Though Leonard Nimoy will always be best remembered for playing Spock in the Star Trek franchise, he was also an accomplished director with several big hits under his belt. After years of playing smaller roles on episodic TV shows like The Twilight Zone, Leonard Nimoy landed the role that would make him a household name with 1966’s Star Trek.
He played the part of Spock across all three seasons of the series, and would reprise his role in Star Trek: The Motion Picture when the franchise made the leap to the big screen in 1979. While he always grappled with only being known for playing the Vulcan, Nimoy never strayed too far from the franchise that made him famous.
Though he made appearances in other films, most notably his turn in Invasion of the Body Snatchers, there was no shaking his reputation as Spock. Fortunately, Nimoy found a new outlet for his creativity during the run of the Star Trek movies, and he was allowed to sit in the director’s chair for two installments.
This launched his directing career, and he would find work helming other movies outside the Trek universe. Though he only made a handful of films, Nimoy delivered a few hits that have become bona fide classics. Conversely, he also directed a few films that were unmitigated disasters, and that’s likely why Leonard Nimoy isn’t better known for his filmmaking.
6
Holy Matrimony (1994)
Nimoy’s Last Film As A Director Was Also The Worst
Only around 10 years after he began his career as a director of feature films, Leonard Nimoy would step away from behind the camera after 1994’s Holy Matrimony. Sadly, Nimoy’s final film as a director is also the worst by far, and is a truly odd specimen of “comedy” from the mid-1990s.
The film stars Patricia Arquette as a cunning thief who joins the isolated Hutterite community in order to marry a young boy (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) so that she can inherit his late older brother’s purloined fortune. Besides grossly misrepresenting the Hutterite religious sect, the movie also got terrible reviews and was a significant box-office bomb.
The biggest issue with Holy Matrimony is that it simply isn’t funny, and it isn’t interesting, so it falls into a toneless middle ground. The concept behind the film is a bit off-putting, and though Gordon-Levitt and Arquette both turn in strong performances, they aren’t given much to work with.
The movie currently holds a 0% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and has almost completely faded from memory. Nimoy’s direction isn’t necessarily the problem in Holy Matrimony, though he certainly could have done more to spice up the lackluster script.
Holy Matrimony only grossed $713,000 (via Box Office Mojo).
5
Funny About Love (1990)
A Failed Gene Wilder Comedy From The ’90s
Gene Wilder’s best movies are also some of the greatest comedy films of all time, but his 1990 team-up with Leonard Nimoy was not a highlight of his terrific career. Funny About Love had all the makings of an underrated romantic comedy, but it was missing key elements that caused it to flatline.
Wilder stars as a political cartoonist who is experiencing marital troubles when he is unable to conceive with his wife. When he begins an affair with a college student, she becomes pregnant, and he is forced to reevaluate his life choices. The rom-com premise is unique, but Funny About Love fails to do much with its complex concept.
Despite his status as a comedic legend, Gene Wilder was miscast in the lead role. Pushing 60 in 1990, he’s not convincing as a man desperate to have a baby. Furthermore, the script is tepid and bland, and it doesn’t do anything interesting with Duffy’s (Wilder) character, or either of the women in his life.
When coupled with Holy Matrimony a few years later, Leonard Nimoy’s directing career was put to bed prematurely after two abysmal flops.
Reviews for Funny About Love were very poor, and it was a financial failure. When coupled with Holy Matrimony a few years later, Leonard Nimoy’s directing career was put to bed prematurely after two abysmal flops. However, Funny About Love isn’t as bad as its reviews, and the blame can’t be laid exclusively on Nimoy’s direction.
4
The Good Mother (1988)
Nimoy’s Only Chance To Direct A Drama
Between installments in the Star Trek movie franchise, Leonard Nimoy was tapped to helm the understated drama, The Good Mother. Leaving comedy and sci-fi behind for the only time in his directorial career, Nimoy’s The Good Mother is an intentionally challenging story that relies heavily on strong performances.
The movie stars Diane Keaton as a divorced mother named Anna who strikes up a new relationship with a Sєxually-liberated man. When a misunderstanding causes Anna’s ex-husband to sue for custody, Anna’s peace is nearly destroyed. With a cast including Liam Neeson, The Good Mother should have been a gripping examination of the legal system and its impact on families.
Unfortunately, the movie lacks a second gear, and gets stuck in a rut. Nimoy deftly handles the extremely sensitive subject with a lot of tact and class, but the movie was never destined to be the next blockbuster. Not only was its subject matter too challenging for general audiences, it doesn’t have that spark that makes it a great film.
Roger Ebert called the movie “confused and conflicted“, and while it’s better than his one-star rating, it is still a far cry from a great drama. Like the other films in Leonard Nimoy’s filmography that failed, The Good Mother isn’t bad because Nimoy was a poor director, but because the script was uninspired.
3
Star Trek III: The Search For Spock (1984)
Nimoy’s First Time In The Director’s Chair
One of the conditions for getting Leonard Nimoy to return as Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock was that he would helm the third Trek movie. The result was quite strong, and The Search for Spock is the most underrated movie in the entire franchise canon.
After his death at the end of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Spock’s body was dropped on the Genesis Planet, where it has suddenly come back to life. This kicks off a race through space as Kirk and company must outwit a roving band of Klingons who want to claim the planet’s dangerous powers for the Empire.
Spock himself doesn’t factor much into the story, so Nimoy was able to spend most of his time behind the camera.
The film is not quite as good as its predecessor, but that was an impossible act to follow. Instead, it finds its own tone, and mixes a lot of action with classic Star Trek space adventure storytelling. Spock himself doesn’t factor much into the story, so Nimoy was able to spend most of his time behind the camera.
As the middle chapter in a three-part story, The Search for Spock does its job perfectly by advancing the story without wrapping everything up. Kirk’s storyline advances through the death of his son, David, and Spock’s return sets the stage for the events of Star Trek IV.
Star Trek III got slightly worse reviews than the movies before and after it, but it’s by no means a bad film. In fact, Nimoy’s direction saves it from succumbing to its own dark and dour tone. If it wasn’t for his directorial choices, The Search for Spock would have been too miserable for its own good.
2
Three Men And A Baby (1987)
A Classic Late ’80s Comedy With Big Stars
Outside of Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy only had one big hit as a director. Fortunately, it was a smash, and Three Men and a Baby is a beloved comedy from the late 1980s. With its simple premise and star-studded cast, the situational comedy had everything going for it, and it succeeded.
A trio of happily single men live together in an apartment in New York City. However, their responsibility-free lives are interrupted when a baby is left on their doorstep, and they are tasked with caring for the young girl. Despite being in way over their heads, the three men come to care for the тιтular baby.
The best comedies are usually anchored by a very basic concept, and Three Men and a Baby finds its laughs through juxtaposition. It’s humorous to see three grown men struggle with the day-to-day duties of parenthood, and the casting of Steve Guttenberg, Tom Selleck, and Ted Danson was a stroke of genius.
While it isn’t the funniest movie ever made, it is a joyous cinematic experience, and the kind of classic comedy that’s still sought after today. Leonard Nimoy was still relatively new to directing when he was hired, and he struck gold. Three Men and a Baby got decent reviews, but more importantly, it grossed $160 million (via Box Office Mojo).
A sequel enтιтled Three Men and a Little Lady arrived in 1990.
1
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986)
The Funniest Star Trek Movie Is Also One Of The Best
After directing The Search for Spock, Leonard Nimoy was once again tapped to oversee the production of Star Trek IV: The Search for Spock. The movie’s environmental message was near and dear to Nimoy’s heart, so he put his best effort into the time-travel comedy.
The movie’s environmental message was near and dear to Nimoy’s heart, so he put his best effort into the time-travel comedy.
Kirk and the crew must travel back in time to bring whales to the future in order to satiate a space probe that is destroying Earth. Unlike the dour Wrath of Khan or Search for Spock, The Voyage Home is largely humorous, and casts the Enterprise crew as fish-out-of-water characters in the late 20th century.
The movie was a hit, and concluded the trilogy that started with The Wrath of Khan. Unlike other movies that Leonard Nimoy directed, it was his handiwork that helped make The Voyage Home such a success. Directing comedy is an underrated art form, and Nimoy allowed the story to stay true to Star Trek while also being engaging and droll.
