10 Accidental Masterpieces From Otherwise Bad Directors

2. Dances With Wolves €“ Kevin Costner

Kevin Costner had earned a reputation as a reliable and popular actor through the late eighties. But it wasn't until 1990 when he wrote, directed and starred in Dances With Wolves: a sprawling Western epic that cast him as a Lieutenant in the American Revolution that he went truly stratospheric. Lieutenant Dunbar is assigned to an abandoned military outpost on the outskirts of the frontier. There, he eventually meets and befriends a tribe of Sioux Indians and finds love with one of their tribe members. Finding himself drawn to their lifestyle and customs, he is confronted with the dilemma of his duties as a soldier and his moral obligations. While seemingly drawing heavily from the story of John Smith and Pocahontas, Dances With Wolves was a huge box-office hit and earned Costner Academy Awards for Best Director and Best Picture. Costner's hot-plate soon cooled as a director €“ he went on to co-direct the largely over-budget Waterworld that, at the time, was the most expensive movie ever made. The film opened to luke-warm reviews and reception and it would take years to recuperate its large budget. Costner followed up with the apocalyptic film The Postman, which failed to reach an audience or any critical favour. It was a long, slow and clunky piece of work that saw Costner's stock drop. Costner wouldn't direct for another five years until another western called Open Range. It was certainly a decent film, and yards better than his previous few outings, but there was nothing terribly grand about it either. Costner has not directed a film since.