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By
WAYNE KLEIN
A stiff, misbegotten and
unconvincing remake of the classic 1949 film
(which was based on the popular book of the same
name which used the life of Huey Long of Louisiana
as the basis of the main character), "All the
King's Men" has pedigree but demonstrates that
pedigree by itself doesn't guarantee a great film.
Written and directed by Steven Zaillian
("Schindler's List" and "Munich" among many other
high profile projects) stays truer to the original
Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert Penn Warren
than previous adaptations but this is an example
of having too much fidelity to the book and not
enough cinematic inspiration. That's too bad
because this story is as topical as ever in our
Bubba Bush age.
Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is inspired to seek
political office by a pair of power brokers (James
Gandolfini and Patricia Clarkson). What Willie
doesn't realize is that he is just a pawn in a
much larger game of politics. Told from the
point-of-view of a political reporter Jack Burden
(Jude Law), Burden follows Willie from his initial
rise in local politics where Willie battles
against the poor construction of a school and
indifferent school board to that of governor of
the state. Penn gives a soaring performance
despite the earth bound material he has to work
with. The top notch cast also includes Kate
Winslet, Mark Ruffalo and Anthony Hopkins all
wasted in roles that fail to deliver the political
punch that the novel and original film did
deliver.
"ATKM" receives a handsome transfer capturing the
wonderful detail of the cinematography. Audio
sounds terrific as well with a marvelous 5.1 mix
that may not make dynamic use of the format but
has nice detail spread around the speakers.
The DVD comes packed with more pork than most
political bills. We get five featurettes ranging
from 5 to 20 minutes in length covering the entire
spectrum of the making of the film. "The Legend
and Lore of Huey Long" stands out only because we
learn about the former governor of Louisiana, his
life and how it inspired writer Robert Penn Warren
to pen his famous book. We get a making-of
featurette, "Shake Hands with the Devil" that
tries to tie it into our current political climate
and "La Confidential: On Location with All the
King's Men" providing additional background on the
film. The latter featurette allows the stars and
film director to pontificate about the importance
of their film. Reportedly Zaillian never saw the
1949 film. If he had he would have realized the
right way to approach the material for a modern
audience and would only have had to update the
overall look of the film.
A flawed political drama, "All the King's Men"
doesn't hold up when compared to both the original
1949 classic which won Broderick Crawford an Oscar
and the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Robert
Penn Warren. Zaillian's film is stiff and
unconvincing despite a stunning central
performance by Penn. He also manages to waste much
of the talented cast in underwritten supporting
roles. It's a pity as this classic tale probably
has more relevance in the post 9/11 Bubba Bush age
than just about any other political saga recently
written. |
