Release Date: 12/19/2006 Original Release: 2006 Format: DVD Length: 128 minutes Rating:PG-13 (MPAA) Rating Reason: for an intense sequence of violence, sexual content and partial nudity. UPC: 043396114364 Studio: Sony Pictures Home Entertainment
Dramas, Betrayal, Blackmail, Theatrical Release, Based On A Novel
Description
Sean Penn gives an electrifying performance as rising politician Willie Stark in ALL THE KING'S MEN, the second film based on Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. (In 1949, the original ALL THE KING'S MEN, directed by Robert Rossen, was a huge hit, earning Oscars for Best Picture, Best Actor [Broderick Crawford], and Best Supporting Actress [Merceded McCambridge].) But whereas the novel and first film set the story of pride, ambition, jealousy, and dirty politics in pre-World War II Louisiana, writer-director Steven Zaillian (SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER) moves the action to the 1950s, a much different time in American history, with the Great Depression and the war over and McCarthyism just around the corner. Stark starts out as a man of the people, proud to be a hick, wanting to make a difference to the struggling families in his community. But the smell of power leads to back-room corruption, lies, and betrayal. Stark surrounds himself with smart, well-connected people, including journalist (and narrator) Jack Burden (Jude Law), right-hand man Tiny Duffy (James Gandolfini), and doctor Adam Stanton (Mark Ruffalo), using them as both willing and unwilling players in his march to the top. The all-star cast also includes Kate Winslet as Stanton's sister and a former love of Burden's, Anthony Hopkins as a compromised judge, and Jackie Earle Haley as a Stark thug. The film is gorgeously shot by Pawel Edelman, with an emotional soundtrack by James Horner and period music supervised by T Bone Burnett (O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?). Interestingly, Zaillian chose not to watch the original film, basing his screenplay solely on the novel. The remake was the brainchild of former Bill Clinton adviser James Carville, who is one of the executive producers of this stirring political film.
DVD Features
Anamorphic Widescreen - 1.85 Full Frame - 1.33 Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1 - English Dubbed - French - Optional Subtitles - English, French - Optional Additional Release Material: Deleted Scenes Behind the Scenes: Making Of Featurette: 1. "An American Classic" 2. "L.A. Confidential - On Location with ALL THE KING'S MEN" 3. "Shake Hands with the Devil" 4. "The Legend and Lore of Huey Long"
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I like Sean Penn and I feel that he really did a great job in this film. However, I feel that the film failed miserably when the focus was not on him. There is a reasonable tendency to compare the... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on September 27, 2006
Reviewed by: Matthew
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Louisiana, the mid-50s. Willie Stark (Sean Penn) helps to bring attention to a potential problem in his impoverished home parish in Louisiana. The state's... Read the whole review at MatchFlick
Posted on July 15, 2007
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