All the King's Men Review

girl by locker says: Several years ago I read Robert Penn Warren’s novel All the Kings Men, and I loved it. In fact, I would put it in my top 10 list of favorite books of all time. While I know movies never live up to the books, I still sat down to watch the movie version with great anticipation. For the most part, my expectations were met, and I believe that it is the universal theme of the story that resonates with the viewer. In short, power corrupts. It is with an almost morbid curiosity that we watch the downfall of a man drunk on his own authority, spiraling out of control all the while holding onto it. We sit thinking, “That would never be me. I would never lose my principles.” But would we? Are there really any honest politicians? These ideas tie back nicely to the Treasure of the Sierra Madre as we watch Bogart greedily hoard his gold. We like to think we wouldn’t be corrupted by money, but we don’t know just as we don’t know how we would act if we were to reach a political office in which we could affect change if we could hold onto the office.

These questions are what fascinate me about the movie as well as the book (though I can also say that the book is so incredibly written that I was sucked into the story and couldn’t stop turning the pages). Broderick Crawford did an amazing job in the role of Willie Stark. He convinced me that he was a “dumb hick” in the beginning and a political wheeler dealer in the end. I bought his charisma and believed that people were drawn to him. My main issue with the movie, aside from the fact that it felt slow at times, was Joanne Dru’s acting in the role of Anne Stanton. She overacted and her dramatic face turns every time someone got angry with her annoyed me to no end. For these reasons, I give the movie a 4/5 on Netflix.

Juror #3 says: I hadn't read the novel All the King's Men thus I went into the film viewing blind. The story follows Jack Burden, an idealistic newspaper man turned political lackey to one Willie Stark. Willie begins a humble, country man-of-the-people rising to the heights of political power by becoming everything he once fought against. The story is complex, with lots of moving parts but the adapted screenplay does a really good job of boiling things down to a digestible plot. The acting was fantastic, and properly acknowledged by the Academy Awards with wins for Broderick Crawford (Best Actor) for his role as Jack Burden, and Mercedes McCambridge (Best Supporting Actress) for her role as Sadie - a political gun-for-hire. All the King's Men is engaging on several levels which includes political strategy, corruption, greed and power to name a few. Snappy dialogue, powerful one-liners and passionate speeches - one of which gave me chills (Willie and his hangover) - keep the film moving at a quick pace. If I had to critique the film it would be based on some of the Director's visual choices and a few odd edits. But overall All the King's Men was deserving of its Best Picture win, and has me wondering why anyone would have tried to remake it. I rate it 4/5 stars on Netflix.