Leonard Part 6 is a 1987 comedy film that parodies spy movies. It was directed by Paul Weiland and starred Bill Cosby, who also produced the film and wrote its story. The movie also starred Joe Don Baker and Gloria Foster, the latter of whom played the villain. The movie was filmed in the San Francisco Bay Area, and was rated PG by the Motion Picture Association of America. It is considered by many to be one of the worst films of all time, earning several Golden Raspberry Awards; indeed, Cosby himself denounced and disowned it in the press in the weeks leading up to its release.
Synopsis
Bill Cosby plays Leonard Parker, a former CIA spy. According to the opening sequence of the movie, the title refers to the idea that this film is actually the sixth installment of a series of films featuring the adventures of Leonard, as parts one through five were locked up in the interests of world security.
The movie starts with Parker being re-recruited by his former employers in the CIA to save the world from an evil vegetarian who brainwashes animals to kill people. The film ends with Leonard infiltrating the vegetarian base, fending off the vegetarians with magic meat he received from a Gypsy, freeing the captive animals and flooding the base using Alka-Seltzer. He escapes by riding an ostrich on the roof of the building, with the ostrich flying him down.
Criticism
When the film was released in 1987, Bill Cosby said he was so disappointed with it that he publicly advised people to not waste their money to see it. [1] Cosby attributed most of the movie's problems to first-time director Weiland, whom he felt was too young and inexperienced, although Cosby himself was producer and writer of the story.
The movie won three Golden Raspberry Awards, for Worst Actor (Cosby), Worst Picture, and Worst Screenplay (Jonathan Reynolds and Cosby). It was nominated for two more Razzie Awards, for Worst Supporting Actress (Foster) and Worst Director (Weiland). A few weeks after the ceremony, Cosby accepted his three Razzies on Fox's The Late Show. He requested that the three Razzies he earned be specifically made out of 24 carat (99.99%) gold and Italian marble. For the 2005 Razzies, the movie earned a nomination in the Worst "Comedy" of Our First 25 Years category.
The movie is considered somewhat of a cult classic, and was released by Columbia Pictures (now owned by Sony) on DVD, on April 26, 2005.
Popular culture
- The Roots wrote a song entitled "Leonard I-V", the eighth track on their debut album, which they titled Organix. The lyrics of the chorus include a repetition of the phrase, "Where did Leonard Parts One to Five go?"
- The movie was mentioned in an episode of Family Guy. When an "animated" Cosby hypnotizes Stewie, Stewie responds "And I like pudding. And Ghost Dad was the best movie I've seen since Leonard Part 6."
- In an episode of Animaniacs, Leonard Part 6 is one of a few movies which (in VHS video format) are dropped as exploding "bombs."[2]
References
See also
External links
