Many believe Robert De Niro, somewhere around the time of “Analyze This” and “Meet the Parents,” stepped away from taking acting too seriously and, over the next two-plus decades, increasingly chose projects that didn’t fully match his talent. Hell, there are some clear-cut credits in his filmography that could be seen as outright paycheck jobs.
Which leads me to James Ashcroft’s “The Whisper Man,” starring De Niro, which has just been slated for an August 28 debut on Netflix. Some first-look images have also been released for the film, which can be seen below. This is one of the few De Niro projects from the past few decades that feels like it has real potential.
The plot follows a widowed crime writer whose young son is kidnapped, forcing him to reconnect with his estranged father, a retired police detective. As they investigate, they uncover links between the abduction and a decades-old case involving a notorious serial killer known as “The Whisper Man.”
The film is part of Netflix’s ongoing push into high-profile thrillers and is produced by AGBO (the Russo brothers’ company). The cast includes De Niro, Adam Scott, Michelle Monaghan, and Michael Keaton. Netflix is positioning it as a prestige crime drama that leans heavily into psychological tension.
I trust Ashcroft’s instincts—he directed the underrated 2021 horror-crime indie “Coming Home in the Dark” and 2024’s “The Rule of Jenny Pen,” both of which are sharply vicious, especially the former.
It’s no secret that De Niro is one of the greatest actors who ever lived. Just look at his filmography. Is there any other actor who can claim to have appeared in this many great films and delivered this many iconic performances?
De Niro’s filmography is astounding, even taking into account the duds he’s starred in over the past 25 years. The classics speak for themselves: “Taxi Driver,” “Mean Streets,” “The Godfather Part II,” “The Deer Hunter,” “Raging Bull,” “The King of Comedy,” “Once Upon a Time in America,” “Brazil,” “Goodfellas,” “Casino,” “Heat,” “The Untouchables,” “Midnight Run,” “Cape Fear,” “Jackie Brown,” “Wag the Dog,” “A Bronx Tale,” “Ronin,” and many more.
Although I’ve been disappointed by many of the projects he’s taken on over the past couple of decades, I still find myself following whatever De Niro signs onto next. I can’t help it. There’s still hope there—I believe he’s still capable of something truly special. That’s only happened a handful of times since 2000, five by my count: “The Irishman,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Meet the Parents,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” and “The Intern.” That’s it.
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