Sean Penn is the biggest name of the star studded cast of the remake "All The Kings Men." The lead really is played by Jude Law. Jack Burden (Law) is one of the kings men and the story is told through his perspective as he works for Willie Stark (Sean Penn) as Stark's thirst for power gradually drifts from "a man of the people" to a power driven Governor looking for bigger and better things. He's willing to take from the wealthy and give to the poor, and he's willing to cross moral lines to justify his actions. Sean Penn is over the top and some may not like that, but he's hardly over the top when he's not on stage preaching to the people. This is a powerful performance and one that isn't explored enough through the course of the film with Stark's interesting downfall. We really never know how corrupt he gets, which would make for a more interesting story film. The complexities of the film and the greatness of the source material gives this film a lot to work with, and ultimately, too much to work with. Willie Stark is the most interesting aspect of the film, and Penn delivers an Oscar worthy performance. Combine that with the fantastic art direction, and the incredible style and look of the film along with the cinematography and you'll be scratching your head as to why this turned out to be such a horrible disappointment. The costumes, the sets, the beautiful score, and the cinematography are all on Oscar nomination worthy levels. The source material screams of a Best Picture nomination, but the main issue, and all the blame for it's failures, can be blamed solely on the shoulders of director Steve Zaillian. The best parts of the film go ignored and substituted for the back-story between Jack Burden and the people that were close to him. His story doesn't go into enough detail of Willie Stark's demise and their relationship.
Virtually every decision made by Zaillian is the wrong decision. The casting is among the worst I've ever seen in any motion picture. James Gandolfini plays Tiny Duffy, and the moment this Jersey born Italian -- which is just about the furthest thing from a deep southerner you can get -- talks is laughable. I felt pain watching Gandolfini attempt to play a part that he just can't pull off. He doesn't have the proper look. Zaillian wanted a big man, and I guess Gandolfini was the most marketable fat guy he could find, so he fit his bill. This film gets very British instead of southern. Jude Law and Mark Ruffalo are both horrible actors to begin with, but man, these two are beyond horrible. They both look so lazy. They think if they stare off into space for five minutes that it will look like they are deep in thought. The real lead actor, Law, brings nothing to the table. He doesn't have an emotional bone in his body and he mopes around, from scene to scene, without blinking as he does nothing with his complex character. His acting is all on the surface. He seems incapable of digging deeper, and all we see is a rubber expressionless face. Ruffalo is in the same boat, but not nearly as bad. Anthony Hopkins has created great characters in the past and put together an impressive resume, but once again, he doesn't fit the part, nor does he even attempt to fit it. He keeps his thick British accent. It was, however, a relief watching him compared to Law or Ruffalo, because he brings an energy to the screen that those two boring actors couldn't even think of doing. The only supporting performance that was any good was by Jackie Earl Haley, and he doesn't say more than two lines in the entire film, but he's always popping up, and by films end, he finds himself in the middle of all the chaos. His mannerisms in the final scene -- along with the look in his eyes -- is better acting than Law and Ruffalo put together for the entire film.
The greatest downfall comes with Zaillian's overall direction of the film. He really has no clue where he wants the film to go from scene to scene. He doesn't even know how he wants to start the film as it starts in the middle of the film before going five years into the past with a worthless scene. He seems more worried about shot selection and set up than storytelling. The opening scene is an eye catcher, and got my hopes up even though its shot like a shampoo commercial. That scene is over-directed and every scene after that is over- directed. Zaillian directs this as if he's ready to garner a Best Director Oscar. He shows off and draws attention to himself, but forgets about the story line that meanders around, instead, he we focus on a sub plot between Jack Burden and Anne Stanton (Kate Winslet) that we really don't care about. The film is confusing because the direction is so bad. Zaillian has his moments, and you can see moments of greatness peek through, but he tries to go for too much, and ultimately falls off the tracks. He tries too hard in professing ideals through reoccurring voice-over and flashbacks. The ending is interesting and abrupt, but loaded with symbolism as we see two good men slain as they succumb to the evils that go along with wealth and power.
Zaillian creates an incredible disappointment filled with interesting philosophical ideals and some great symbolism thanks to the source material, but the flow of the film is confusing and the choice in actors are beyond repair. We see moments of sheer brilliance from the great art direction to the powerful lead performance (Penn), but Zaillian has his hands all over this and makes too many irreconcilable decisions.
Virtually every decision made by Zaillian is the wrong decision. The casting is among the worst I've ever seen in any motion picture. James Gandolfini plays Tiny Duffy, and the moment this Jersey born Italian -- which is just about the furthest thing from a deep southerner you can get -- talks is laughable. I felt pain watching Gandolfini attempt to play a part that he just can't pull off. He doesn't have the proper look. Zaillian wanted a big man, and I guess Gandolfini was the most marketable fat guy he could find, so he fit his bill. This film gets very British instead of southern. Jude Law and Mark Ruffalo are both horrible actors to begin with, but man, these two are beyond horrible. They both look so lazy. They think if they stare off into space for five minutes that it will look like they are deep in thought. The real lead actor, Law, brings nothing to the table. He doesn't have an emotional bone in his body and he mopes around, from scene to scene, without blinking as he does nothing with his complex character. His acting is all on the surface. He seems incapable of digging deeper, and all we see is a rubber expressionless face. Ruffalo is in the same boat, but not nearly as bad. Anthony Hopkins has created great characters in the past and put together an impressive resume, but once again, he doesn't fit the part, nor does he even attempt to fit it. He keeps his thick British accent. It was, however, a relief watching him compared to Law or Ruffalo, because he brings an energy to the screen that those two boring actors couldn't even think of doing. The only supporting performance that was any good was by Jackie Earl Haley, and he doesn't say more than two lines in the entire film, but he's always popping up, and by films end, he finds himself in the middle of all the chaos. His mannerisms in the final scene -- along with the look in his eyes -- is better acting than Law and Ruffalo put together for the entire film.
The greatest downfall comes with Zaillian's overall direction of the film. He really has no clue where he wants the film to go from scene to scene. He doesn't even know how he wants to start the film as it starts in the middle of the film before going five years into the past with a worthless scene. He seems more worried about shot selection and set up than storytelling. The opening scene is an eye catcher, and got my hopes up even though its shot like a shampoo commercial. That scene is over-directed and every scene after that is over- directed. Zaillian directs this as if he's ready to garner a Best Director Oscar. He shows off and draws attention to himself, but forgets about the story line that meanders around, instead, he we focus on a sub plot between Jack Burden and Anne Stanton (Kate Winslet) that we really don't care about. The film is confusing because the direction is so bad. Zaillian has his moments, and you can see moments of greatness peek through, but he tries to go for too much, and ultimately falls off the tracks. He tries too hard in professing ideals through reoccurring voice-over and flashbacks. The ending is interesting and abrupt, but loaded with symbolism as we see two good men slain as they succumb to the evils that go along with wealth and power.
Zaillian creates an incredible disappointment filled with interesting philosophical ideals and some great symbolism thanks to the source material, but the flow of the film is confusing and the choice in actors are beyond repair. We see moments of sheer brilliance from the great art direction to the powerful lead performance (Penn), but Zaillian has his hands all over this and makes too many irreconcilable decisions.