All the King's Men (2006)

 

Our rating: 3 out of 5

Rated: PG13

 
reviewed by: Charity Bishop
   

Based on the brilliant novel by Robert Penn Warren, All the King's Men is a complex study of human nature and the corruption of power. It's a thinking man's movie on many levels, introspective and comprehensive, but also difficult to follow at times if you're unfamiliar with the plot.

Reflecting on the years leading up to this moment, reporter Jack Burden (Jude Law) remembers the first time he heard of Willie Stark (Sean Penn). Unwilling to go with the suggested budget cuts for the building of a local school, Stark remained the voice of reason when a portion of the structure collapsed and caused the deaths of a half-dozen impoverished children. Sensing Stark is political dynamite, and hoping to get a good portion of the "hick vote" of farmers and small businessmen, he is approached by a man from the big city willing to financially back him in a climb for power in the governorship of Louisiana. Stark is popular among the poor working class, but that popularity explodes when he discovers the truth behind his campaign and decides to run under his own steam.

Recruiting Jack into his entourage of writers and schemers, Stark becomes governor and rapidly whispers of impeachment begin to circulate from his wealthy opponents in local politics. The most outspoken of these is Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins), a stand-in father to Jack when he was growing up and close friend of his mother. Little does Jack realize is that as his loyalty to Stark is tested, his family and friends will be lured deeper into the moral quagmire of politics. What the film really is about is asking the question, is doing something wrong for the right reason justified? Does the end justify the means, or is the journey itself just as important. Most of the characters make the wrong choices and wind up suffering for them. In that respect, there's no one who really comes out on top. Stark starts off wanting to do the right thing, but becomes corrupted through the power of his office, and takes to blackmail and brutality to get what he wants. Jack chooses the wrong path in life and misses out on what could have been wonderful.

His once-girlfriend Anne (Kate Winslet) sacrifices her good name for political influence. In that respect, it's not an overly uplifting film but does leave you a lot to think about when it's over. There has been some mud-slinging due to the fact that ambitious viewers have taken the opportunity to inject modern politics into the themes, but most of it remains true to the heart of the novel and its attempts to explore questions of morality and political gain. That being said, there were numerous faults, the least of which being that often the accents are so thick that they are difficult to understand. There's an unfortunate amount of foul language, including a half dozen abuses of Jesus' name, and God's name coupled with a profanity. Implications of a suicide and resulting bloodstains are shown; a gruesome shoot-out would have been extremely gory had it not been shot in black and white. There are sexual implications. Jack remembers a time when he and Anne intended to consummate their relationship, but didn't go through with it. The camera shows her mostly naked on a bed, details obscured. An ice skater wears an extremely skimpy outfit. Stark has numerous adulterous affairs -- a long-standing one with a woman in his office, and others along his campaign trail.

Many of the ideas are liberal at their core, and logically some of them don't make sense given the trend of country voting over the years, but putting my political bias aside, I managed to enjoy it... even if it does take a stab at big businessmen and oil companies along the way.