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.

15 of 31

Kirk Jones

The English filmmaker, a one-time commercial director, struck gold with his debut comedy Waking Ned [Devine], a surprise box-office hit. But each of his four subsequent films has been worse than its predecessor despite enlisting bigger names for his casts.

The one good film:
71 Waking Ned Devine (1998)

Everything else:
59 Nanny McPhee (2005)
47 Everybody's Fine (2009)
41 What to Expect When You're Expecting (2012)
37 My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 (2016)

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