Heresy watch.

Stephanie Zacharek (taking a break from Salon / the Movie Club and who will now be referred to as SteZaZa) heads over to the NY Observer and offers up a DeNiro assessment. The lady isn't afraid to ruffle feathers. SteZaZa has this to say about DeNiro as Raging Bull's Jake LaMotta: "Mr. De Niro’s gears are working at full-tilt, but the overall effect is one of overactive blankness." And then she goes for the kill: "It’s heresy to say that I prefer Mr. De Niro in some of the lighter performances he started giving in the late ‘90s, in pictures like Analyze This and Meet the Parents. But I’ll say it anyway. Those performances shook something loose in Mr. De Niro, both as an actor and as, simply, an onscreen presence."
She also prefers his work in 15 Minutes over Goodfellas. I'm thinking that Armond White just might be rubbing off on her.