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Robert De Niro’s Iconic ‘Cape Fear’ Performance Is the Most ‘Pacino Performance’ He Has Ever Given: Bug Eyes & Canine Fury and Monologues Dripping With Old Testament Acid


De Niro lost to Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal Lecter that year, but still.

From his first moment on screen, we see a red-hot monster, who stood out sharply in what was an age of cold, surgical villains like Hans Gruber and Hannibal Lecter (the character that won Anthony Hopkins the Oscar at the 1992 ceremony.) Cape Fear suggests that just outside the boom towns of Charlotte and Atlanta lurked rural monstrosities like DeNiro’s Cady, and no glittering new airports nor “too busy to hate” slogans could stop them. Like all iconic Hollywood villains, De Niro’s Cady rides the edge between pyrotechnic, drippy high camp and a genuinely disturbing exploration of social wounds.

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