DVD Review - All the King's Men
When I first heard about this film I had mixed feelings as I don't usually like remakes. But I was interested in it because of the cast and the relevancy of the message of the story to today's political climate. When the film came out this past September it got really bad reviews so I didn't bother seeing it in the theater. But I thought that it was worth seeing on DVD and I found that while this is not a great film it is better than the critic's would have you think.
Steven Zallian wrote and directed this adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's novel about Willie Stark that takes place in Louisiana. The film was originally made in 1949 and starred Broderick Crawford as Willie. There is no doubt that the original film is better and a much more subtle telling of the story. I think that Zallian was a bit overzealous in his take on things and I am sure that a better director would have made a better film.
That said, I was still drawn in to this story of populist Stark (based on Louisiana Governor Huey Long) who is supposedly a man of the people. I say supposedly because behind closed doors he is corrupt as the rest of them. He is aided by journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) who is enthralled with Stark. Others who are on the Stark bandwagon are Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini) - who is his Lieutenant Governor, Sadie Burke (Patricia Clarkson), and Sugar Baby (Jackie Earle Haley), who is Stark's bodyguard and driver. Stark also has a fan in Ann Stanton (Kate Winslet). But her brother Adam (Mark Ruffalo) does not care for Stark. Those in agreement with him are Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins) and Burden's mother (Kathy Baker).
I won't say more about the plot because many of you are familiar with it.
I think that most of the acting is good. Penn sometimes goes over the top but for the most part he makes a convincing Stark. I was surprised at how believable I found Law as Burden. Clarkson, Baker, Hopkins, Ruffalo, Winslet and especially Haley all give fine performances but their roles are small and their characters are not that well developed. I did have a problem with Gandolfini - his accent sounds like Tony Soprano trying to talk with a southern twang.
The DVD has some interesting deleted scenes and an alternative ending that is better than the one they used in the film. All in all, I think that this film is definitely worth checking out on DVD.
Steven Zallian wrote and directed this adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's novel about Willie Stark that takes place in Louisiana. The film was originally made in 1949 and starred Broderick Crawford as Willie. There is no doubt that the original film is better and a much more subtle telling of the story. I think that Zallian was a bit overzealous in his take on things and I am sure that a better director would have made a better film.
That said, I was still drawn in to this story of populist Stark (based on Louisiana Governor Huey Long) who is supposedly a man of the people. I say supposedly because behind closed doors he is corrupt as the rest of them. He is aided by journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) who is enthralled with Stark. Others who are on the Stark bandwagon are Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini) - who is his Lieutenant Governor, Sadie Burke (Patricia Clarkson), and Sugar Baby (Jackie Earle Haley), who is Stark's bodyguard and driver. Stark also has a fan in Ann Stanton (Kate Winslet). But her brother Adam (Mark Ruffalo) does not care for Stark. Those in agreement with him are Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins) and Burden's mother (Kathy Baker).
I won't say more about the plot because many of you are familiar with it.
I think that most of the acting is good. Penn sometimes goes over the top but for the most part he makes a convincing Stark. I was surprised at how believable I found Law as Burden. Clarkson, Baker, Hopkins, Ruffalo, Winslet and especially Haley all give fine performances but their roles are small and their characters are not that well developed. I did have a problem with Gandolfini - his accent sounds like Tony Soprano trying to talk with a southern twang.
The DVD has some interesting deleted scenes and an alternative ending that is better than the one they used in the film. All in all, I think that this film is definitely worth checking out on DVD.
posted by Film Fanatic | 7:53 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home