Review: ‘All the King’s Men’ falls shy of the sum of its parts

Directed by: Steven Zaillian

Starring: Sean Penn, Jude Law, Anthony Hopkins, Kate Winslet, Mark Ruffalo, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Kathy Baker

Rated: PG-13

The rules of mathematics don’t always apply to making movies.

There are an untold number of films that, as a whole, prove to be either less than or more than the sum of their parts. Many times a script will seem to be fantastic on the page – but once the film is made, producers and audiences alike scratch their heads and wonder, “What happened?”

Other times a movie has a special, indefinable quality that leaves you knowing how much you loved it but unable to articulate exactly why.

That’s the magic of movies.

Writer/director Steve Zaillian’s new film, “All the King’s Men,” has the ingredients at hand to be a sure-fire film. The cast is loaded with actors who feel at home at the Oscar ceremonies; the movie is based on Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name; a previous film version won three Oscars in 1950; and Zaillian’s credits include writing “Schindler’s List” and directing “A Civil Action.” It’s hard to argue with a pedigree of that caliber.

In the film medium, however, the proof is in the viewing. Sad to say, “All the King’s Men” doesn’t live up to its promise and is indeed less than the sum of its parts.

Zaillian says he based his film more on Warren’s novel – fiction inspired by Louisiana politician Huey Long’s rise and fall – than the previous film. Whatever his source, the director seems to have fashioned a great number of workable individual scenes while neglecting to develop a literary/cinematic glue to hold the disparate pieces together.

Sean Penn, as Huey Long surrogate Willie Stark, channels the voice of cartoon star Foghorn Leghorn and borders on scenery chewing (think Al Pacino in “Scent of a Woman”). Penn is a fine actor, though, and thankfully never goes completely over the top.

Stark is a door-to-door salesman and elected official in Mason City, La. When local politicos award a construction contract to one of their “good ol’ boys,” Stark is the lone voice of dissent. He’s ostracized by the powers that be, but when the construction project’s shoddy workmanship leads to the death of three kids, Stark is heralded as a hero and champion of the common people.

His rising star does not go unnoticed.

Enter Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini), a Louisiana political puppeteer. He tells Stark not to waste time at the local level and convinces him he can run for governor as a third-party populist. Willie, ever the idealist, begins his campaign with the noblest of intentions and the prime directive of seeing that the disenfranchised of Louisiana have a voice.

Newspaperman Jack Burden (Jude Law) and campaign adviser Sadie Burke (Patricia Clarkson) – being somewhat more sophisticated than Stark – know that Duffy has something other than Stark’s election on his mind. Indeed, Duffy is in cahoots with one of Willie’s opponents. This candidacy, it is believed, will split the “hick” vote and ensure a victory for Duffy’s city-slicker political pal.

When Stark has an epiphany, he throws away his prepared speech and summarily sacks Duffy. Stark’s natural abilities as a demagogue come to the fore and he becomes governor by a landslide.

Stark keeps Burke on the payroll and hires Burden as his right-hand man. And what becomes of the unctuous Duffy? Stark buries the hatchet and makes him lieutenant governor.

The setup is the best part of the film and holds much promise. But upon Stark’s election, Zaillian loses his grip and enormous holes appear; entwining characters and their histories become maddeningly confusing and the film becomes a rather aimless excursion.

In early scenes, Stark is a teetotaler, faithful to his wife and honest to a fault. Without much explanation, he becomes a hard-drinking womanizer with delusions of monarchical grandeur.

The final scene is overtly melodramatic, but by this time, we’ve come to expect as much.

It’s a shame, really. Had not “All the King’s Men” seemed so destined for greatness, its flaws probably could have been forgiven more readily.

Jim Wunderle owns Wunderle Sound Services and is a Springfield free-lance writer and musician. He can be reached at info@wunderlesound.com.[[In-content Ad]]