As Mel Brooks once reminded us, “It’s good to be the king.” He uttered that line while playing lascivious King Louis XVI in “History of the World, Part I,” but he also could have been speaking about himself and others like him.
In Hollywood, there really is no such thing as a king. People do reign, but usually not for long. The business is too capricious, too dependent on the whims of a fickle public.
But if there is such a thing as a king in the creative community, it’s the writer-director. Otherwise known as a hyphenate, the savvy writer-director can often name his own price — if he’s good, and if his films have established a glowing track record of bringing in bucks. The reason is simple: the writer-director has a vision, and he delivers it with a one-two punch of penning the script and then casting and shooting it himself.
He’s the car mechanic who also does detailing. He’s the architect who’s also an interior designer. He’s two craftsmen in one.
Of course, as Peter Parker was once informed, with great power comes great responsibility. And more often than not, the writer-director eventually stumbles from the burden, no matter how talented or popular he or she may be.
Living up to ‘Diner’One of the most successful hyphenates in recent movie history is Barry Levinson, who is at it again as the writer and director of the new comedy, “Man of the Year,” starring Robin Williams. It’s too early to tell if the film will enhance Levinson’s reputation or tarnish it. But it’s safe to say he hasn’t had a significant success as a writer-director since “Diner” in 1982, his debut as a director.
It may not be fair to judge him as a writer-director, because since “Diner” he has worked primarily as a director of other writers’ scripts, and a superb one at that. He established a reputation as one of Hollywood’s most respected directors with pictures such as “The Natural,” “Good Morning, Vietnam,” “Rain Man,” “Bugsy” and “Wag the Dog.” He did serve as writer-director on critically lauded but commercially challenged projects like “Avalon” and “Liberty Heights” as well as one rather unfortunate stinker, “Jimmy Hollywood.” And he has worked as a prolific producer.
But Levinson will always be considered a hyphenate because he established himself as a screenwriter first, then became a director. Three years before he directed “Diner,” he earned an Academy Award nomination for best original screenplay (along with then-wife and writing partner Valerie Curtin) for “… And Justice For All.”
And throughout his career, he has continued to mix in a writer-director effort. “Man of the Year,” about a late-night talk-show comedian who decides to run for President, is from his original script.
M. Night’s winning streak comes to an endThere are other writer-directors who, like Levinson, have achieved the same lofty status as Levinson. Unfortunately, when one is king, one doesn’t have to answer to anyone, which can sometimes spell disaster.
The most glaring recent example is M. Night Shyamalan. Since the immense box-office success and critical acclaim of “The Sixth Sense” in 1999 (domestic gross $293 million), Shyamalan has been a veritable ATM machine. Pictures such as “Unbreakable” ($94 million), “Signs” ($227 million) and “The Village” ($114 million) have established him as one of Hollywood’s most reliable money-makers.
Alas, along came “Lady in the Water.” Before its release in July, it had been the topic of negative industry scuttlebutt because of a rift between the filmmaker and his usually supportive coterie of Disney executives. They didn’t like his script, he became miffed and found a home for it anyway with Warner Brothers, and the result was a critical and commercial embarrassment.
One bomb will not necessarily submarine a career. But it doesn’t help, either. In this case, the perception was that the hyphenate’s hubris contributed to his demise, that he was so obsessively committed to his vision that he wasn’t willing to accept a wave of warnings about it from outsiders.
That may not be fair or true, of course. Countless filmmakers throughout history have defied conventional wisdom and the nattering nabobs of negativity and have gone on to write and direct exceptional works. The chestnut, “Nobody knows anything” once again applies.
But as usual, it’s all about perception. Right now Shyamalan is perceived as a filmmaker who was intent on driving himself off a cliff.
Crowe’s films starting to look shakyWhile Shyamalan is looked upon as insecure and embattled, the same can’t be said for Cameron Crowe, one of the most revered writer-directors in Hollywood. He has built a career on creating films that crackle with originality, and with roots in his personal experiences, such as “Say Anything,” “Singles,” “Jerry Maguire” and “Almost Famous.”
But his star waned slightly with “Vanilla Sky,” starring Tom Cruise, which was a daring remake of a 1997 Spanish film by Alejandro Amenabar called “Abre Los Ojos.” It found few takers.
Then Crowe followed it with “Elizabethtown,” which was hammered by critics and ignored by audiences. Like “Almost Famous,” “Elizabethtown” was autobiographical, but it may have been a case where no one around him dared remind him that one autobiographical work per filmmaking career is usually plenty.
Not all writer-directors suffer a comeuppance. Quentin Tarantino has gone largely unscathed in Hollywood. Paul Haggis, who won an Oscar for writing the screenplay for “Million Dollar Baby” and whose “Crash” was lauded earlier this year as best picture, is on an impressive run. Christopher Nolan (“Memento,” “Batman Begins” and the upcoming “The Prestige”) is unsung but on the rise.
The great benefit of being a writer-director is freedom. But that is also the major pitfall. Distinguished hyphenates as varied as Ron Shelton, Steven Zaillian, Spike Lee, Michael Mann, Francis Ford Coppola, the Coen Brothers, the Farrelly Brothers, David Mamet, John Sayles, Oliver Stone and Woody Allen have all had their shares of ups and downs by shepherding their ideas along the perilous path from brain to page to screen.
And, of course, there’s Mel Brooks. Indeed, it’s good to be the king. It’s just not so easy to hold onto the throne.