All The King's Men

Cert: 12A
Stars: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini
Director: Steve Zaillian
Five-second summary: Period political drama

Full Review

With its beautifully rendered period detail, all-star cast and weighty subject matter, All The KingÂ’s Men was clearly conceived with golden statuettes in mind. Although there is class and quality in abundance, particularly in the cinematography and dialogue, this political yarn turns out to be less than the sum of its parts.

Based on a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel (previously adapted for the cinema in 1949), All The KingÂ’s Men is a tale of power and corruption loosely based on real-life Louisiana governor Huey P Long.

With the story moved from the Depression era to the early 1950s, Sean Penn plays Willie Stark, a man of the people, and of principles, in a state run by crooks. After initially being tricked into running for governor by political enemies who hoped he would split the ‘hick’ vote, Stark is transformed from a polite political ingénue into a foaming-at-the-mouth radical firebrand. Journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) watches as Stark sweeps to power and is then hired as his top aide.

The ‘power corrupts’ plot trajectory is hardly revolutionary, but there is enough depth to the story and (some of) the characters here for a truly engaging drama, and yet All The King’s Men loosens its grip on the audience the longer it goes on. Its weakness seems to stem from the character of Jack Burden from whose point of view the story is told.

Although disillusioned with the political establishment, he never seems to have any real belief in Willie Stark and the most he can say about him to his editor is that he is ‘colourful’. Burden comes from a privileged background and soon Stark, who is becoming increasingly ruthless, starts drawing Burden’s contacts into his web. Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins), Burden’s surrogate father, becomes a target of Stark’s, but quite why Burden goes along with his campaign of intimidation and blackmail is never understandable.

Then you have BurdenÂ’s relationship with his childhood sweetheart, Anne Stanton (Kate Winslet), which is introduced far too late into the story to carry any weight, and his relationship with her brother (formerly his best friend) who is the only genuinely principled character in the story. Sadly, as Adam Stanton (Mark Ruffalo) is given too little screen time to really make an impression.

ItÂ’s a pity as Jude Law isnÂ’t actually at all bad, itÂ’s just that the film tries to cover too much ground to give any of it the attention it requires. Sean Penn goes large as Willie Stark and an excess of swelling music during his big speeches sends him way over the top. Again, due perhaps to lack of room to manoeuvre more than anything else, his character arc feels sketchy.

Verdict: Tries to do too much.

- Visit the official site
- Search: More on All The KingÂ’s Men

Also reviewed this week

A Good Year
Havoc
Red Road
Step Up