Ostensibly afflicted with bi-polar disorder, De Niro’s cankerous football-loving curmudgeon feels like a natural return to the lineage of De Niro’s volatile alpha-male character.
According to Kenny, all of the characters De Niro played in Scorsese films “came out of the gate as deeply damaged, problematic people,” and in this regard Pat Solantano is like a belated endnote to De Niro’s golden years.