Robert De Niro is one of the most celebrated actors of all time, but he made a major shift 25 years ago that completely changed his career. De Niro is a star that needs little introduction, and the multi-time award-winner has been turning in stellar performances for six decades, evolving as an actor along the way.

He broke out working with Brian De Palma, but it was Martin Scorsese that made him a star. He first worked with Scorsese on the director’s third film, Mean Streets, and would soon become his go-to lead actor. Scorsese’s films allowed De Niro to hone his craft, establishing him as a dramatic powerhouse who excelled at complex characters.

Though he eventually moved away to star in other projects, De Niro periodically reunited with Scorsese, and even worked on 2023’s Killers of the Flower Moon. Movies like Goodfellas and Casino would forever ᴀssociate De Niro with the gangster film category, and he headlined nearly every one of the genre’s biggest films in the ’80s and ’90s.

De Niro’s career began to shift in the ’90s, and he starred in a diverse range of films from action, period drama, and even comedy. That trend continued into the 2000s, where the next phase of his career began in earnest. De Niro’s flexibility allowed him to open a new chapter in his decades-long tenure in Hollywood.

Meet The Parents Cemented Robert De Niro As A Comedy Actor

Released in the year 2000, Meet the Parents marked one of the starkest changes in Robert De Niro’s professional acting career, and it cemented him as a comedy star. The Jay Roach smash-hit starred Ben Stiller as a put-upon nurse who visits his girlfriend’s family for the first time. De Niro co-starred as Jack Byrnes, her overly protective father.

De Niro was no stranger to comedy when he was tapped to play Jack in Meet the Parents, but there was a notable difference between the film and his earlier humor works. For the first time, De Niro was the funnyman, even if his character was somewhat stoic and subtle.

It’s success also went a long way in legitimizing De Niro’s presence in comedy, especially with his reputation for drama. The Harold Ramis comedy, Analyze This, was released a year earlier, but it put De Niro in a familiar gangster role instead of allowing him to step out into new territory.

Meet the Parents was a whole new side of De Niro, and it also reflected his burgeoning status as one of Hollywood’s elder statesmen. He transitioned smoothly into a fatherly role, even if it was hilarious. Jack wasn’t just some hard-nosed dictator, he had funny moments that allowed De Niro to flex his comedic muscles.

De Niro Has Continued To Deliver Great Comedy Roles Since Meet The Parents

Meet the Parents was a blessing in disguise for De Niro, because his career fell into something of a dramatic slump almost immediately after the movie came out. The Aughts weren’t particularly kind to De Niro in general, but comedy was a genre where he consistently performed well, always giving some of his best performances.

The Meet the Parents trilogy allowed him to grow the character of Jack Byrnes into a more fleshed-out figure, and he was even able to return to roles like Paul Vitti in Analyze That. Though comedies like What Just Happened didn’t get the best reviews, De Niro was turning in his best work while getting some pretty hearty laughs.

While initially dismissed, The Intern showed a softer side of De Niro, which could also still be incredibly funny. That’s not to say he turned his back on drama, and his reunions with Scorsese in the 21st century have produced gems. The Irishman was a particular highlight, and proved De Niro was still at the height of his game.

Not Every Robert De Niro Comedy Has Been As Good As Meet The Parents

However, comedy is a notoriously fickle genre, and not every humorous film starring Robert De Niro was a work of quality. The actor definitely stretched himself a bit too thin throughout the Aughts and 2010s, starring in nearly every comedy that was thrown his way. From forgettable to downright awful, De Niro didn’t turn down a lot of roles.

Films like Dirty Grandpa were a wasted opportunity, while rom-coms like New Year’s Eve buried De Niro in a gigantic cast. While he showed that he was very good at comedy, no actor is perfect for every role. Many of De Niro’s worst comedies clearly tried to bank on his star power, but didn’t know how to use him properly.

How Meet The Parents Holds Up 25 Years Later

In many ways, Meet the Parents was a quintessential comedy of the early Aughts that laid the groundwork for a lot of imitators. However, that’s not to say that the movie has aged perfectly, and there are some moments that are pretty cringe-inducing in the modern day.

Many of the jokes at Greg’s expense, particularly his career as a nurse, are way outdated. The audience is supposed to find it funny too, which is just odd in the 2020s. There’s also some slight homophobia, since Greg’s real name is Gaylord, and it puts a somewhat sour taste in what is an otherwise pretty innocuous comedy.

All in all, Meet the Parents has certainly aged better than many of its contemporaries, which is likely why the franchise is still going today. Though it isn’t a perfect movie, it is a watershed moment for Robert De Niro, and is still one of his defining films a quarter-century later.