All The
King's Men
**

It’s best to be wary of films released at this time of year they are either biographies or adaptations all fighting it out for nominations in the run up to the award season.

This movie is no different and has assembled an impressive cast in its bid for Oscar glory.

There’s a great divide between classes in 1950’s Louisiana, the rich live a life of privilege while the poor live close to poverty and struggle to find work.

Willie Stark (Penn) a door to door salesman feels so betrayed by the way the state is being run he sets out to hold the government accountable and run for Governor of Louisiana. As Jack Burden (Law) a newspaper columnist reports Stark’s every move; Stark becomes the champion of the poor. By promising roads, schools and a health service he wins the election.

First thing’s first this film will not win an Academy Award in fact it would be a travesty if it’s even considered let alone nominated.

Director Steven Zaillian is better known as a screen writer having penned The Interpreter, Schindler’s List and Gangs of New York, this is hard to believe as this adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s novel leaves a lot to be desired as it jumps clumsily between past and present leaving the audience unable to determine if they are coming or going.

The casting is also wide of the mark; Sean Penn who is arguably one of the best actors of his generation just gets it so wrong, his speeches to the masses do little to inspire as they are so over the top with the arm waving and the shouting it’s almost comical. Penn’s performance along with the limp script fail to create any sympathy or empathy with the character of Stark and the situation he and the poor of Louisiana find themselves in at the beginning of the film. Their attempt to portray Stark as the everyman hero campaigning for a better life for the poor turns into more of a quest of personal gain for Stark, making his corruption by power and subsequent demise inevitable. As a result of this a disengaged audience is left feeling unsympathetic towards an outcome that couldn’t have arrived quickly enough.

The supporting cast of Hopkins, Winslet and Ruffalo on paper looks like a sure fire winner but these good actors all go to waste. Only Jude Law gives anything near a respectable performance as Jack Burden. But this films interpretation of Jack is vastly removed to how he is described in the book. Author Warren portrays Jack as obsessed with Winslet’s character Anne Stanton and is enraged when Stark takes her as a mistress sadly all this is missing from the film and it would have been interesting to have investigated Jack’s back story in more detail and seen conflict between Stark and Burden.

In an industry driven by remakes and sequels this movie had potential to be a tense political thriller that would have been a gust of fresh air. But it got so convinced of its own importance and value that it has sadly lost sight of the story it was trying to tell.

by Helen Earnshaw