All the King's Men (D+ or 1.5/4 stars)
All the king's horses & 'All the King's Men' could not put together this film again. Written & directed by Steven Zaillian, this film tells the story of one, Willie Stark (Sean Penn); an idealistic politician who starts his career with morals, but plays dirty politics to get ahead. To him, the end always justified the dirty, blackmail, bribery-ridden means. Sounds like the foundation for a film with potential. Heck, it's a remake of a 1949 film which won the Academy Award for Best Picture! But even the superb cast could not resuscitate the long, bloated, bore-fest that this film truly is.
Jack (Jude Law) is a misanthrope newspaper columnist out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He befriends, writes a story of, & becomes 'assistant' to up-&-coming potential governor, Willie Stark. Initially, Stark is against political corruption. And a recent school disaster (where three young children die) is the catalyst to convince the poor folk that 'he' is the one who can get rid of the current political regime, reform the schools, the jobs, the stores, the banks, the markets, everything under the sun. Lecturing at fairs, bayous, town halls, Stark spits and grunts and hollers his way into the po' folks' hearts. So, now he's the momentary hero; until he falls prey to the corruption, as well. Unfortunately, by this time, Jack is too far into the scenario to back-out, even when he knows how corrupt Stark can be.
Get set for the subplots: even though Jack is loyal to Willie, his own godfather, Judge Irwin, (a weary Anthony Hopkins) targets Stark for impeachment which leads to disastrous results. Irwin is also involved in some bank trouble, which has nothing to do with the crux of the story. Willie Stark wheels-and-deals & brings a long lost love of Jack's back in the picture (Kate Winslet). But her intentions with Jack/Stark are anything but clear. Stark then cajoles another one of Jack's long lost friends, Adam (Mark Ruffalo) into his slimy administration. He wants nothing to do with Stark, but the price of the pay-off is right. Oh, can't forget Patricia Clarkson's all-important character (she's Stark's speechwriter). Apparently she & Willie sleep together but she's jealous of a fling with an ice skater (Nicole Bobek). What of James Gandolfini? He's a political fixer who works for Stark. The resurgent Jackie Earle Haley? Relegated to a muted gunman. Kathy Baker? Jack's elitist mother (Baker chews some major scenes in this film). Everyone listed is in this movie to show a fault of Willie's.
And Zaillian goes to extreme lengths to show us that every single person in this film counts, matters, is important, & deserves equal billing. There are so many characters & so many individual scenes (with bombastic, all-important music being played in each one). Because the focus is on so many people for such small increments of time, we don't see why their personalities/stories change so quickly and without any cohesive explanation; not one character is completely developed. Entire subplots could have been absent; i.e. Kate Winslet's angle. Speaking of her (& Mark Ruffalo), they are very much involved in this film's climax, yet, we're not even introduced to them til way-on in the 2nd Act; just bizarre. Really, this film felt like it was 4 hours long.
Sean Penn was loud, explosive, & borderline manic. Sometimes it works, most of the time it bugs. Even when it works though, we don't see the metamorphosis of Willie as he goes from concerned politician to power-hungry psycho. Shouldn't that be THE story? Jude Law is decent. But everyone else just doesn't work. All other actors are from England or L.A. and no one seems to know how to speak in a proper Southern accent; it's a huge distraction. Really, the film's editing is as choppy as this review. The movie is just too hard to follow, & too heavy for its own good.
Jack (Jude Law) is a misanthrope newspaper columnist out of New Orleans, Louisiana. He befriends, writes a story of, & becomes 'assistant' to up-&-coming potential governor, Willie Stark. Initially, Stark is against political corruption. And a recent school disaster (where three young children die) is the catalyst to convince the poor folk that 'he' is the one who can get rid of the current political regime, reform the schools, the jobs, the stores, the banks, the markets, everything under the sun. Lecturing at fairs, bayous, town halls, Stark spits and grunts and hollers his way into the po' folks' hearts. So, now he's the momentary hero; until he falls prey to the corruption, as well. Unfortunately, by this time, Jack is too far into the scenario to back-out, even when he knows how corrupt Stark can be.
Get set for the subplots: even though Jack is loyal to Willie, his own godfather, Judge Irwin, (a weary Anthony Hopkins) targets Stark for impeachment which leads to disastrous results. Irwin is also involved in some bank trouble, which has nothing to do with the crux of the story. Willie Stark wheels-and-deals & brings a long lost love of Jack's back in the picture (Kate Winslet). But her intentions with Jack/Stark are anything but clear. Stark then cajoles another one of Jack's long lost friends, Adam (Mark Ruffalo) into his slimy administration. He wants nothing to do with Stark, but the price of the pay-off is right. Oh, can't forget Patricia Clarkson's all-important character (she's Stark's speechwriter). Apparently she & Willie sleep together but she's jealous of a fling with an ice skater (Nicole Bobek). What of James Gandolfini? He's a political fixer who works for Stark. The resurgent Jackie Earle Haley? Relegated to a muted gunman. Kathy Baker? Jack's elitist mother (Baker chews some major scenes in this film). Everyone listed is in this movie to show a fault of Willie's.
And Zaillian goes to extreme lengths to show us that every single person in this film counts, matters, is important, & deserves equal billing. There are so many characters & so many individual scenes (with bombastic, all-important music being played in each one). Because the focus is on so many people for such small increments of time, we don't see why their personalities/stories change so quickly and without any cohesive explanation; not one character is completely developed. Entire subplots could have been absent; i.e. Kate Winslet's angle. Speaking of her (& Mark Ruffalo), they are very much involved in this film's climax, yet, we're not even introduced to them til way-on in the 2nd Act; just bizarre. Really, this film felt like it was 4 hours long.
Sean Penn was loud, explosive, & borderline manic. Sometimes it works, most of the time it bugs. Even when it works though, we don't see the metamorphosis of Willie as he goes from concerned politician to power-hungry psycho. Shouldn't that be THE story? Jude Law is decent. But everyone else just doesn't work. All other actors are from England or L.A. and no one seems to know how to speak in a proper Southern accent; it's a huge distraction. Really, the film's editing is as choppy as this review. The movie is just too hard to follow, & too heavy for its own good.