All the King's Men
Sony Pictures Releasing | Release Date: September 22, 2006 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
37
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 37 Critic Reviews
Positive:
4
Mixed:
20
Negative:
13
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Washington PostStephen Hunter
All the King's Men hasn't been directed so much as over-directed, although the result, when you make an effort to filter out all the film school pyrotechnics, is an honorable run at Robert Penn Warren's classic novel. Read full review
60
EmpireStaff (Not credited)
A frustrating experience. It's beautifully shot, acted and designed, but there's little cohesion in the story. Maybe one day we'll see a better cut, but for now this is a sadly fumbled opportunity. Read full review
50
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
Those familiar with the novel will undoubtedly agree that reading it is a more satisfying experience than watching this disappointing film. One expects more - much more, in fact - with a cast of this caliber. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
Audience can certainly find entertainment in this movie, so long as no one takes things too seriously. One suspects, however, that Zaillian and a vast team of producers and executive producers that includes political consultant and pundit James Carville believe they are making a serious commentary on American politics. It comes closer to kitsch. Read full review
50
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
As the corrupt, populist Louisiana governor Willie Stark, Crawford was such a swaggering behemoth that it would take Godzilla to upstage him. Sean Penn isn't quite that. Read full review
50
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
The new production is handsome and offers a few riveting moments, but it's basically a botched job that misses all the impact of both the original movie and the 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Robert Penn Warren that inspired it. Read full review
50
USA TodayClaudia Puig
You can't help but have high expectations from Zaillian and this stellar cast. But the result this time is a thuddingly tedious soap opera. Read full review
50
New York Daily NewsJack Mathews
Failures on the scale of writer-director Steven Zaillian's All the King's Men are as rare as falling sequoias, and they make a noise even if no one's in the woods to hear them. This sequoia is very noisy indeed. Read full review
50
Boston GlobeTy Burr
I'm not the first observer, or even the second, to liken the star's (Penn) portrayal of fictional Louisiana governor Willie Stark to the late John Belushi's impersonation of Joe Cocker. Read full review
50
Philadelphia InquirerSteven Rea
In essence, a wild soap opera disguised as a political allegory, it's a movie, with its over-the-map performances, that is worth catching only for the inadvertent laugh or two. Read full review
50
Portland OregonianShawn Levy
The problem is that so little in this version of All the King's Men speaks to the here and now or even speaks clearly. It feels like a repertory exercise -- and not a very successful one at that. Read full review
50
Film ThreatPete Vonder Haar
Comes up short in many ways, but none more so than its failure to fulfill Penn's and Zaillian's desire to provide the catalyst for political sea change. Read full review
50
The New RepublicStanley Kauffmann
The film isn't dreadful: it is just generally disappointing. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
Writer-director Steven Zaillian's version stultifies, especially when compared with Robert Rossen's fiery 1949 Oscar winner. How could such dullness defeat the retelling, when Willie Stark is one of the most vivid characters in 20th-century American popular culture? Read full review
42
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
Everyone from the ensemble appears to be acting in a different picture. Zaillian strands them all. Read full review
40
VarietyTodd McCarthy
Overstuffed and fatally miscast, All the King's Men never comes to life. Read full review
40
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
As Willie Stark, Sean Penn demonstrates how a great Method actor can make the world’s most unconvincing rabble-rouser. Read full review
40
Village VoiceMichael Atkinson
Penn goes for larger-than-life, wrapping his pinched frown around an unintelligible Louisiana drawl and swinging his arms like an autistic evangelist... Law is no asset--looking rather sadly like John Ireland (the actor who played the 1949 Jack Burden), he has little control over his accent and zero energy. Read full review
40
The New YorkerDavid Denby
Penn gives a strenuous, at times shrewd and acid performance, which has been embedded, unfortunately, in a clumsy and ineffective movie. Read full review
40
NewsweekDavid Ansen
This stiff-in-the-joints movie has little feel for its setting or period, and crucial chunks seem to have been left on the cutting-room floor. Robert Rossen's Oscar-winning 1949 version has nothing to fear. Read full review
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