ALL THE KING'S MEN — ** — Jude Law, Sean Penn, Anthony Hopkins; rated PG-13 (violence, profanity, racial epithets, brief gore, partial nudity).
"All the King's Men" is as wasteful as filmmaking gets.
This adaptation of Robert Penn Warren's novel — and a remake of the 1950 best-picture Oscar winner — manages to waste a first-rate cast. But perhaps even more criminal is this sluggish period drama's waste of some potentially relevant material.
Among others things, the story discusses the corrupting influence of power — a message that can't be overstated these days.
Ironically, screenwriter/director Steve Zaillian was allegedly given extra time to work on the film's script. If that's the case, perhaps the studio should have given him at least another year, because it still feels half-finished and unfocused.
Like Penn's novel, the film is a thinly veiled portrait of controversial Louisiana governor Huey Long. His fictional counterpart is Willie Stark (Sean Penn), a principled political newcomer who wants to return power to the people, making lofty promises of new roads and services for the state's impoverished families.
On hand to witness Stark's rise to power is Jack Burden (Jude Law), an investigative journalist who is fired by his editors for getting too close to his source.
Jack's obvious admiration for Stark also brings him into conflict with two childhood friends (Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo), as well as his godfather (Anthony Hopkins), a retired judge who is spearheading the efforts to get Gov. Stark removed from office.
Zaillian's script is flawed and his direction is also questionable. While Penn's performance verges on overacting, once his character disappears into the background in the final third, he's missed, and the film becomes much less interesting.
Much of that has to do with Law's bland turn as the film's conflicted moral center. At times he appears to be sleepwalking, and he has absolutely no chemistry with Winslet, whose character is supposed to be the love of his life.
If that's not enough, the broad Southern accents are distracting, as well. But at least Law and Penn's attempts are better than James Gandolfini, who sounds like he comes from Louisiana's Jersey shore.
"All the King's Men" is rated PG-13 for some strong violence (shootings and intimidation), scattered use of profanity and racial epithets, brief gore and some partial female nudity. Running time: 128 minutes.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com