Leonard Part 6

1987 film by Paul Weiland

Leonard Part 6

Theatrical release poster

Directed by| Paul Weiland
Screenplay by| Jonathan Reynolds
Story by| Bill Cosby
Produced by| Bill Cosby
Starring|

* Bill Cosby
* Tom Courtenay
* Joe Don Baker

Cinematography| Jan de Bont
Edited by| Gerry Hambling
Music by| Elmer Bernstein
Distributed by| Columbia Pictures

Release date

* December 18, 1987 (1987-12-18) (U.S.)

Running time

| 85 minutes
Country| United States
Language| English
Budget| $24 million[1]
Box office| $4.6 million

Leonard Part 6 (also known as Leonard Part VI) is a 1987 American spy parody film. It was directed by Paul Weiland and starred Bill Cosby, who also produced the film and wrote its story. The film also starred Gloria Foster as the villain, and Joe Don Baker. The film was shot in the San Francisco Bay Area. It earned several Golden Raspberry Awards; Cosby himself denounced and disowned it in the press in the weeks leading up to its release.

The film received universally negative reviews from critics and has often been considered to be one of the worst films ever made. It was also a box-office bomb, earning just over $4.6 million on a $24 million budget.

## Plot

[edit]

Bill Cosby plays Leonard Parker, a retired CIA spy who now operates a restaurant. According to the opening sequence of the film, the title refers to the idea that this film is actually the sixth installment of a series of films featuring the adventures of Leonard with parts one through five concealed in the interest of world security. In reality, no Leonard films precede this one.

The theatrical release poster points out that Leonard Parker is, at the time of his reluctant return to action, coping with domestic issues:

> His daughter is engaged to a man old enough to be his father.

> His estranged wife behaves like she is younger than their daughter.

> And now his government has asked him to save the world. Again.

The film starts with Parker being called out of retirement by his CIA director Snyderburn (Baker) to save the world from evil vegetarian Medusa Johnson (Foster), who brainwashes animals to kill people. During the film, he infiltrates the International Tuna factory (Medusa Johnson's hideout), fights vegetarians dressed in bird costumes and "horny" bees, and successfully steals her mind control device. However, Medusa kidnaps Leonard's wife and blackmails the CIA into returning the device to her. Leonard then enlists laboratory rabbits to attack other CIA agents in an effort to regain the mind control device. Leonard again infiltrates Johnson's headquarters to rescue his wife, is captured and tortured by lobsters, but uses their claws to remove his restraints. Freed from his cell, he attacks Medusa's henchmen with "magic meat" he acquired from a Gypsy, frees the captive animals, and destroys the base using Alka-Seltzer. He escapes by riding an ostrich across the roof and, despite ostriches being flightless birds, he is flown to the ground by the animal.

## Cast

[edit]

* Bill Cosby as Leonard Parker
* Tom Courtenay as Frayn
* Joe Don Baker as Nick Snyderburn
* Moses Gunn as Giorgio Francozzi
* Gloria Foster as Medusa Johnson
* Pat Colbert as Allison Parker
* Victoria Rowell as Joan Parker
* John Hostetter as Adams

## Production

[edit]

Cosby says he got the idea for the film from watching Rambo. He said he thought to himself "Man, there's got to be a place for a hero who has to deal with a heavy who's got a bigger gun than he has." Cosby described the lead as a "high-tech comic-book character." He said, "I've put stuff in here for the women, I've put stuff in here for the kids."[2]

Asked years later about his work on the film, director Paul Weiland recalled:

> It was a terrible mistake. ... When anyone gets into that position (Bill Cosby's position of power in the 1980s), they are surrounded by sycophants and no one tells them the truth. But Cosby just wasn't funny. I couldn't tell him directly. I'd say it feels slow, and he'd say, 'You worry about construction, let me worry about funny.'[3]

## Reception

[edit]

The movie received overwhelming negative reviews.[4][5] When the film was released in 1987, even Cosby himself said that he was so disappointed with it that he publicly advised people not to waste their money on it.[6]

Roger Ebert called it "one of the worst movies of the year" and strongly criticized the obvious Coca-Cola product placement in one of the film's close-up scenes, saying that Cosby "ought to be ashamed of himself."[7] Gene Siskel gave the film zero stars out of four, calling it "The year's worst film involving a major star. That's right, it's worse than Ishtar."[8] Variety declared, "Bill Cosby is right to be embarrassed by this dud, but the result really can't have come as a total surprise to him since he wrote the story and produced it."[9] Caryn James of The New York Times wrote: "Mr. Cosby and the director, Paul Weiland, were reportedly at odds while filming Leonard Part 6 ... but there's plenty of blame for them to share. Mr. Weiland's direction, Mr. Cosby's story and Jonathan Reynolds's screenplay seem equally trite."[10] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "Leonard Part 6 is a smug, tedious exercise in self-indulgence ... There's virtually nothing to laugh at in this film, and too much of everything else." Thomas noted that, although Weiland was the director, "clearly Cosby, as star, producer and idea man, is the auteur here."[11] Rita Kempley of The Washington Post stated: "Cosby looks woebegone all movie long. He knows he's out of his element, a comedian of words in a physical role."[12] Robert Garrett wrote in The Boston Globe, "This Christmas turkey is so dreadful that it must be in the same league as Paul Newman's The Silver Chalice for its power to embarrass its star."[13]

As of June 2022, Leonard Part 6 had a 7% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 15 reviews with an average rating of 3.5/10.[14]

### Box office

[edit]

The movie was a box office flop. It only grossed $4,615,255[15][16]—a mere fraction of its $24 million budget.[1]

### Accolades

[edit]

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 demanded that the three Razzies he earned be specifically made out of 24 karat (99.99%) gold and Italian marble, which were later paid for by Fox. Cosby later brought the awards with him when he was a guest on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, happily displaying them and proclaiming, "I swept the awards!"[17] For the 2005 Razzies, the movie earned a nomination in the "Worst 'Comedy' of Our First 25 Years" category, losing to Gigli.

It was also nominated for Worst Picture at the 1987 Stinkers Bad Movie Awards.

### Home media

[edit]

Leonard Part 6 was released by Sony Pictures Home Entertainment on DVD, on April 26, 2005.[18]

## See also

[edit]

* List of films considered the worst

* Film portal

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b Dick, Bernard F. (1992) "Columbia Pictures: Portrait of a Studio" (p. 46). University Press of Kentucky. ISBN 0-8131-1769-0. Retrieved on November 28, 2010.
2. ^ Bill Cosby makes the most of 50: [CITY Edition] Waters, Harry F. St. Petersburg Times September 22, 1987: 1D.
3. ^ Hattenstone, Simon (September 22, 1994). "Through slick and thin Paul Weiland, adman turned Hollywood film-maker, talks about stars, egos and his latest movie, City Slickers II". The Guardian.
4. ^ Thomas, Kevin (December 18, 1987). "Cosby's 'Leonard' a Super-Inane Superspy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
5. ^ Willman, Chris (January 24, 1988). "Confessions of a Film Masochist: Nothing Explains 'Leonard Part 6'-That's Why It's Fun". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012. Retrieved November 9, 2010.
6. ^ Broeske, Pat H. (December 20, 1987). "Leonard RIP?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
7. ^ Siskel & Ebert. December 26, 1987.
8. ^ Siskel, Gene (December 23, 1987). "Siskel's Flicks Picks". Chicago Tribune. Section 8, page I.
9. ^ "Film Reviews: Leonard Part 6". Variety. December 16, 1987. 11.
10. ^ James, Caryn (December 18, 1987). "Film: Bill Cosby's 'Leonard Part 6'". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 10, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2017.
11. ^ Thomas, Kevin (December 18, 1987). "Cosby's 'Leonard' a Super-Inane Superspy". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 4, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
12. ^ Kempley, Rita (December 19, 1987). "Cosby, Lost With 'Leonard'". The Washington Post. D6.
13. ^ Garrett, Robert (December 18, 1987). "'Leonard 6' leaves Cosby with egg on his face". The Boston Globe. p. 97.
14. ^ "Leonard Part 6 (1987)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved August 16, 2021.
15. ^ Mathews, Jack (January 6, 1988). "Laughing Their Way to Bank Hollywood Accounts Swell From 'Baby' and 'Momma'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 1, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2010.
16. ^ Mathews, Jack (December 22, 1987). "Weekend Box Office". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on July 7, 2012. Retrieved December 26, 2010.
17. ^ "Razzie® Award Reel – YouTube". YouTube. Archived from the original on April 29, 2016. Retrieved November 26, 2016.
18. ^ "Leonard Part 6". DVD Talk. Archived from the original on November 6, 2012. Retrieved May 17, 2012.

## External links

[edit]

Wikiquote has quotations related to Leonard Part 6.

* Leonard Part 6 at IMDb
* Leonard Part 6 at Rotten Tomatoes
* Leonard Part 6 at Box Office Mojo

Awards

Preceded by

Under the Cherry Moon and Howard the Duck

|  Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture
8th Golden Raspberry Awards | Succeeded by

Cocktail

Awards for Leonard Part 6

* v
* t
* e

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture

1980s|

* Can't Stop the Music (1980)
* Mommie Dearest (1981)
* Inchon (1982)
* The Lonely Lady (1983)
* Bolero (1984)
* Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
* Howard the Duck / Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
* Leonard Part 6 (1987)
* Cocktail (1988)
* Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

1990s|

* The Adventures of Ford Fairlane / Ghosts Can't Do It (1990)
* Hudson Hawk (1991)
* Shining Through (1992)
* Indecent Proposal (1993)
* Color of Night (1994)
* Showgirls (1995)
* Striptease (1996)
* The Postman (1997)
* An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)
* Wild Wild West (1999)

2000s|

* Battlefield Earth (2000)
* Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
* Swept Away (2002)
* Gigli (2003)
* Catwoman (2004)
* Dirty Love (2005)
* Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
* I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
* The Love Guru (2008)
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

2010s|

* The Last Airbender (2010)
* Jack and Jill (2011)
* The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 (2012)
* Movie 43 (2013)
* Saving Christmas (2014)
* Fantastic Four / Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
* Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
* The Emoji Movie (2017)
* Holmes & Watson (2018)
* Cats (2019)

2020s|

* Absolute Proof (2020/21)
* Diana: The Musical (2021)
* Blonde (2022)
* Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Actor

1980s|

* Neil Diamond – The Jazz Singer (1980)
* Klinton Spilsbury – The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
* Laurence Olivier – Inchon (1982)
* Christopher Atkins – A Night in Heaven (1983)
* Sylvester Stallone – Rhinestone (1984)
* Sylvester Stallone – Rambo: First Blood Part II and Rocky IV (1985)
* Prince – Under the Cherry Moon (1986)
* Bill Cosby – Leonard Part 6 (1987)
* Sylvester Stallone – Rambo III (1988)
* William Shatner – Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)

1990s|

* Andrew Dice Clay – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
* Kevin Costner – Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves (1991)
* Sylvester Stallone – Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
* Burt Reynolds – Cop and a Half (1993)
* Kevin Costner – Wyatt Earp (1994)
* Pauly Shore – Jury Duty (1995)
* Tom Arnold – Big Bully, Carpool, and The Stupids / Pauly Shore – Bio-Dome (1996)
* Kevin Costner – The Postman (1997)
* Bruce Willis – Armageddon, Mercury Rising, and The Siege (1998)
* Adam Sandler – Big Daddy (1999)

2000s|

* John Travolta – Battlefield Earth and Lucky Numbers (2000)
* Tom Green – Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
* Roberto Benigni (dubbed Godzilla-style by Breckin Meyer) – Pinocchio (2002)
* Ben Affleck – Daredevil, Gigli, and Paycheck (2003)
* George W. Bush – Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004)
* Rob Schneider – Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005)
* Marlon Wayans and Shawn Wayans – Little Man (2006)
* Eddie Murphy – Norbit (2007)
* Mike Myers – The Love Guru (2008)
* Jonas Brothers (Joe, Kevin, and Nick) – Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience (2009)

2010s|

* Ashton Kutcher – Killers and Valentine's Day (2010)
* Adam Sandler – Jack and Jill and Just Go with It (2011)
* Adam Sandler – That's My Boy (2012)
* Jaden Smith – After Earth (2013)
* Kirk Cameron – Saving Christmas (2014)
* Jamie Dornan – Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
* Dinesh D'Souza – Hillary's America: The Secret History of the Democratic Party (2016)
* Tom Cruise – The Mummy (2017)
* Donald Trump – Death of a Nation and Fahrenheit 11/9 (2018)
* John Travolta – The Fanatic and Trading Paint (2019)

2020s|

* Mike Lindell (The "My Pillow Guy") – Absolute Proof (2020/21)
* LeBron James – Space Jam: A New Legacy (2021)
* Jared Leto – Morbius (2022)
* Jon Voight – Mercy (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Screenplay

1980s|

* Bronte Woodard and Allan Carr – Can't Stop the Music (1980)
* Frank Yablans, Frank Perry, Tracy Hotchner, and Robert Getchell – Mommie Dearest (1981)
* Robin Moore and Laird Koenig – Inchon (1982)
* John Kershaw, Shawn Randall, and Ellen Shephard – The Lonely Lady (1983)
* John Derek – Bolero (1984)
* Sylvester Stallone, James Cameron, and Kevin Jarre – Rambo: First Blood Part II (1985)
* Willard Huyck and Gloria Katz – Howard the Duck (1986)
* Jonathan Reynolds and Bill Cosby – Leonard Part 6 (1987)
* Heywood Gould – Cocktail (1988)
* Eddie Murphy – Harlem Nights (1989)

1990s|

* Daniel Waters, James Cappe, and David Arnott – The Adventures of Ford Fairlane (1990)
* Steven E. de Souza, Daniel Waters, Bruce Willis, and Robert Kraft – Hudson Hawk (1991)
* Blake Snyder, William Osborne, and William Davies – Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot (1992)
* Amy Holden Jones – Indecent Proposal (1993)
* Tom S. Parker, Jim Jennewein, Steven E. de Souza, and various others – The Flintstones (1994)
* Joe Eszterhas – Showgirls (1995)
* Andrew Bergman – Striptease (1996)
* Eric Roth and Brian Helgeland – The Postman (1997)
* Joe Eszterhas – An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn (1998)
* Jim Thomas, John Thomas, S. S. Wilson, Brent Maddock, Jeffrey Price, and Peter S. Seaman – Wild Wild West (1999)

2000s|

* Corey Mandell and J. David Shapiro – Battlefield Earth (2000)
* Tom Green and Derek Harvie – Freddy Got Fingered (2001)
* George Lucas and Jonathan Hales – Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones (2002)
* Martin Brest – Gigli (2003)
* Theresa Rebeck, John Brancato, Michael Ferris, and John Rogers – Catwoman (2004)
* Jenny McCarthy – Dirty Love (2005)
* Leora Barish and Henry Bean – Basic Instinct 2 (2006)
* Jeffrey Hammond – I Know Who Killed Me (2007)
* Mike Myers and Graham Gordy – The Love Guru (2008)
* Ehren Kruger, Alex Kurtzman, and Roberto Orci – Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (2009)

2010s|

* M. Night Shyamalan – The Last Airbender (2010)
* Steve Koren, Adam Sandler, and Ben Zook – Jack and Jill (2011)
* David Caspe – That's My Boy (2012)
* Steve Baker, Ricky Blitt, Will Carlough, Tobias Carlson, Jacob Fleisher, Patrik Forsberg, Will Graham, James Gunn, Claes Kjellstrom, Jack Kukoda, Bob Odenkirk, Bill O'Malley, Matthew Alec Portenoy, Greg Pritikin, Rocky Russo, Olle Sarri, Elizabeth Wright Shapiro, Jeremy Sosenko, Jonathan van Tulleken, and Jonas Wittenmark – Movie 43 (2013)
* Darren Doane and Cheston Hervey – Saving Christmas (2014)
* Kelly Marcel – Fifty Shades of Grey (2015)
* Chris Terrio and David S. Goyer – Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016)
* Tony Leondis, Eric Siegel, and Mike White – The Emoji Movie (2017)
* Niall Leonard – Fifty Shades Freed (2018)
* Lee Hall and Tom Hooper – Cats (2019)

2020s|

* Tomasz Klimala, Barbara Białowąs, Tomasz Mandes, and Blanka Lipińska – 365 Days (2020/21)
* Joe DiPietro and David Bryan – Diana: The Musical (2021)
* Andrew Dominik – Blonde (2022)
* Rhys Frake-Waterfield – Winnie-the-Pooh: Blood and Honey (2023)

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Paul Weiland

* Leonard Part 6 (1987)
* Bernard and the Genie (1991)
* City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly's Gold (1994)
* Roseanna's Grave (1997)
* Blackadder: Back & Forth (1999)
* Sixty Six (2006)
* Made of Honor (2008)

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