Review of All the King's Men (2006) by Etienne P — 28 Jul 2017

Huey Long was a fascinating character. A natural born orator with a vision of the White House, he was genuine in his belief in the power of the ordinary people. He railed against vested interests and corruption only to fall prey to it when in power. He made Louisiana into his fiefdom complete with a Praetorian Guard of jackbooted thugs. He polarised opinions. Had he survived he might have split the vote with FDR and let a Republican in.

Pretty much NONE of this makes it into this movie. Our focus should be on Willie Stark, the avatar for Huey Long. Instead the plot continually veers way to a sub-noir plotline featuring Jude Law and his relationship with Kate Winslet. After a rousing start Sean Penn disappears in the second half, with occasional shots of him with a Benny Hill leer at some sleazy clip joint.

Given the political meat that could have been chewed on - corruption, power, populism, paranoia - it's just a pity that the only thing chewed is the scenery.