James Franco proved in 127 Hours that he has some serious dramatic chops. His comedic turns in the likes of Pineapple Express and This Is The End always bank big money, too. And he was solid in the Spider-Man franchise (until Sam Raimi nullified the point of his character in the third instalment). But his first three directorial efforts werent great. Novelist-themed comedy The Ape earned naff notices in 2005, while his next two efforts Good Time Max and Fools Gold came and went without making any sort of impact. After a string of shorts and documentary projects, he tried his hand at feature directing again in 2011, with the black-and-white suicide drama The Broken Tower. The results were not good. The film - based on the life and death of the haunted poet Hart Crane was slammed as amateurish, misguided and tonally flat by the critics. It comes across like a lazy film students artsy side project, and not in a good way. For the most part, fans of Cranes poetry did not find it to be a fitting tribute. There are a couple of kind reviews out there, but they're very much in the minority. Franco continues to make his arty directorial projects around his big blockbuster acting commitments. Fair play to the guy, as he clearly has a passion for it. Hes never received critical acclaim for his directorial efforts, but with enough practise perhaps hell break through one day.
