Lots of money, talent and product placements for Coca Cola (which owned Columbia) went into Leonard Part 6, and the film certainly isnt lacking for ideas or set pieces theyre just not very good ideas or very clever set pieces. Bill Cosby is spy-turned-restauranteur Leonard Parker, whos brought out of retirement to track down a vegetarian and former ecologist with a formula for controlling the minds of various creatures. Said formula turns lobsters, frogs and gophers into crazed killers capable of throwing cars through the air, and only Cosby can save the day with his underarm rocket launcher and flying ostrich. Which might sound like goofy fun, and in the hands of Barry Sonnenfeld it couldve been another Men In Black, but every single joke lands with a thud. After Cosby failed to attend the premiere, having previously warned audiences to stay away, the movie opened at #10 and made barely $5 million during its theatrical run.
Ian Watson is the author of 'Midnight Movie Madness', a 600+ page guide to "bad" movies from 'Reefer Madness' to 'Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead.'
