9 Famous Film Directors Who Have Lost Their Touch (That We All Pretend Are Still Awesome)

6. Judd Apatow

All you need to do is trace Apatow's career from The 40 Year Old Virgin to his latest film This is 40 to see that the man's losing some of his initial greatness. Knocked Up was a good follow-up, and though Funny People showed signs of maturity, it felt like two films that were stitched together, a strange sign of things to come. Apatow is at a strange point in his career, attempting to balance the raunchy humor that made him famous with the heartfelt, human stories he secretly wants to tell. It's not impossible to do so, and I have confidence that he can pull it off, it's just not something he's found out how to do yet. This Is 40 was decent, but nowhere near as memorable as his earlier efforts and plagued by the same problems that Funny People overcame more easily. The problem with This Is 40 is that the director gets lost in self-indulgence, creating an aimless and meandering film that feels more like a home-movies-greatest-hits than anything. As he fills more roles with his real-life family members and allows the camera to roll far too long during improvised scenes, he loses the crisp freshness that separated his first films from other comedy directors. Here's hoping his next movie, Train Wreck, is a step in the right direction (and the fresh-start the director needs).