I love Jon Stewart. He is earnest and smart and funny and on the same side of politics as me.
But he's not a very good director.
Not everyone has that skill set. And it shows in the most basic ways. How he frames a single, a two-shot, a joke. How he likes his films cut. How he manages the visual rhythm of his films.
I also watched a silly little film from a first-time director this week that had many flaws... but this person has a legitimate sense of how to direct a movie. A couple more films and they could be completely solid. But Stewart... you can feel his intellect in his directing. This has made for 2 interesting movies with some strong moments... but if you gave Frank Oz the script for Irresistible, the movie would improve by 20% before he made any of the script changes he would make. Oz happens to be one of the modern masters of farce on film. But any other skilled director would improve the film by 10% or more right off the bat.
And part of why this directing issue sticks with me …
