25 Misfires From Otherwise Great Film Directors

by Jason Dietz, Metacritic Features Editor – April 22, 2018

Last week, we looked at 30 filmmakers who made only one well-reviewed movie over their entire careers. Today, we examine the opposite group: directors who have nearly flawless careers, with only a single misfire (with a Metascore of 60 or lower) standing in the way of a perfect record of all-green scores.

Note that we only looked at directors who have made at least five films since 1980.

25 of 26 photo by Kino Lorber

Andrei Zvyagintsev

The one misfire:
59 The Banishment (2007)

The Russian director averaged an astounding 87 for his first four films released in the United States, beginning with 2003's The Return and continuing through last year's Oscar-nominated Loveless. But despite debuting at Cannes in 2007, Zvyagintsev's sophomore feature The Banishment didn't screen here until a few months ago. That might be because, by the director's lofty standards, it's a disappointment. Critics like parts of the film, which showcase Zvyagintsev's skill, but find that it doesn't quite pull together by the end.

Everything else:
82 The Return (2003)
87 Elena (2011)
92 Leviathan (2014)
87 Loveless (2017)

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