Whatever happened to: All the King's Men? (1 Viewer)

[mattCR]

While not a fan of the way this film was likely to be handled, I'm really surprised that it has seemingly slipped into oblivion. I saw ads for it last fall, as it appeared as though it would be released in time for Oscar consideration last year.

But six months later, this film has apparently dropped off of everyones radar. I'm trying to think of any similar big budget film that has been through this.

 

[Robert Crawford]

I just saw a trailer for it before the MI: III film.




Crawdaddy

 

[BridgetJZ]

I remember them bumping the release date to late, late this year or early last year a few months ago.

 

[Nathan V]

Slated for September release. I saw the trailer in front of United 93. Jude Law was BORN to play Adam Stanton, NOT Jack Burden, by the way. Ruffalo is no Adam. Penn, Hopkins, and Winslet are all perfect in terms of how I envisioned the book's characters. I'll be seeing this.

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Ray Faiola]

Well....how about Alec Bullsworth Baldwin's THE DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER?!?!

 

[Craig S]

This long-postponed film is now in wide release, so I'm surprised to see no reviews.

My take - the film is less than the sum of its parts. The stellar cast acquits itself nicely across the board. The acting is top-notch, although the accents are all over the place (Gandolfini's probably the worst in this regard). I was surprised to see Jackie Earle Haley in the credits - he is unrecognizeable. The recreation of the period is spot-on, and the cinematography by Pawel Edelman is award-worthy.

So why doesn't the film work?? Director Steven Zaillian seems to have never gotten a grip on the material. The film never really gets up a good head of steam. It also tends to the melodramatic, with James Horner's score pounding every point home with a sledge hammer. In addition, it's full of symbolism, all of it heavy-handed. In the end, the film simply tries too hard - you can see it sweat.

Once considered prime Oscar-bait, AtKM is probably dead in this year's race. Still, if you're a fan of the actors involved, or just enjoy watching a beautifully-shot film, it's certainly worth a matinee.

 

[ZacharyTait]

It is dead. It was DOA at Toronto and it's meager box office take this weeks means that the audiences didn't care for it either. It got an 11% on the Tomatometer and a 36 at Metacritic. Ouch!

 

[Holadem]

Sean Penn
Jude Law
Anthony Hopkins
Kate Winslet
Mark Ruffalo
Patricia Clarkson
James Gandolfini

I didn't know it was possible to screw up with such a cast...

--
H

 

[Jason_V]

Yup, completely agree. Sean Penn was probably the worst actor in the entire thing. Terribly overacted. It seemed as though he thought he was in a silent film or a cartoon. The worst part is several people who watched with me were laughing when there wasn't a funny thing on the screen.

Definately a huge miss.

 

[Nathan V]

Oh, my goodness.

My review is up- http://movie-source.com/movie_page.asp?movieID=1769

Regards,
Nathan

 

[Dick]

And from Steven Zaillian, too. I really liked his two earlier directorial efforts (SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISHER and A CIVIL ACTION and have appreciated his screenwriting for other films. I am disappointed that this has become one of the worst-reviewed films of the year, and for a title that should have been an easy B.O. winner in today's political climate. What a shame.

 

[Seth Paxton]

Man does it suck when a film at the top of your "to see" list drops to the bottom of your Netflix list right next to RV. :frowning:

It actually ticks me off quite a bit. Stupid waste of a great story and acting talent it appears. Now it falls into the list of "proof" as to why remakes are pointless, when instead it could have been great and shown why remakes are just as valid as originals.

Or maybe I'll get lucky and it will somehow strike a chord with me that no one else saw...oh whom I kidding, I can't remember a full-on bomb that I ended up liking in spite of everyone else. Too many people I trust are pretty negative about this one.