All the King's Men

All the King's Men **

Dragged all the way to September 2006 from its original December 2005 release date, "All the King's Men" was an event that I waited for months and months to see. I have read the book by Robert Penn Warren over a very hot July, and fell in love with it. It was perfect in every way. And then I heard they were making a movie of it. Wow! Sean Penn! Jude Law! Anthony Hopkins! While I was reading the book, I wasn't thinking of casting the movie based on what I read, and when I read the actual cast I didn't really think that they fit the part. But Sean Penn, Jude Law, and Hopkins are all such great actors, that I figured they would be able to mold the characters and make them great. And they tried, and they came close, but just didn't do a good enough job to capture the true heart of the novel.

"All the King's Men" is a tragic political drama, telling the story of the rise and ultimate fall of Willie Stark. Originally a man of the people, Stark has good intentions. Running for Governor on a reform platform, he eventually turns to blackmail and bribery as a way to get whatever he wants passed. This includes finding out information on Judge Irwin. The story isn't told through the eyes of Stark, but through the eyes of one of his advisors, Jack Burden. A newsman, told to follow Stark for an article, Jack eventually gets a job with the Governor, and forms a close relationship with him. Jack and the Judge have a special kind of relationship with each other. Jack's father disappeared when he was just a boy, and the Judge was kind enough to take him under his wing, taking the boy out fishing and shooting. Jack also had an interesting childhood, always spending times with his best friends Anne and Adam Stanton. Eventually starting a relationship with Anne one summer while they were teenagers, he is confused by his feelings for her in the present, and eventually becomes consumed with hatred when Anne begins an affair with Willie. Willie changes greatly from his original personality. Originally, his speeches would generate public attention, as if he was Jesus preaching to the people. Over time he begins to fool around with many women, having a full mistress in addition to his one night stands. But his main goal is to be popular, and to gain support, no matter who he has to hurt in the process.

The main problem with the film is the script, but I can't give full blame to writer/director Steven Zaillian. The book is extremely dense, featuring so much. In the novel, the story of Willie Stark isn't the focus. Instead it is more about Jack, and his past, present, and future. The movie tells more about Stark. That is the portion that Zaillian wanted to talk about more. However, that doesn't stop him from including many sections about Jack, only doing them in such a quick way that there is no way to truly enjoy them. There is a thirty five page or so narrative in the novel about the relationship of Jack and Anne during that summer together. It is beautifully written, and you can't help but see exactly what Jack sees in Anne throughout it. It really does make you fall in love with her, as a reader, which is why when you find out that she is having an affair with Willie you are shocked and you feel betrayed. In the film, this section is glossed over. It makes it seem as if they didn't even have a relationship, and include they just decided to have sex one summer evening. They don't, which is an important factor in the book and film, but there relationship just seemed non-existent.

In addition, the film misses another important element. Willie Stark becomes completely hated towards the end of the film. He is a cruel and cold man who only cares about himself. In the novel, there is a passage where his son gets into an accident playing football. It is towards the very end, and one of the last major events that happens in the story. It allows us to see the human side of Willie returning, which doesn't make his character seem all bad. In the film, there is no mention of this happening. In fact, I think his son is only mentioned one single time, at a football game, where Stark calls out to him from the stands.

Now, I am a firm believer in keeping book and film separate, but I have to compare the two in this case to really show how empty this script is. I only discuss the book to describe how the movie cannot work. I think that it is impossible to really put in everything from Penn's novel into a two hour movie without skipping important sections. But Zaillian doesn't skip the right ones, and puts in a lot of dull, overlong scenes and speeches. I couldn't help but wonder how the movie would be if he replaced those scenes with actual character development. Because there really isn't any. I couldn't see how Jack changed. I didn't really care. I didn't even care about his relationship with Anne, which is one of the true beautiful things about the story. Willie is the only character with any real change, and his change is only a plot device and nothing real or human. Sean Penn isn't exactly the type of Willie Stark that I imagine in my head, and he doesn't even deliver to the best of his ability. He seems to be phoning in his performance a little bit. Anthony Hopkins also doesn't seem to care about anything anymore. He seems to just act in movies just for the sake of working, even though he was perfect in "The World's Fastest Indian." But supporting work in "Alexander" and "Proof" is uninspired, and not the Hopkins that I know and love. I wouldn't bother seeing this film, and I would much rather recommend the book instead. It's not Zaillian's full fault. It's a challenge adapting this novel without making it four hours long. Thankfully, with his pacing it was only two hours. I suppose you could see the film if you want a general outline of the story, but for the true raw and dense material, the book is certainly the place to be. Originally thought to be an Oscar contender, "All the King's Men" is stuck in the middle of September blues, and also another disappointment of the month.