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.

Rod Lurie

The West Point grad's films have not been especially popular with film critics—ironic, given that Lurie was himself a movie reviewer prior to becoming a director. (Or perhaps it is a case of just deserts, given that his reviewing style was described as "abrasive" and "vituperative.") Many of his films have a military or political focus, including his best-reviewed effort, a 2008 drama loosely based on the Valerie Plame scandal.

Since his last feature in 2011, Lurie has worked exclusively in television.

The one good film:
64 Nothing But the Truth (2008)

Everything else:
50 Deterrence (1999)
59 The Contender (2000)
43 The Last Castle (2001)
55 Resurrecting the Champ (2007)
45 Straw Dogs (2011)

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