Film's One-Hit Wonders: 30 Directors With Only One Good Movie

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – April 15, 2018

Even the worst directors have one good film in them. Well, at least some of them do. In the gallery above, we've identified 30 filmmakers from the past four decades who have directed at least five features but have managed to receive positive reviews for just a single one of their films.

14 of 31

Jared Hess

After making a splash with his debut, the cult hit Napoleon Dynamite, Hess has worked with bigger budgets and (occasionally) bigger stars (Jack Black, Zach Galifianakis, Owen Wilson). But none of his subsequent comedies have made much of an impression, and his three most recent releases have been box office duds.

Hess co-wrote all but one of his films (Masterminds is the exception) with his wife, Jerusha Hess.

The one good film:
64 Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Everything else:
52 Nacho Libre (2006)
28 Gentlemen Broncos (2009)
39 Don Verdean (2015)
47 Masterminds (2016)

Where To Buy