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.

6 of 31 photo by Martina Tolot

Griffin Dunne

Best known as an actor, Dunne has also dabbled in producing and directing over the past few decades. While his debut behind the camera—the short film Duke of Groove—was a success, scoring an Oscar nomination in 1996, his full-length features have ranged from mediocre to disastrous. That is, until last year, when his first documentary (about author Joan Didion, who happens to be Dunne's aunt) received a more positive response from critics.

The one good film:
72 Joan Didion: The Center Will Not Hold (2017)

Everything else:
49 Addicted to Love (1997)
46 Practical Magic (1998)
57 Lisa Picard Is Famous (2000)
54 Fierce People (2005)
14 The Accidental Husband (2008)

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