Ah, Tim Allen. Another comedy star that huge audiences used to love. In Home Improvement and The Santa Clause movies he won our hearts as a hugely funny everyman. As Buzz Lightyears voice he continues to charm us, but his live-action stardom has taken a nosedive in recent years. Although even that's better than his directing career. He helmed a single episode of Home Improvement in 1999 before making the giant leap to directing and starring in cinematic parole comedy Crazy On The Outside in 2010. He was surely chuffed at being given this chance to rebuild his stock in Hollywood. The results of this were not pretty. The premise was okay (an ex-crook on parole struggling with family life) and the cast was stellar, featuring Sigourney Weaver, Ray Liotta, J.K. Simmons and Kelsey Grammer. Despite all this, the film sucked. Luckily for Allen, most of the criticism blamed the script and not him. Notably, though, L.A. Weeklys Aaron Hillis hated every aspect of the film. He called it charmless hack work from two sitcom writers , a phoned-in ensemble, and for Allen a vanity role that could certainly be called criminal. Yikes. Regardless of whose fault this was, Allen hasnt directed since.
