AJC: Ringel on All the King's Men

I recently saw the original Oscar-winning film, for the first time, on TCM and enjoyed it thoroughly. Then almost immediately afterwards, I watched the trailer for this new version online--and was struck at how stinky it seemed, even from the trailer! Looks like my instincts were right: "The verdict: A dreadful, ego-driven botch.

There's one Penn too many in Sean Penn's remake of 'All the King's Men,' and it's not Robert Penn Warren.

Warren wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning book that provided the basis for this film and the Oscar-winning 1949 version that won best picture, best supporting actress and, most especially, best actor for Broderick Crawford's towering portrayal of Willie Stark.

In the book, Stark is a thinly fictionalized version of Depression-era Louisiana Gov. Huey Long, whose man-of-the-people mob rule and megalomaniacal ambition made him one of the most memorable —- and memorably corrupt —- politicians in American history.

Willie is a big, juicy, red-meat role, and it's no wonder Penn would want to play it. It's pretty much because of Penn's yen for the part that this remake exists.

And it's appalling. Mostly because Penn is appalling. He has no sense of Willie's charm, of what drew people to him. Instead, he's all bluster and paunch. When giving a speech, his eccentric body language recalls John Belushi as Joe Cocker or, better still, Elaine's dancing on 'Seinfeld.' There's no richness here, no layers, just a one-note ego trip in which the camera circles Penn's florid, ranting face, coming in for a series of full-screen close-ups while the music swells.

This isn't acting. It's caricature. Instead of Willie Stark, we get Foghorn Leghorn."