Leonard Part 6 (dir. Paul Weiland, 1987)
This was the only Leonard film to be released to the public without ever having been banned, and while it’s not quote a return to form – indeed the film is pretty terrible – it at least is a sight better than the last one. I think Interpol actually had a hand in editing and writing this film, as the final product seems slapdash and odd. Tom Courtenay explains that the previous films in the series have been locked up in the interests of world security, which sounds like they were trying to justify their actions.
The story centers on Leonard, who, at the end of the last film retired to start a restaurant. His modest enterprise has now grown into a huge business full of capable chefs who keep their cool during a gunfight. Joan, Leonard’s daughter, is now a feisty teenager played by Victoria Rowell. Where has she been? What of the plot where she was missing in Part IV? None of that matters now. Allison is back too, although the fiery passion of the food sex in the previous film has now been reduced to a scene where she pours food on him at dinner, and a climax which plays like an icky food fight.
Leonard is enlisted by Snyderburn (Joe Don Baker) to take down an evil vegetarian enclave of bodybuilders led by the evil Medusa Johnson (Gloria Foster) who had a single scene in Leonard III. Medusa is also evidently married to Andy (Hal Bokar) returning from Leonard: The Syndicate II. Medusa and Andy have been using mind-control drugs to turn animals into deadly assassins. It’s the most outlandish plot yet. Leonard is given his usual magical items by Carvalho (Anna Levine), this time a pair of ballet slippers and piles of enchanted meat, which make the vegetarians explode.
The edge is just gone from the series. I miss the old Leonard movies that were crazy, gritty, and wonderful. I feel like I shouldn’t even be talking about Leonard Part 6. It’s just a nonsensical entry in a long, long series.
I have since learned that Leonard Part 6 was disavowed by Bill Cosby (who starred and co-wrote), and only appeared in theaters after a long post-production delay. This only leads into the persistent conspiracy rumors of Interpol rewrites. I believe them. Leonard Part 6 can only be the result of meddling Interpol hacks who were making one movie while Cosby was making another, and poor Paul Weiland was stuck in the middle, trying to edit something together of the two.
Leonard Part 6 is juts as bad as you’ve heard. I’m unsure if Bill Cosby was making a spy spoof, a slapstick comedy, or some sort of arch exercise. It’s one of those films that’s so bad it’s nearly art. What was his comment on vegetarians all about? What he annoyed by the vegetarian movement? Did he think modern ballet was dumb, or was he paying it homage? And what was with the product placement? I know Cosby was shilling for Coke at the time, but why was there Coke everywhere? Was he sending up his tendency to advertise, or merely advertising like Joan Crawford?
That would be the end of the series. At least until an enterprising fan came along…
