It's no secret that, sometimes, great actors make equally great directors. Such celebrated filmmakers as Clint Eastwood and Ron Howard both began their careers as thespians, and, some greats, like Sydney Pollack or Woody Allen, possess the remarkable ability to frequent both sides of the camera with ease.
Yet, for every example of a good actor-turned-director however, there are ten rotten ones. From abortive vanity projects to talent-free showcases of ambition outstripping ability, many well-known actors saddle themselves with less-than-sterling directorial efforts that follow them for the rest of their careers. Below are 10 of the worst, according to Rotten Tomatoes.
Romance & Cigarettes (52%)
When New York ironworker Nick (James Gandolfini) begins an affair with the much younger, Tula (Kate Winslet), it throws his happy life with his wife, Kitty (Susan Sarandon), and three daughters into upheaval.
Writer/director John Turturro's heartfelt "musical" also features Steve Buscemi, Bobby Cannavale, and Mandy Moore lip-syncing to popular songs from the likes of James Brown, Bruce Springsteen, and Janis Joplin. Though roughly half of the critics who reviewed it were charmed, Romance & Cigarettes is ultimately too uneven to really sing.
Beyond the Sea (42%)
Bobby Darin (Kevin Spacey) harnesses a childhood brush with death to rocket him to fame as one of the country's most popular singers. But, when the swinging 60s kick-off and his jazzy style falls out of popularity, he finds his career and marriage to actress Sandra Dee (Kate Bosworth) on the rocks.
Kevin Spacey's overwhelming love for his subject is apparent in every frame, but, despite his resemblance to the same, critics were divided about whether Spacey's performance stands as a compelling embodiment of Darren or a bad caricature.
The Brave (33%)
Recently released from prison, a Native American man (Johnny Depp) takes a chance to lift his family out of poverty when a mysterious stranger presents him with the "opportunity" to be tortured to death on film for $50,000.
Aside from the obvious issues with lead and director Depp playing a First Nations person—a recurrent problem in the actor's filmography—The Brave's biggest insult is that it squanders a provocative, potentially interesting setup with indulgently inert direction.
Lost River (31%)
Christina Hendricks stars as Billy, a single mother who finds herself pulled into a dark fantastical underworld discovered by her teenage son. Ryan Gosling's debut feature as director is something of a visual triumph, though it feels a little too indebted to his pal Nicolas Winding Refn's brand of neon-soaked aestheticism, but fails to hold together as a complete or compelling piece of cinema in its own right.
The Lost City (25%)
Havana nightclub owner Fico Fellove (Andy Garcia) does his best to stay out of politics, but he finds himself swept up by the tide of history as Fidel Castro's Communist Revolution rages across Cuba.
Even the combined talents of Dustin Hoffman and Bill Murray can't salvage Garcia's well-intentioned but unwieldy musical drama that has little to say about its central historical moment.
Sonny (23%)
Upon returning home to New Orleans after being discharged from the army, former hustler Sonny Phillips (James Franco) sees no option but to return to the streets to help keep his prostitute mother, Jewel (Brenda Blethyn), afloat. It should surprise absolutely no one that infamous over-actor Nicolas Cage helmed this lopsided drama in which even such stalwart talents as Franco, Harry Dean Stanton, and Mena Suvari fall victim to overstatement and scenery-chewing.
The Sound And The Fury (22%)
Based on the Novel Prize winner William Faulkner's immortal novel, The Sound And The Fury tells the story of the Compsons, a fallen-from-grace southern family struggling to adjust to the changing times in the early 20th century. Just one of James Franco's certified rotten directorial credits, The Sound And The Fury is also his most insufferably self-important.
Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (22%)
In this follow-up to Leonard Nimoy's Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, the crew of the Starship Enterprise must contend with Mr. Spock's long-lost half-brother, who seizes the ship in his quest to find God at the center of the galaxy.
The famously difficult William Shatner conceived The Final Frontier to siphon off some of the glory Nimoy received for his two turns in the director's chair. The result: an infamous turkey that's frequently regarded as the absolute worst Trek feature.
Harlem Nights (21%)
In the final years of Prohibition, Sugar Ray (Richard Pryor) and his adoptive son, Quick (Eddie Murphy), find their successful speakeasy threatened by Bugsy Calhoune (Michael Lerner) a ganger eager to be the only game in town. Murphy squanders an all-star comedy lineup including Redd Foxx, Arsenio Hall, and Jasmine Guy, among others in this tired mob picture that he also wrote and directed.
Loverboy (18%)
Controlling and possessive single mother, Emily (Kyra Sedgwick) is thrown for a loop by her young son Paul's (Dominic Scott Kay) growing independence in Kevin Bacon's 2005 drama.
Sedwick is tasked with playing an unlikable character who, as written by Hannah Shakespeare, feels less "quirky" than she does outright insane and receives no help from Bacon, whose overzealous stylization is both grating and oppressive.