Product: All the King's Men [Blu-ray] (2007)
Rating: 3.0
Novels to film rarely work
Taken on its own, this isn't a bad movie. It was a bit slow and I thought some of the casting choices were unwise, particularly Gandolfini. In the beginning when he is given the meatiest part of his role, he was doing Tony Soprano with a poorly done Southern accent. Sean Penn is good but succumbs to over-acting at times, gyrating furiously when it isn't necessarily called for in a scene. I understand that he is channeling Huey Long, but I find the best acting has some subtlety and Penn doesn't demonstrate enough in his performance.All of that aside, it is a well made movie for the most part. The novel is so extraordinary that you'd have to really screw it up to make a bad movie, and director/writer Steven Zallian shows enough love and respect for Warren's masterpiece to prevent a disaster. The book is far too long and deep to ever lend itself to a satisfying motion picture, but if you can put your knowledge of the book aside (for those who have read it), you can find enough to enjoy. The special features are well done, especially the profiles of the author and Huey Long.