Best of the Bad … ‘Leonard Part 6’

Quite possibly one of the cheesiest, most ridiculously stupid movies of all time, Leonard Part 6 (1987) was directed by Paul Weiland, world-renowned auteur of such masterful classics as … City Slickers II: The Legend of Curly’s Gold (1994). Otherwise, he’s apparently the guy to talk to if you want to make a Rowan Atkinson show, with nearly half of Weiland’s resume containing Mr. Bean somewhere in the title. Even better, Bill Cosby wrote and produced the film, on top of starring in this lemon.

Bill Cosby is Leonard Parker, a retired secret agent that the CIA must beg to return to duty in an attempt to stop a maniacal plan to brainwash cute little critters, like rabbits, into killing humans. Despite his personal problems, Leonard is forced into involving himself when his wife is kidnapped by the evil Medusa Johnson, played by Gloria Foster (The Matrix).

Medusa is Hell-bent on forcing the world into vegetarianism, but she has to deal with Leonard first. At his disposal is a wide array of super-spy gadgetry including a compact car with a full-size tank cannon sticking out the windshield and concealed, portable armpit missiles. Leonard must fend off Medusa’s vegetarian thugs and man-eating fuzzy animals to save his wife, and the world.

Apparently, Cosby was not pleased at all with the film upon completion, advising audiences not to waste their money and placing most of the blame on the director … hey Bill, you did write and produce this thing. Take some credit, eh? Anyway, despite its cheese-factor of about negative-infinity, it is still enjoyable to watch Bill Cosby make a fool of himself, evading death by dancing in ballet slippers and escaping on ostrich-back as he flies to safety. Anyone notice a problem there?

I’ll wrap this post up with a great little piece of trivia related to Leonard Part 6, courtesy of IMDB.com — [The film won three Razzie Awards including Worst Picture, Worst Actor, and Worst Screenplay. All of which were personally accepted by Bill Cosby himself, he requested that they be specially made out of 24 carat gold and Italian marble, (at a cost to Fox Networks of about $27,000) and be presented to him on “The Fox Late Show” a few weeks after the actual Razzie ceremony.]