Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 1995–1996 Oscar winner "Raging Bull", the first movie to star both De Niro and Pesci), and "Li'l bit" (a shortened version of a line from "Goodfellas" (where De Niro accuses another mobster of being a "little bit out of line" for insulting Pesci's character), another film starring the two actors). The real Pesci and De Niro appeared on one episode, criticizing Breuer for playing caricatures of their film characters. Quinn suddenly says he is not De Niro, but "Colin Quinn from "Remote Control"." Breuer's and Quinn's weak defense of themselves insults Pesci, who asks De Niro if they were just insulted,
Robert De Niro personality traits for his character in the film. And although the film did poorly at the box office, reviewers praised De Niro's acting. Film critic Marie Brenner wrote that "for De Niro, it is a role that surpasses even his brilliant and daring portrayal of Vito Corleone in "The Godfather Part II"... his performance deserves to be compared with the very finest". De Niro played Michael Vronsky in the acclaimed Vietnam War film "The Deer Hunter" (1978), for which he was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role. Fearing he had become typecast in mob roles, he began expanding