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This weekend, you have the chance to go see a big, dumb giant-shark movie, because is it August, and it is your constitutional right as an American to go see big, dumb giant-shark movies in August. It’s a billion degrees outside walking anywhere is an act of torture, so see whatever dumb thing you want to, honestly, so long as you don’t have to move while you’re doing it.
But The Meg, this year’s giant-shark movie of choice, is a particularly special offering, because this summer’s big, dumb shark movie is directed by the same man who directed one of the best romantic comedies of the 1990s. YES IT IS TRUE. It’s also directed by the same man who directed the movie I saw most on The Disney Channel as a kid (besides Newsies). And none of these movies are the rather large handful that he made with one of Hollywood’s biggest action stars.
John Turteltaub may not have the kind of name recognition enjoyed by the Scorseses or Tarantinos or Coppolas. But his filmography stands out for being one of the more fascinatingly eclectic in Hollywood. He was essentially an in-house director at Disney from the early 1990s through 2010, and this was back when Disney was up to more diverse filmmaking than simply Marvel and Lucasfilm plus animation. Shuffling back and forth between Disney proper and Touchstone, he made family comedies, lighthearted action, and inspirational fluff. It’s a true grab-bag of a career, but that’s what makes it fun to follow.
'3 Ninjas' (1992)
A trio of adorable little brothers learn ninjutsu from their Japanese grandfather and then put those skills to good use when they’re home-invaded by the henchmen of the master criminal their FBI agent dad tried to put away. It’s wish fulfillment for any kid who grew up on action movies and wished he could put those skills into practice. (It’s also pretty much Home Alone for jocks.) Overall, it’s a pretty dumb movie, but tell that to a 12-year-old with a crush on the oldest ninja brother that he couldn’t tell anyone about. This movie was basically on The Disney Channel every single day.
'Cool Runnings' (1993)
Sticking with the Disney family-film bait (and another long-standing Disney Channel staple), Turteltaub directed this popular early ’90s offering that took advantage of being nestled in the year between the ’92 and ’94 Winter Olympics. Bobsled was all the rage in America up until Tonya Harding yanked that attention back to the figure skaters, but for a good solid year there it was bobsled time for Doug E. Doug and the late, great John Candy.
'While You Were Sleeping' (1995)
This right here? This is the jewel in John Turteltaub’s crown. And no matter how many Nicolas Cage movies he makes nor how many prehistoric giant sharks he brings to the big screen, he’s probably never going to top this one. Sandra Bullock at her absolute rom-com peak, playing a Chicago subway token-booth operator who saves oblivious businessman Peter Gallagher from certain death and ends up going along with his family’s false assumption that she’s his fiancee.
This movie is a Sandy Bullock vehicle through and through — it wouldn’t work without her charm, likability, and comedic timing — but you have to hand it to Turteltaub for making the entire canvass of the movie equally warm and vibrant. The movie depends on us understanding how Bullock would fall in love with that extended family, and we really, really do. Underestimate this movie’s charms at your peril.
'Phenomenon' (1996)
John Travolta gets struck by a light in the sky, and suddenly he’s supernaturally intelligent and a curiosity (and maybe a threat) to his small town. This movie really doesn’t work on a fundamental level, but it’s fascinating to watch Turteltaub work with Travolta during his post-Pulp Fiction run where he got cast in just about everything.
'Instinct' (1999)
Anthony Hopkins plays an anthropologist who disappears with a group of gorillas and goes fully native, killing a bunch of people with his new gorilla rage. Or something. There were a lot of great and influential movies in 1999. This was not among them.
'Disney's The Kid' (2000)
Bruce Willis is a successful but hollow image consultant who returns home one day to find his childhood self on his front steps. What follows is one of those stories about realizing where you went astray from your childhood innocence and goodness. It’s Hook without the Boo Box.
'National Treasure' (2004)
And here is where Turteltaub found his biggest Hollwyood success, partnering up with Nicolas Cage for the first time. This one, of course, is the one where they steal the Declaration of Independence. I have been told that it is the perfect movie to watch when you have a hangover.
'National Treasure: Book of Secrets' (2007)
The sequel to the hugely popular National Treasure added Helen Mirren (as Cage’s mom!) and Ed Harris to the cast, and it all added up to the biggest box-office success of Turteltaub’s career.
'The Sorcerer's Apprentice' (2010)
From the highs of Book of Secrets to the lows of a box-office bomb. That’s what happened when Nicolas Cage and Jay Baruchel teamed up for an in-name-only adaptation of the most famous part of Fantasia. It took in only $63 million domestic off of a $150 million budget and is pretty much entirely forgotten when we discuss how lucrative Disney’s live-action-remakes-of-animated-classics subgenre has been.
'Last Vegas' (2013)
Whether or not we can blame this all on the financial failure of The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, the fact remains that there was no third National Treasure movie, and Turteltaub stopped making movies for the Mouse thereafter. His only feature film this decade saw him reunite Michael Douglas, Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, and Kevin Kline for one last Vegas adventure. The cast (including Mary Steenburgen) had so many Oscars, but the film didn’t exactly match their star power.
