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IMDbPro

All the King's Men

  • 2006
  • PG-13
  • 2h 8m
IMDb RATING
6.1/10
25K
YOUR RATING
Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
Home Video Trailer from Columbia Pictures
Play trailer2:31
16 Videos
44 Photos
DramaThriller

Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.Based on the Robert Penn Warren novel. The life of populist Southerner Willie Stark, a political creature loosely based on Governor Huey Long of Louisiana.

  • Director
    • Steven Zaillian
  • Writers
    • Steven Zaillian
    • Robert Penn Warren
  • Stars
    • Sean Penn
    • Jude Law
    • Kate Winslet
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.1/10
    25K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Steven Zaillian
    • Writers
      • Steven Zaillian
      • Robert Penn Warren
    • Stars
      • Sean Penn
      • Jude Law
      • Kate Winslet
    • 193User reviews
    • 56Critic reviews
    • 37Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 4 nominations

    Videos16

    All The King's Men (2006)
    Trailer 2:31
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 1:02
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 1:00
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 0:59
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 0:39
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 1:02
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    All The King's Men (2006)
    Clip 1:00
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    All The King's Men Scene: The Bribe, The Threat
    Clip 1:05
    Watch All The King's Men Scene: The Bribe, The Threat
    All The King's Men Scene: How's Your Wife?
    Clip 0:39
    Watch All The King's Men Scene: How's Your Wife?
    All The King's Men Scene: The Truth Is Always Sufficient
    Clip 1:02
    Watch All The King's Men Scene: The Truth Is Always Sufficient
    All The King's Men Scene: Think About It
    Clip 0:52
    Watch All The King's Men Scene: Think About It
    All The King's Men Scene: Honest Government
    Clip 1:00
    Watch All The King's Men Scene: Honest Government

    Photos44

    Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Jude Law in All the King's Men (2006)
    Jude Law in All the King's Men (2006)
    Jude Law and Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Jude Law and Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Anthony Hopkins, Jude Law, and Sean Penn in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn and Mark Ruffalo in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn and James Gandolfini in All the King's Men (2006)
    Sean Penn and Kate Winslet in All the King's Men (2006)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sean Penn
    Sean Penn
    • Willie Stark
    Jude Law
    Jude Law
    • Jack Burden
    Kate Winslet
    Kate Winslet
    • Anne Stanton
    Anthony Hopkins
    Anthony Hopkins
    • Judge Irwin
    Mark Ruffalo
    Mark Ruffalo
    • Adam Stanton
    Patricia Clarkson
    Patricia Clarkson
    • Sadie Burke
    James Gandolfini
    James Gandolfini
    • Tiny Duffy
    Jackie Earle Haley
    Jackie Earle Haley
    • Sugar Boy
    Kathy Baker
    Kathy Baker
    • Mrs. Burden
    Talia Balsam
    Talia Balsam
    • Lucy Stark
    Travis Champagne
    Travis Champagne
    • Tom Stark
    • (as Travis M. Champagne)
    Frederic Forrest
    Frederic Forrest
    • Willie's Father
    • (as Frederic F. Forrest)
    Paul Desmond
    • Slade
    Kevin Dunn
    Kevin Dunn
    • Alex
    Tom McCarthy
    Tom McCarthy
    • Editor
    Glenn Morshower
    Glenn Morshower
    • Commissioner
    Jay Patterson
    Jay Patterson
    • Senator
    Michael Cavanaugh
    Michael Cavanaugh
    • Mr. Peyton
    • Director
      • Steven Zaillian
    • Writers
      • Steven Zaillian
      • Robert Penn Warren
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      The movie was a major flop and, despite its strong cast and production team, grossed only $9.4 million worldwide on a budget of $55 million. Forbes Magazine voted it the biggest flop in the years spanning 2005-2009. Few critics endorsed it, despite its having garnered strong Oscar buzz before its premiere. Director Steven Zaillian described the experience as "like getting hit by a truck".
    • Goofs
      Anne has finished braiding her hair while sitting in the kitchen in the flashback scene. When she goes upstairs, her hair is no longer braided.
    • Quotes

      Jack Burden: [to Anne, explaining what happened to his marriage] A lot of tangled bedclothes and unspoken loathing, then spoken loathing and no tangled bedclothes.

    • Connections
      Featured in Siskel & Ebert: The Black Dahlia/The Gridiron Gang/Everyone's Hero/Haven (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Smokestack Lightnin'
      Written by Howlin' Wolf

      Performed by Howlin' Wolf

      Courtesy of Geffen Records

      Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

    User reviews193

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    8/10
    Big, Brassy, Gorgeous Images; Literate Script; Politics: What's Not to Like?
    The critics slammed this movie and I loved it. Shame on the critics.

    I love movies that transport me to an exotic place and a distant time. "All the King's Men" lushly recreates mid-century Louisiana. There's a lot of money up on the screen, beautifully lit and photographed: vintage, boat-like automobiles, forties and fifties fashions and fabrics, Spanish moss, ante-bellum mansions, a bronze bas relief map of Louisiana, set in a floor, that is put to amazing use.

    There's a scene where a young woman returns from an illicit tryst in dim light. Her hair ripples to her shoulders in honey blonde waves. Her plump lips are painted, matte, in the color of dried blood. Her jilted lover, his fedora slung low on his forehead, stands in silhouette, watching her every move. Neither speaks.

    In another scene, a backlit woman enters a bar and places her white cotton gloves over her hand.

    Just, lovely scenes that capture another era.

    I'm a political junkie, so I went to see this movie in spite of the bad reviews. It didn't let me down. It's a political soap opera from the first frame to the last.

    Deals cut in smoke filled rooms, double crosses, fiery speeches to enthralled crowds. I ate it up.

    The stars! Sean Penn, Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Kathy Baker, James Gandolfini...Jackie Earle Haley, someone I'd never heard of before, was memorable as a gun toting body guard.

    Sean Penn's performance has been panned - too much arm waving. I loved the arm waving. Penn's arm waving doesn't come across as forced or inorganic. This is a man who can barely contain himself -- he's a human tornado. The historical figure with whom Penn's character, Willy Stark, is associated, Huey Long, was a powerhouse builder of bridges, hospitals, and roads. Penn conveys that kinetic energy and passion.

    And the script! Thank God someone was willing to write a script in which people take some risks with language, communicate complex ideas, employ figures of speech! Heavens! In a movie in which nothing explodes and no cartoon superhero saves the world! I loved having to listen to what people were saying to know what was going on. I loved the flowery language. This is the South, after all, from several decades ago, and, yeah, those folks did love their language skills.

    Another reviewer denounced the film's score as bombastic. It is bombastic, wonderfully so. It suits the subject matter perfectly. This isn't a movie about a shrinking violet who sits at home and writes poetry; it's a movie about a sweaty man who takes power and makes his mark.

    Okay, so why didn't I give the movie ten stars? Sean Penn's character is fully realized, but the other characters are not. "All the King's Men" is a big, fat soap opera. There's a lot of sex, threats, lust, longing, suicide, and betrayal to fit into two hours. The film should have been longer so that characters other than Willy could have been fleshed out.

    Patricia Clarkson is a case in point. Her character sets some key events in motion, but she's barely there -- either the character or the actress.

    Anthony Hopkins comes across as just that -- Anthony Hopkins -- not the character he is playing. While everyone else does their best to produce a Southern accent, Hopkins insists on speaking with a British accent, and this sticks out like a sore thumb.

    Kate Winslet and Mark Ruffalo are meant to be, like Blanche Dubois, representatives of degenerate Southern aristocracy, but they both seem entirely too robust to be degenerating.

    Jude Law is better in a similar role as a member of the fading aristocratic class. Law always seems to do well in roles where he is punished by, rather than enjoys, his beauty. Just so here. Too bad that, in key scenes, Hopkins doesn't create any chemistry with him.

    The lack of development of secondary characters -- and everyone, compared to Willie Stark, is secondary here -- made the film oddly emotionally unmoving to me. Again, there are scenes that contain the kind of elements that might have packed an emotional wallop that left me dry eyed.

    Willy Stark's rise to power is built on the poverty of the citizens of Louisiana. The movie didn't convey that poverty to me. According to one website devoted to Huey Long, Lousiana had three hundred miles of paved road, two bridges, and high illiteracy rates when Long took office. If true, those stats are startling.

    Finally, something else was missing, for me. Whenever one observes a charismatic politician, there is always the question: Does he really care about the people? Or is he just addicted to the adulation? I never had that question about Sean Penn's Willy Stark, as I do about, say, Bill Clinton. Willy Stark, here, is imperfect, but sincere. He wants to help his people.
    helpful•131
    48
    • Danusha_Goska
    • Sep 23, 2006

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 22, 2006 (United States)
    • Countries of origin
      • Germany
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Sony Pictures (United States)
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Уся королівська рать
    • Filming locations
      • Louisiana State Capital, State Capitol Drive, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA
    • Production companies
      • Columbia Pictures
      • Relativity Media
      • Phoenix Pictures
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Budget
      • $55,000,000 (estimated)
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $7,221,458
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $3,672,366
      • Sep 24, 2006
    • Gross worldwide
      • $9,451,623
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      2 hours 8 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
      • Black and White
    • Sound mix
      • SDDS
      • Dolby Digital
      • DTS
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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