posted by: AStar617
I'm very curious to hear the Pacino heads defend the Glengarry clip. That scene is just awful, so unnatural.
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Baldwin's monologue in Glengarry was 10x better.

And who the hell says that Pacino was "memorable" in Godfather III? That movie was a joke
 
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: AStar617
I'm very curious to hear the Pacino heads defend the Glengarry clip. That scene is just awful, so unnatural.
Click to expand...

Baldwin's monologue in Glengarry was 10x better.

And who the hell says that Pacino was "memorable" in Godfather III? That movie was a joke
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I agree, but that's not saying much either. Balwin's scene was good, not great--if it weren't for the staying power of "ABC", it would not have much weight. Some of his dialogue was poorly written, and the "brass balls" bit was just dumb. Come to think of it, maybe my issue with Glengarry is the script and not the actors. 🙂

GFIII is memorable by default, just for bein lucky enough to be included in the trilogy.

And "Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in" did take on a life of it's own, you must admit.

(Sorry, I edited this out from underneath your reply)
 
Originally posted by: AStar617
Originally posted by: NFS4
Originally posted by: AStar617
I'm very curious to hear the Pacino heads defend the Glengarry clip. That scene is just awful, so unnatural.
Click to expand...

Baldwin's monologue in Glengarry was 10x better.

And who the hell says that Pacino was "memorable" in Godfather III? That movie was a joke
Click to expand...

It's memorable by default, just for being lucky enough to be included in the trilogy.

And "Just when I thought I was out... they pulled me back in" did take on a life of it's own, you must admit.
Click to expand...

But it is BY FAR the worst movie of the trilogy. It's horrible. The only thing good that came out of Part III (as you alluded to above) were the quotes.
 
I'm not disagreeing. "Memorable" is just an absolute value term--something can be "memorably bad" or "memorably good".
 
Eh, that one clip doesn't make any of Pacino's other scenes less impressive. They are both great actors... but I would give Deniro the nod. I've been watching lots of Deniro flicks lately, so maybe I'll go pick up a Pacino movie or two and do some comparing.
 
I thought Pacino basically plays the same character (loud, over-the-top) in his movies (excluding GF I & II). Same with Tom Cruise.
 
Originally posted by: mooglemania85
I thought Pacino basically plays the same character (loud, over-the-top) in his movies (excluding GF I & II). Same with Tom Cruise.
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He's only like that unnecessarily in his newer films. I think overall DeNiro is better because he's done better with his entire career. Pacino is awesome, though. His performance in Dog Day Afternoon is incredible.
 
I think they're both good actors. Deniro probably has more range. Pacino was good in Donnie Brasco also. You should check that movie out.
 
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