His Success: Kevin Smith's career began with the 1994 indie hit Clerks, and he followed it up with a string of movies that formed his "Askewniverse", ranging wildly in quality but each becoming a cult classic regardless of critical or commercial reception: Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks 2. Sure, Jersey Girl blew, but Smith's next attempt at a more broad, mainstream comedy in Zack and Miri Make a Porno (starring Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) was a minor commercial success and went over well with critics. His Failures: Most of Smith's flops have come when he's tried to move away from the Askewniverse in recent years: he directed the Bruce Willis-Tracy Morgan buddy cop film Cop Out (the first script he hadn't written himself), which turned a minor profit but was destroyed by critics. Then there's Smith's foray into serious action fare with Red State, which grossed roughly half its budget and received mixed reviews, and finally, there's body horror film Tusk, which again grossed about half its budget and was given mixed notices by critics. In many way it's Smith's own fans which have helped turn him into a George Lucas-type figure, because they encourage him to take on these bizarre ventures when, in actuality, he's best suited to just sticking to what he knows. How He Can Save His Career: Smith's heart belongs to the Askewniverse, and after three bombs in a row, he clearly knows it, because he's lining up Clerks 3 and Mallrats 2 for production soon. Though there's every prospect that the magic could be gone (just as in Lucas' prequel trilogy), it has a much better chance of succeeding than Smith's recent left-field (if undeniably ambitious) recent efforts.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.
