Review of All the King's Men (1949) by Nick L — 26 Dec 2007

Stodgy, unevenly paced drama with Oscar pretensions that it woefully falls short of. Being a predictable 'power corrupts' morality tale, there are no real enjoyable surprises as the story unfolds in a rather malnourished, linear fashion.

Sean Penn chews the scenery as the Southern politician who's eroded by party politics, but his decline is somewhat precipitous, going from Good Ol' Boy to corrupt governor within twenty minutes of screen time, meaning that there's no where else where the story can go.

Jude Law brings his usual void of screen presence to the proceedings, and Anthony Hopkins is Anthony Hopkins, his somnambulistic performance here merely reminding you of his central, stunning role in Oliver Stone's "Nixon" - a film that explores very similar thematic ground to "All The King's Men" but in a much more effective and original manner.

Given the people involved, "All The King's Men" is a boring disappointment.