All the King's Men
Director: Robert Rossen
Year Released: 1949
Rating: 2.5
This fictionalized account of the life of Huey Long is chock-full of problems, most notable of which is the lack-of-acting-talent exhibited by two of the main characters (the narrator and his 'girlfriend'). Other issues I had with it: the 'distance' the director takes from the material (everyone in the film is corrupt in some way ... who to identify with?), the enigma Willie Stark (played well by Broderick Crawford) remains for the entire running time (what turns him from honest family man to a corrupt Machiavellian conniver, anyway?), the weak ending (assassinated in front of the courthouse ... how symbolic) and the erratic pacing.
