All the King's Men :: Wessex Scene Online

All the King's Men

17th November 2006
Josh Du Sautoy

About this film

Title	All the King's Men
Director	Steven Zaillian
Release Date	27 October 2006
Certificate
Genres	Drama, Thriller
Our Rating	2.0/5.0
Shown at Union Films Tuesday 27th February 2007 7:00pm

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A promising film from a first time director, but a lack of pace, meaning, and above all, direction.

However the producers of this remake of the 1949 classic political drama can rest assured that this did not happen this time. Because the script is convoluted, loose and nothing like Zaillian’s other films. In short, perhaps he spent all his time attempting to direct without producing a script worthy of this great cast, predictable given that he never actually watched the original version, Robert Rosson’s Oscar winning 1949 drama might have shown him how it was done.

Jude Law heads an outstanding ensemble, but one unable to lift this mediocre film out of the realms of films forgotten an hour after having been viewed. He plays Jack Burden, a reporter and direct witness in the 1950s to the rise and fall of Governor Willie Stark of Louisiana, Sean Penn on fine shouting form playing, essentially, an underwritten character. The film attempts to deal with issues of corruption and betrayal as Stark finds himself immersed into the ever-seedy world of American politics meeting along the way Kate Winslet, Anthony Hopkins and the always excellent James Gandolfini.

On paper this film should have been great, a story of corruption and political assassination played out by a cast of the same quality as Ocean’s Eleven. However the problem with having so many characters who are seemingly integral to the plot, is that during the process of trying to incorporate every one of them, the writer can forget to fully develop each role, leaving the film a blur of subplots and interweaving stories that leave the audience confused and indifferent to the character’s destinies.

When it wrapped in March 2005, this film was the cause of much Oscar buzz, with many proclaiming it would bring Penn his second successive Academy Award. However Columbia were unhappy with test screenings and the film was delayed a year whilst re-editing and structure revisions took place, the result of which makes one wonder whether the first attempt would make better viewing. However by the end of the two hours and ten minutes, you will find it hard to care. The actors performed as they should, but mired in a bland feature such as this, it doesn’t matter.

Fans of Jude Law will be happy in the knowledge that his English accent re-appears finally in Breaking and Entering later on this month. Lets all hope that it marks a return to form for the leading English actor of his generation, who has unfortunately produced too many films of this quality, coming back to England might see an improvement.