10 Best Robert De Niro Movies That Aren't Gangster Movies Ranked, Including Raging Bull
Mention Robert De Niro, and Goodfellas, The Godfather Part II, and Casino are likely to come up pretty quickly. There’s good reason for that. Watch Jimmy Conway decide someone’s fate over a cigarette in Goodfellas, and it’s easy to understand why directors kept casting De Niro as someone nobody should cross. But De Niro’s gangster movies account for only part of what makes his career worth exploring.
De Niro staring someone down can be terrifying. Put him across the dinner table from his daughter’s nervous boyfriend, and it becomes funny. He knows how long to let an awkward silence last and how little he needs to say to make it worse. He’s just as good when his characters have nothing to hide behind, whether they’re desperate for someone’s approval or facing a loss they can’t prevent. Some of his best work comes from watching him struggle to keep it together.
Choosing the best means looking at more than De Niro’s performance. The movie around him has to hold up, too, whether he’s carrying the story or making a few scenes count. Overall quality, his contribution, and how much there is to appreciate on another viewing determine the order here. Some picks involve crime, and a few get ugly, but none centers on life in the Mob. There’s plenty elsewhere in his filmography to make narrowing it down to ten difficult.
10
Meet The Parents (2000)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/meet-the-parents.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Sitting at number ten, Greg Focker (Ben Stiller) wants his girlfriend’s father to like him. Jack Byrnes (Robert De Niro) would rather hook him up to a lie detector and ask whether they’ve had sex. Jack approaches his daughter’s choice of boyfriend like a security clearance he’s reluctant to approve.
The infamous dinner scene – wherein Greg’s efforts to fit in put him in more and more awkward positions – works because De Niro seems willing to let Greg embarrass himself all night. When Greg claims he once milked a cat, Jack asks whether Greg could milk him, since he has nipples too. He sounds serious enough that Greg has to attempt an answer.
Stiller keeps digging while De Niro watches, giving him nothing to suggest they can laugh about it later. It’s a great use of De Niro’s intimidating presence. The longer Jack keeps a straight face, the funnier it gets watching Greg try to salvage the conversation.
9
This Boy’s Life (1993)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/This-Boys-Life-1.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
In This Boy’s Life, teenager Toby (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his mother, Caroline (Ellen Barkin), hope her marriage to Dwight (Robert De Niro) will give them a stable home. Dwight seems attentive while courting Caroline, but living with him means obeying rules he uses to belittle Toby and keep them both under his control.
Dwight enjoys having someone in the house he can push around, and De Niro lets that enjoyment show. He watches Toby for signs of disrespect, then calls his bullying discipline. DiCaprio makes Toby angry enough to answer back, even when staying quiet would be safer. DiCaprio lets Toby’s anger show even when he knows Dwight will make him pay for it. That refusal to give in makes Toby worth rooting for, especially as he begins working toward a future his stepfather can’t control.
8
Silver Linings Playbook (2012)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/Robert-De-Niro-in-The-Silver-Linings-Playbook.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=570&dpr=1" />
</figure>
Pat Solitano (Bradley Cooper) moves back in with his parents after leaving a psychiatric hospital in Silver Linings Playbook. While he tries to repair his marriage and grows closer to Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence), his father, Pat Sr. (Robert De Niro), wants him on the couch watching the Philadelphia Eagles. He believes his son brings the team luck, turning time together into another obligation Pat struggles to meet.
De Niro is especially good when Pat Sr. admits he wants to watch football with his son because he’s missed spending time with him. For once, he manages to say what he wants without making it about the Eagles winning. Knowing he misses his son makes it harder to dismiss him when he starts making demands about football. De Niro earns that sympathy without letting Pat Sr. off the hook. He wants Pat close, but he keeps making his son responsible for whether his bets pay off.
7
The Mission (1986)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/main-photo-2023-11-04t140023-032.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
In The Mission, Robert De Niro plays Rodrigo Mendoza, a slave trader who kills his brother and struggles to live with it. Father Gabriel (Jeremy Irons) offers him a chance at penance among the Guaraní people he once hunted. Mendoza climbs toward their mission dragging a bundle of armor and weapons, refusing to leave the weight behind.
De Niro gives Mendoza little dignity during the climb. He slips, struggles, and keeps dragging the weapons until a Guaraní man cuts them free. His sobbing afterward makes this one of his most moving scenes. Mendoza has prepared himself to suffer, and being forgiven leaves him overwhelmed. It also makes his eventual return to fighting harder to watch. When the mission comes under threat, Gabriel refuses to fight, but Mendoza cannot stand aside. The film gives both men reasons for their choices, leaving neither with an easy answer.
6
Awakenings (1990)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/robert-de-niro-and-robin-williams-in-awakenings.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
In Awakenings, Dr. Malcolm Sayer (Robin Williams) gives an experimental treatment to Leonard Lowe (Robert De Niro), who has spent decades largely unresponsive. Leonard wakes to find himself an adult with years of living to catch up on. De Niro makes his excitement infectious, especially as he begins falling for a woman who visits the hospital.
Leonard also wants to go outside without asking permission, and the hospital’s refusal gives him good reason to be angry. De Niro lets him become impatient with the people who helped him, making Leonard someone with wishes they can’t always accommodate. When the treatment starts to fail, Leonard knows exactly what he’s losing. De Niro makes his fear and anger difficult to watch, while Williams shows Sayer struggling with the limits of what he can do for his friend.
5
Brazil (1985)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/main-photo-2023-12-21t163400-328.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
A broken heating system becomes a covert operation in Terry Gilliam’s Brazil. Robert De Niro plays Harry Tuttle, a repairman who bypasses the paperwork required to fix anything. He arrives armed and ready for trouble, even though he’s there to sort out some ducts. In a society where following procedure matters more than solving a problem, someone who gets the job done is treated as a threat.
De Niro takes the repair seriously enough to make Tuttle’s visit feel like a rescue mission. He’s quick, capable, and much more useful than the authorized workers, which is precisely why he’s in trouble. It’s a small role in a film full of good jokes about systems that punish anyone who tries to get something done. Sam Lowry (Jonathan Pryce) discovers how dangerous a clerical error can be when he tries to correct one. Gilliam makes the paperwork funny, then shows what happens when officials would rather punish someone than admit they got it wrong.
4
The King Of Comedy (1983)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/The-King-of-Comedy-final-shot.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
Rupert Pupkin (Robert De Niro) believes he belongs on television. In The King of Comedy, his plan for getting there involves pursuing talk-show host Jerry Langford (Jerry Lewis) until Jerry gives him a break. De Niro makes Rupert’s confidence funny because rejection barely seems to register. He hears a polite dismissal and starts planning his next visit.
That becomes clear when Rupert brings a date to Jerry’s country house, expecting to be welcomed as a friend. De Niro lets him keep smiling and explaining long after Jerry’s anger should have sent him home. Lewis gives him nothing back, making Rupert’s efforts to impress his date increasingly embarrassing. Scorsese lets the encounter run long enough for the joke to become threatening. The film earns its place by making Rupert entertaining company while giving viewers every reason to want him nowhere near them.
3
The Deer Hunter (1978)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/the-deer-hunter-3.jpg?q=70&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=1" />
</figure>
Before sending its characters to Vietnam, The Deer Hunter lets them have a wedding, get drunk, and give each other a hard time. Michael (Robert De Niro), Nick (Christopher Walken), and Steven (John Savage) are Pennsylvania steelworkers whose friendship feels older than anything the movie shows us. Spending so long with them at home gives viewers something to miss once the war separates them.
De Niro is good at showing how awkward Michael feels once he’s back among those friends. Before Vietnam, he lectures them about killing a deer with one shot. When he returns to the mountains and gets a stag in his sights, he lets it go. De Niro lets Michael take his time before lowering the rifle. After hearing him talk so confidently about hunting earlier, watching him spare the deer says more than another explanation of how much he’s changed.
2
Taxi Driver (1976)
<<img src="https://static0.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/taxi-driver_mwajzv-1.jpg?q=49&fit=crop&w=825&dpr=2" />
</figure>
Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) has plenty to say about what’s wrong with New York and little understanding of how he comes across to anyone in it. In Taxi Driver, he takes Betsy (Cybill Shepherd) to a porn theater, then turns against her when she rejects him. De Niro makes his confusion believable. Travis expects her to see a decent man trying to take her out, and her discomfort barely enters his thinking.
Alone in front of the mirror, Travis can finally get a conversation to go his way. He practices his lines, adjusts his stance, and practices drawing his gun. De Niro makes the famous scene unsettling because Travis is visibly trying to look dangerous. Travis couldn’t understand why Betsy wanted to leave their date, but he knows exactly how his imaginary opponent should behave. De Niro makes it uncomfortable to watch him rehearse being someone nobody would dare reject.
1
Raging Bull (1980)
In Raging Bull, a passing comment from his wife can bother Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro) more than a punch. When Vickie (Cathy Moriarty) calls another boxer good-looking, Jake carries it into the ring with him. De Niro makes his jealousy ugly and exhausting, especially when his brother, Joey (Joe Pesci), gets dragged into suspicions no amount of reassurance can settle.
As Jake questions Joey about Vickie, every denial gives him something else to argue with. De Niro keeps the questions coming until it’s clear Jake would rather destroy the relationship than admit he’s wrong. He brings that same refusal to back down into the ring, where Jake takes punches just to prove he can stay on his feet.
Even with no punches thrown, Jake questioning his brother is as tense as anything in the ring. Raging Bull takes first place because Robert De Niro makes Jake’s smallest suspicions worth watching, then shows how much damage he can do by refusing to let them go.
Discover more from NAIRAVOICE.COM.NG
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.