Fall From Grace

I had an interesting discussion with my friend last night about directors who showed early promise and directed some fine films early in their career, only to dramatically fall away as their career marched on. After seeing "Aloha" yesterday, I have no hesitation in putting Cameron Crowe on that list to join Rob Reiner. Reiner just couldn't miss over a nine year period which included gems such as "Stand by Me", "The Princess Bride", "A Few Good Men", and "Misery". He hasn't made anything that has been critically acclaimed for 20 years. Crowe has made some fine films in "Jerry Maguire" and "Almost Famous" but he seems to have more misses now than hits. There probably isn't one director I can name who has only excellent films on his/her CV. Even my favourite director Steven Spielberg made one film I didn't like.