10 Directors That Should Never Have Complete Creative Control

9. Kevin Smith

Like Lucas, there€™s no denying the bottomless well of talent possessed by Kevin Smith. Clerks, Mallrats and Chasing Amy are masterpieces of writing and direction that perfectly encapsulate Smith€™s storytelling style and winning knack for humour. However, in recent years, his filmic output hasn€™t quite lived up to this standard. Projects like Tusk, Red State and Jay And Silent Bob€™s Super Groovy Cartoon Movie show promise, but they€™re far removed from the confident, much-admired films that Smith produced earlier in his career. By this stage, perhaps Smith€™s best ideas for scripts are behind him. There€™s only so long that anyone can have complete creative control before things begin to stagnate. Kevin Smith is brilliant, but perhaps a writing partner is exactly what he needs right now. Someone to help blow the cobwebs off his working process and bring something fresh to the table. We all have off days, but Smith has had quite a few recently, and could really benefit from not having creative control.
Contributor
Contributor

Film & TV journo. Quite tall.