Back when I was in high school and very much interested in politics, Robert Penn Warren’s novel All the King’s Men was a particular favorite of mine. I liked it so much that I continued reading up on former Louisiana governor Huey P. Long and his “Every Man a King” ideal for sharing the wealth in the state over which he reigned in the 1930s.
Though I’d forgotten most of the details of Warren’s book in the 20 years or so since I last read it, I still remembered how engrossing the basic story was to me, so I was looking forward to seeing the 2006 film adaptation starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, and Kate Winslet. Unfortunately, I should have realized that since Sean Penn was in this movie, I had very little chance of liking the final product.
Plot summary (with possible spoilers): The film is told from the story of Jack Burden (played by Law), a journalist from one of the most prominent families in Louisiana. Burden covers the political beat, so he has seen firsthand all of the greed and corruption that defined most politicians of that day. That’s why he sits up and takes notice when Willie Stark (Penn), a traveling salesman with no political ties or experience at all throws his hat into the ring for the gubernatorial election.
What Burden didn’t realize, however, was that Stark was basically set up to be a pawn for Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini), a shady character who seemed to have his hand in a bunch of questionable business dealings involving contractors and construction bids. Initially, the plan was for the unknown Stark to lose so that Duffy’s real connection could win. But when Stark hears of this plan, he suddenly decides that he’s going to give the race everything he has.
Stark then turns into a virtual demagogue, inciting the populace with his calls reform and more parity between rich and poor. His rhetoric strikes a chord with the poverty stricken regions of the state, and he ends up winning the election. Jack Burden leaves his newspaper post to work for Stark in an undefined capacity.
The rest of the film then deals with all of the programs Stark tries to put into place during his first term as governor. Some of these programs are designed to genuinely help the poor, but some are just there as pork barrel projects that will allow Stark and his cohorts to skim off the top. As Stark’s power and popularity grow, Burden realizes — albeit too late — that Stark was really no different from any of the other politicians who were in power at the time.
My Reaction: I enjoyed many of the scenes that didn’t involve Sean Penn; it’s just too bad his character appeared in a majority of the film. I thought his performance as Willie Stark was way off base, and that ruined most of the movie for me.
The biggest problem I had with Penn’s interpretation of the role was the way he started bellowing, shouting, and waving his arms almost from his very first speech. He came off as pretty out of whack right from the start. I think it would have been much more effective to have a more toned-down Stark at the beginning of the film, and then show the governor slowly transform into that blathering, gesturing wild man as his power grew. As things were, I just couldn’t imagine a raving lunatic like Stark winning the election in the first place.
As in the novel, I thought Jack Burden’s personal story was a bit more interesting than what was going on with Stark, and would have liked to see the Anne Stanton angle portrayed a bit more prominently. Burden’s obsession didn’t come through in the film, so his reaction to the Stark-Stanton affair was far more subdued than it should have been.
On the whole, I thought All the King’s Men was an average adaptation of an extraordinary book. The movie had no time to explore the depth of the main characters, which made it impossible to care what happened to them during the two hours they were on screen. I give this film 5.5 stars out of 10, and recommend that you check out the Robert Penn Warren novel instead.
I’m excited to start digging into the several new box sets of TV shows on DVDs that I’ve either borrowed from friends or purchased on my own. The collection includes Season 1 of Ghost Whisperer, Season 4 of Without a Trace, Season 3 of Boston Legal, and Season 1 of 30 Rock.