All the King’s Men

By: Andrew Moran

4 Stars out of 5 Stars

Starring (Alphabetical Order): Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, Sean Penn, Mark Ruffalo & Kate Winslet

Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana

All the King’s Men is a triumph, truly one of the better pictures of the year.  With recent letdowns such as Miami Vice or Pirates of the Caribbean, this film really set the bar for the core of great films in the next few months.  Majority of the critics did not like this film, however they said Sean Penn’s performance was exhilarating.  I must agree, this is the best performance in a film since 1989’s Rain Man, which starred Dustin Hoffman and won him an Oscar.

Steve Zaillian (Searching for Bobby Fisher & A Civil Action) really hit the mark from the adaptation of the book by Robert Penn Warren and was later adapted into a film in 1946. But this movie was far beyond the 1946 version; this film was 10 times better.  This film is riveting and remarkable and drives you in believing that there might be a politician that might fight for the people like Willie Stark, which was loosely based on Gov. Huey Long.

The cinematography to this film was key.  When Willie Stark was standing in front the City Hall building delivering his speech fighting against his impeachment, really had key cinematography.  And if you see this film, wait for great camera work and lighting at the last scene of the film. 

The cast was good but not great, but how could that be possible with a performance from Sean Penn (21 Grams & U-Turn).  But overall they played their parts well and even the accents were all right.  Except for Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs & Meet Joe Black), he still had his English accent.  I must warn you though, if you are not used to Southern accents, you’ll get lost in the dialogue at the beginning but once you get used to it you’ll find the dialogue enjoyable. 

The score could have been more powerful, like the film, but when the city hall scene kept coming up the song was moving a long with Willie Stark’s words.  This is one of the better scores of the year but certainly not the last.

Indeed, this movie was great too watch however when it comes Oscar time this film will most likely be snubbed.  But with a film schedule consisting of Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Babel, Steven Soderbergh’s The Good German and Emilio Estevez’s Bobby it will be hard to contend.  However Sean Penn’s performance will not go unnoticed but it will contend against Forrest Whittaker in The Last King of Scotland.