All the King's Men

As a straight drama the movie tends to drag at times but considered as a thinly veiled account of the rise and fall of Louisianna governor Huey Long it becomes a riveting period piece. To see the similarities in the fictional and actual stories please check Wikipedia under "Huey Long", part of which states the following...

One of (Huey Long's) famous speeches was, "Your will is my strength and your need is my justice. They want to ruin me so they can ruin you, and I won't let them!" This quote was used verbatim in the movie.

Sean Penn dominates every scene in which he appears - a fantastic performance.

In the 50's, in Louisiana, the smart populist, manipulative and wolf hick Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is elected governor with the support of the lower social classes. He joins a team composed of his bodyguard and friend Sugar Boy (Jackie Earle Haley); the journalist from an aristocratic family Jack Burden (Jude Law); the lobbyist Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini); and his mistress Sadie Burke (Patricia Clarkson), to face the opposition of the upper classes. When the influent Judge Irwin (Anthony Hopkins) supports a group of politicians in their request of impeachment, Stark assigns Jack to find some dirtiness along the life of Irwin, leading to a tragedy in the end.

In spite of having a constellation in the cast, "All the King's Man" is a low paced and boring soap opera. The dramatic and tragic story has some good moments, when the Machiavellian Willie Stark uses his political skills to develop strategies and revert situations, but the lead character of Jude Law is annoying. His romance with Anne Stanton, performed by Kate Winslet, is simply awful and unreasonable, and I do not know why the relationship of Jack with Judge Irwin is only disclosed by Mrs. Burden after his death. The cinematography and art decoration are very beautiful, but I did not like the story. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "A Grande Ilusão" ("The Great Illusion")

As a foreigner with not much ideas about U.S. history and politics, I have watched this movie with no bias and quite some problems to understand many phrases of Southern accents (which are quite fascinating on their own). However, it appeared to me as an interesting and pretty complex political story of the usual fight between rich and poor, honesty and false promises, racism, corruption... you name it. Even though the movie can catch one's attention for its full running time, some of the desired tension and drama are missing, and much of the final outcome is quite predictable. Overall, it's certainly no Oscar candidate, but also doesn't deserve low ratings as some (politically motivated) users distribute.

I may be in the minority but I found this to be a very good picture, was it as great as the casting implies it should be, probably not, but it was extremely well written. Sean Penn made a great Willie Stark, not what you would expect if you had seen the earlier versions, but he brought his usual passion and emotion to the role. Jude Law did a very good job, torn between two worlds with his reserved demeanor, you could almost see him cry out from the torture. All of the other characters were simply props and support for the two main characters of Willie Stark and Jack Burden. Even though the movie is not fact based it captures the time it represents very well. Huey Long (whom Willie Stark) is based on, was what some called a madman and some called a great leader of the common man. It is now out on video and worth watching

Being from Louisiana I really enjoyed this movie. The acting was great and the story was entertaining. As others have stated, the accents are not done well. In fact there are more than a few characters who don't even try to imitate a southern accent, for which I am very grateful. I am quite sick of actors trying to portraying a southerner by speaking as if all the teeth were removed and the brain has been lobotomized. Others have complained about a boring script to which I completely disagree. This is not a fast-paced movie but it keeps the story moving and the dialogue is fresh. The slow periods give you time to pause and let the previous scene sink in, while also giving the viewer the opportunity to absorb the ambiance of the scenes. The people in this movie are portrayed as they really were in the 1940's and 50's. There is no surprise hidden here. Although this movie is based on the book of the same name, neither are factual of Huey Long and his legacy. These stories are loosely based on a person, with a few facts thrown in for recognition, but not for historical purposes. I applaud the entire cast and crew for their great efforts in bringing this movie to fruition. This is what entertainment is all about and it shows a little of the corruption that existed (and some would say still exists) in Louisiana politics of the past.

Go into this movie with an open mind and you will find yourself entertained and pleased with the whole experience.