Writer-directors: Kings or fools?

Crowe’s films starting to look shaky
While 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.

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