We've all witnessed the long, slow slide to mediocrity that is Robert De Niro's post-Goodfellas career. What was once the finest actor of his generation has now become a parody of his former self, most recently slumming in movies like Analyze This/That and Meet the Parents/Fokkers, and Shark Tale.
Well, the decline has finally hit rock bottom I think, with news from the Hollywood Reporter about De Niro's latest project, New Orleans, with a plot right out of The Simpsons' fictional "McBain" series of cop films.
De Niro will play a veteran cop whose partner was not lost in Hurricane Katrina, but gunned down, and he gets teamed up with a new partner, played by 50 Cent, to find the real killer, ultimately leading him to the world of... wait for it.... police corruption!
You can just hear McBain shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" or "Mendooooooooooooozaaaaaa!" already, can't you?
And hasn't the old white guy/hip black dude buddy cop formula pretty much been beaten into the ground?
