When the critics at Cahiers du Cinéma developed what became known as the auteur theory, they were careful to specify that not every filmmaker, no matter how accomplished, qualified as an auteur. But no one has ever referred to a movie as “the new Turteltaub,” and you won’t find cinephiles sparring in Letterboxd’s comments section over whether Cool Runnings or 3 Ninjas ranks higher in his oeuvre. Turteltaub has been making movies in Hollywood for more than three decades, and chances are you’ve even seen a few of them: While You Were Sleeping, perhaps, or one of the National Treasures. I’d bet there are loads of fans who enjoyed The Meg and eagerly awaited the sequel but couldn’t name its director, Jon Turteltaub. There are many ways to define a hack, but the least judgmental is that you don’t know who they are.
