Robert DeNiro
Pros:Great passion for his role. May be the top character actors in Hollywood of all time. He has played some of the most unforgettable characters of all time like Vito Corleone, Al Capone, and Jake LaMotta. I mean he was able to make Vito Corleone his own which many thought would not be possible because of what Marlon Brando did two years earlier. Throughout the years he has won every award imaginable and remained cool, much like Jack Nicholson.
Cons:
Some horrible screen choices along the way. Anyone seen Godsend, Hide and Seek, and The Fan? He seems to play “bad” guys very well but that seems to be his limit. What is the deal with DeNiro trying to do comedy? Meet the Parents was ….ok, but he should have left it at that. Meet the Fockers was horrible and A Sharks Tale was just sad. He should stick to what he is good at…being a wise guy.

Denzel Washington
Pros: The passion this guys brings to a film is unmatched. Even if the film that he is in sucks, he is able to save it with his strong performance. Think of a movies like The Hurricane and John Q, if anyone else was playing the lead in either of the two films would it even be watchable? People thought that he could never play a villian, much like Tom Hanks who has always seemed to play the heros. But his performance in Training Day and American Gangster proved that he is not just a one trick pony.
ConsSometimes tends to overact, making some of his characters unbelievable. Even if his performance was strong, he has picked some really bad movies. Never ventured out to do comedy, which might not be a bad thing but an effort would be nice.
My Verdict
Both great actors. I know what some of you guys are thinking. Why do you trash DeNiro for doing comedy and trash Denzel for NOT doing comedy. My point is this. DeNiro did a good comedy in Meet the Parents and proved that he could pull if off. But then he went on to make a couple more which kind of made him a joke. I am not saying Denzel should do a string of comedies but he should do one to see if he can or can not do it. My pick between the two has to go with Denzel who seems to get better with age while DeNiro gets worse every year. Denzel has better range and give his all in every performance. At times, (and some of you might agree with me) DeNiro seems to mail it in to just get his HUGE paycheck. Like “hey I am DeNiro….where is my money.” But my vote does not matter. If you want to vote just leave a comment. Since the average number of comments I get is around five, your vote might end up being 20% of the vote.