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MOVIES / ON DVD / ALL THE KING'S MEN
All The King's Men

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All The King's Men (2006)

11%
33%
32%
N/A
N/A
N/A
11 %
Reviews Counted: 146 Fresh: 16  Rotten:130 Average Rating: 4.2/10
 
Consensus: Aims for major statements and misses wildly. With its star-studded cast and hallowed source material (the novel of the same name won the Pulitzer Prize, and the 1949 original film took home a best picture Oscar), All the King's Men has the pedigree of a prestige picture. Don't be fooled. With a scenery-chewing performance from Sean Penn, an absence of political insight, and an overall lack of narrative cohesiveness, Men gives Oscar bait a bad name. more
 
Rated: 12A
Runtime: 2 hrs 21 mins
Theatrical Release: 27-10-2006
Synopsis:
Based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All the King's Men tells the story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Written for the screen, directed and produced by Steven Zaillian, who... [More]
Based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, All the King's Men tells the story of an idealist's rise to power in the world of Louisiana politics and the corruption that leads to his ultimate downfall. Written for the screen, directed and produced by Steven Zaillian, who won an Academy Award® for his adaptation of Schindler's List, All the King's Men features an all-star cast, including Oscar® winner Sean Penn (Mystic River, The Interpreter), Jude Law (Closer), Kate Winslet (Finding Neverland), James Gandolfini (“The Sopranos”), Mark Ruffalo (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind), Patricia Clarkson (Pieces of April) and Academy Award® winner Anthony Hopkins (Silence of the Lambs). All the King's Men is a complex saga of human nature, power, corruption, idealism, romance and betrayal. Using politics as a framework to delve into the more profound dilemmas of human existence — sin, guilt and redemption — it explores the nature of corruption in a way that is timely and relevant today. Warren's acclaimed exploration of morality was inspired by the career Louisiana governor Huey P. Long and other political demagogues, and has profound effect on contemporary literature. Zaillian's stylized treatment captures the essence of Warren's novel, infusing it with classic noir elements. Columbia Pictures Presents in association with Relativity Media a Phoenix Pictures Production a VIP 3A/VIP 4A Production in association with Rising Star All the King's Men starring Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson and Anthony Hopkins. The film was written for the screen and directed by Steven Zaillian based on the book by Robert Penn Warren. The producers are Mike Medavoy, Arnold W. Messer, Ken Lemberger and Steven Zaillian. The executive producers are Michael Hausman, David Thwaites, James Carville, Todd Phillips, Andreas Schmid, Andy Grosch and Ryan Kavanaugh. The director of photography is Pawel Edelman. The production designer is Patrizia Von Brandenstein. The film editor is Wayne Wahrman, A.C.E. The costume designer is Marit Allen. The executive music producer is T Bone Burnett. The music is by James Horner. All the King's Men has been rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association of America for An Intense Sequence of Violence, Sexual Content and Partial Nudity. All the King's Men will be released by Columbia Pictures on September 22, 2006. -- © Sony Pictures [Less]

Genre: Dramas

Starring: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Patricia Clarkson, Kate Winslet, Kathy Baker

Director: Steven Zaillian
Producer: Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Ken Lemberger, Michael Hausman
Composer: James Horner, T-Bone Burnett

DVD Info

Release:

Jul 12, 2007

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
  • Dubbed - French - Optional
  • Subtitles - English, French - Optional

Additional Release Material:

  • Behind The Scenes - Making Of
  • Deleted Scenes
  • Featurettes - 1. "An American Classic"
  • 2. "L.A. Confidential - On Location with ALL THE KING'S MEN"
  • 3. "Shake Hands with the Devil"
  • 4. "The Legend and Lore of Huey Long"

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image

It’s beautifully shot, acted and designed, but there’s little cohesion in the story. Maybe one day we’ll see a better cut, but for now this is a sadly fumbled opportunity.

Full Review | Comment
12/30/06 04:45 AM
Empire Magazine
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

What should have been an incisive study of the American political scene turns out a lumbering celluloid white elephant.

Full Review | Comment
10/30/06 03:17 AM
Trevor Johnston
Time Out
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

Penn is terrific and the production values are impressive, but All the King's Men gets lost in a poorly-structured, overly complicated plot that fails to engage.

Full Review | Comment
10/28/06 03:32 AM
Matthew Turner
ViewLondon
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/28/06 03:32 AM
Peter Bradshaw
Guardian [UK]
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | Comment
10/27/06 03:16 AM
David Edwards
Daily Mirror [UK]
Ratings Image

It's a typical politician's tale -- all talk and no action.

Full Review | Comment
10/24/06 03:16 AM
Stella Papamichael
BBC
Top Critic Icon Top Critic
Ratings Image

It's a slickly produced film that drowns in convoluted plotting and clumsy characterisations.

Full Review | Comment
09/23/06 03:34 AM
Rich Cline
Shadows on the Wall
Ratings Image

Leaves out too much of the story to really work. Why are these people doing what they're doing? If I hadn't seen the 1949 version first, I would not have known.

Full Review | Comment
04/29/07 10:56 PM
Brian Webster
Apollo Guide
Ratings Image

As much an old-fashioned potboiler as it is a political morality tale.

Full Review | Comment
02/22/07 06:40 AM
Rex Roberts
Film Journal International
Ratings Image

We have a series of beautiful threads weaved together in such haphazard fashion that, despite their potential, form a surprisingly ugly quilt.

Full Review | Comment
12/02/06 08:15 AM
Gina Carbone
Seacoast Newspapers (NH/Maine)
Ratings Image

The film isn't dreadful: it is just generally disappointing.

Full Review | Comment
10/26/06 02:04 PM
Stanley Kauffmann
New Republic
Ratings Image

Plays as a veritable autopsy of itself; to watch the movie is to watch it go wrong, to observe the tempting gleam of the film that might have been grow ever dimmer.

Full Review | Comment
10/14/06 10:16 AM
Nick Davis
Nick's Flick Picks
Ratings Image

What's worse -- a bad remake of a classic film, or just a bad literary adaptation with delusions of grandeur?

Full Review | Comment
10/13/06 12:42 AM
Jonathan R. Perry
Tyler Morning Telegraph (Texas)
Ratings Image

This is a misfire of almost epic proportions, a lavishly produced but wholly hollow and nonsensical adaptation of a magnificently constructed novel.

Full Review | Comment
10/08/06 03:15 AM
Ethan Alter
NYC Film Critic
Ratings Image

a powerful story in real life, but it just doesn’t come across on film.

Full Review | Comment
10/03/06 08:58 PM
Sean McBride
Sean the Movie Guy
Ratings Image

Even the brightest stars lose their shine in a dull sky.

Full Review | Comment
10/03/06 12:18 AM
Linda Cook
Quad City Times (Davenport, IA)
Ratings Image

If you're going to fail, you might as well do it big.

Full Review | Comment
10/02/06 03:17 PM
Eric Lurio
Greenwich Village Gazette
Ratings Image

An unmitigated disaster, choked by miscast actors, suffocated by illogical editing and drowned by a choppy script that offers no real sense of period and no clear delineation of its central themes.

Full Review | Comment
10/02/06 12:06 PM
Matt Brunson
Creative Loafing
Ratings Image

A fine cast is largely wasted in this brooding remake of 1949's Best Picture Oscar winner.

Full Review | Comment
10/01/06 02:03 PM
Pete Hammond
Maxim
Ratings Image

Even when he's drinking or delirious, Willie is more appealing than Jack, whose detours into his own gothic background take the movie off rails.

Full Review | Comment
10/01/06 01:23 PM
Cynthia Fuchs
PopMatters
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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