10 Infuriating Flaws That Ruin Otherwise Awesome Directors
6. Excessive Sentimentality - Steven Spielberg
Winner of three Oscars (including two for Best Director) and nominated for 16 awards in total, as well as having directed some of the most iconic movies ever made, including Jaws, E.T., Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and so on. In addition to being probably the world's most famous director, he's a mega-producer too.
The Flaw: Filmmaker Alex Cox (Repo Man, Sid and Nancy) once famously said of Spielberg, Spielberg isnt a filmmaker, hes a confectioner. Movie making is all about manipulation and eliciting a visceral, emotional response from the viewer, and though Spielberg has done this to terrific effect in the likes of E.T., Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan in particular, his lesser effort are also often criticised for being overly manipulative and sentimental.
As an audience member, we don't want to be overly aware that we're being manipulated into an emotional reaction, but the likes of A.I. and War Horse held their heart on their sleeve, and the result was a mixed audience response. Even Spielberg's recent Best Picture nominee, Bridge of Spies, was lambasted for its overly persuasive musical score, and this really gets to the center of the problem: Spielberg loves overblown orchestral swells, which often ruin what should be more intimate emotional beats in his movies.
He's been doing this for decades, and though it sometimes does in fact work, it's highly unlikely he'll change his way this far into his career.