Enjoying 'Joy' and wondering WTF happened to Robert De Niro?

De Niro in Joy

I finally got around to seeing the Jennifer Lawrence film Joy last night which was fortuitous since the legendary Robert De Niro gives a terrific performance in that film, and this weekend he is starring in what may represent the nadir of his storied career -- the Zac Efron vehicle Dirty Grandpa.

At 72, De Niro's options as an actor could be diminishing, but he is bankable enough and certainly respected enough to probably get any project he wants off the ground. But for some reason, with a couple of exceptions, over the last 15 years or so he appears to be on a jihad against his own legacy.

This is a guy who has a legitimate claim to being our nation's greatest living actor, but he has devolved so deeply into self parody that longtime fans like myself find themselves at a loss. If Dirty Grandpa's reviews are to be believed, it has no genuine laughs or redeeming value. I have no problem with De Niro doing comedy, mind you. He did it quite well in 1988's Midnight Run.

But there is something intrinsically sad about seeing him hit on younger women and prance around without his shirt, although he looks fit and engaged,
which is good for him, I guess. Still, it's fascinating that of the actors he arrived in Hollywood alongside, it's Sylvester Stallone, of all people, who's giving a heartfelt, challenging performance on screen, while De Niro seems to be doing strictly paycheck projects like The Intern.

In Joy, which I enjoyed far more than I expected to, he gives a very entertaining performance as the titular character's father. And although he sadly disappears from much of the narrative's third act, his work is appealing enough to remind me of how great he can still be when he applies himself.

Curiously, his most respectable work as of late has come almost exclusively in David O'Russell directed films (prior to Joy, he appeared in Silver Linings Playbook, where he played a very similar eccentric role, and American Hustle, where he played a very ominous mob boss).

O'Russell, for all this talent, has taken to pretty liberally quoting from De Niro's most famous collaborator, Martin Scorsese.

Especially with Joy, the sweeping camerawork, retro vibe and improvisational feel -- this is a Scorsese movie several decades late. It actually reminds me a bit of his underrated Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, with its dreamlike qualities and plucky heroine.

It's not everyone's cup of tea, but no one could accuse the movie of not being ambitious. Dirty Grandpa? That's another story. What attracted De Niro to this project? He has already done lowbrow comedies before. It just doesn't make any sense.

The last time I remember De Niro leading a film that had a little spark to it might have been 2001's The Score. That movie has a lot of detractors, and it was probably not the best swan song for Marlon Brando, whose last film it was. But De Niro has some nice moments opposite him and Edward Norton.

It was an interesting stage of his career because prior to his one-two punch of Analyze This and Meet the Parents, De Niro had never been a box office superstar.

His most legendary performances of the previous decades: Raging Bull, The King of Comedy, even GoodFellas, were either flops or only modest money makers. Taxi Driver and The Deer Hunter made money in the '70s, but that was a very different time.

With the exception of Cape Fear, he wasn't someone who anchored crowd-pleasing hits, and it's almost as if once he started playing in that water, he never quite wanted to get out.

And look, De Niro has earned enough accolades to do whatever he wants -- I just think he's depriving us of some potentially great late career performances for the sake of a buck.