Review – All the King's Men (2006)

Assuming the original cried out for a remake at all, this is not the remake it had coming. Sean Penn stars as Willie Stark in this repeat roman a clef about Huey Long’s time as the governor of Louisiana. I understand that Penn is now too old to play the intense, misunderstood youth roles that made him famous, but if this picture is any indication he shouldn’t plan on making the transition to middle-aged, overbearing cracker politicians. Some of the supporting cast members are better suited to their roles, particularly Jude Law who has of course made a career out of playing spoiled rich kids who get caught up in the serious affairs of the world. But what really kills this is the look and feel. They seem to be going for a grim, depression-era aura with lots of shadowy sets and sepia filters. That worked okay in Road to Perdition, but here it’s out of step with the steamy southern locations and the cynical faux-optimism of the Long era and the original movie. See if desperate