All the King's Men

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All the King's Men

PG-13

Released Sep 22, 2006

2h 8m

Drama

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12%

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156 Reviews

40%

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50,000+ Ratings

Charismatic Southern politician Willie Stark's (Sean Penn) idealism and good intentions give way to corruption after he becomes governor of Louisiana. Unfortunately for Stark, his right-hand man (Jude Law) retains the same good moral fibre he had when the men both entered the political arena.

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Critics Consensus

With a scenery-chewing performance from Sean Penn, an absence of political insight, and an overall lack of narrative cohesiveness, these Men give Oscar bait a bad name.

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William Thomas

Empire Magazine

It's beautifully shot, acted and designed, but there's little cohesion in the story.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 30, 2006

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Trevor Johnston

Time Out

What should have been an incisive study of the American political scene turns out a lumbering celluloid white elephant.

Oct 30, 2006

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Peter Bradshaw

Guardian

A Louisiana swamp of overacting and muddled plotlines sinks this cumbersome new version of Robert Penn Warren's political thriller.

Rated: 1/5

Oct 28, 2006

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David Walsh

World Socialist Web Site

The writer-director has taken a drama about the rise of a radical-populist ... and planted it in the soil of the early 1950s. There isn't an obvious problem with this, except that it makes no sense whatsoever.

Feb 14, 2021

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Mike Massie

Gone With The Twins

Occasionally, the dialogue exudes intelligence, but it's delivered with a perpetual drabness and spiritlessness by a cast that seems genuinely bored in their involvement.

Rated: 3/10

Nov 15, 2020

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David Lamble

Bay Area Reporter

All the King's Men makes me fear not for the Republic, but for the future of political movies. I can imagine a similarly misguided stab at bringing Harvey Milk to the screen.

May 12, 2020

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Audience Member

Surprised by the poor reviews. I thought the movie was great. I always like LA movies b/c it's a histori and singular part of America that doesn't get much setting in movies. The cast is A+, the acting as good as you'd expect, and the story was really good. I think they had Penn do too many speeches and didn't develop his characters rise to stardom enough and that's the disconnect people were experiencing. Still a great movie and worth a spot in your collection.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

08/17/25

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Glen M

it was a long actionless movie full of stars but weak on plot? The story was long and drawn out and was about as interesting as watching paint dry?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/14/25

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Jerry E

Completely misconceived. The acting is one-dimensionally histrionic. None of the actors has clue about their character or how to read lines with a sense of truth. Sean Penn is particularly inept and self-indulgent. The 1949 film was a believable masterpiece, and infinitely superior.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

12/08/24

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Lars P

The topic should be interesting, the film is not. Penn as Stark also does not grab me.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

04/20/24

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Stacey E

This movie was awful. Sean Penn was particularly annoying. Was he supposed to be perpetually drunk? That's what he acted like. Waste of time.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

10/19/23

Full Review

Audience Member

When your trailer is better than the rest of the movie, you know the rest of the movie sucks. This is the case with this movie. It's awful because it lacks historical accuracy and little on the book its after. Just watch the trailer and not the flim.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

01/14/23

Full Review

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Steven Zaillian

Director

Sean Penn

Willie Stark

Jude Law

Jack Burden

Kate Winslet

Anne Stanton

James Gandolfini

Tiny Duffy

Mark Ruffalo

Adam Stanton

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Synopsis

Charismatic Southern politician Willie Stark's (Sean Penn) idealism and good intentions give way to corruption after he becomes governor of Louisiana. Unfortunately for Stark, his right-hand man (Jude Law) retains the same good moral fibre he had when the men both entered the political arena.

Director: Steven Zaillian
Producer: Mike Medavoy, Steven Zaillian, Arnold Messer, Ken Lemberger
Screenwriter: Steven Zaillian
Distributor: Sony Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation, VIP, Phoenix Pictures, AKM Productions
Rating: PG-13 (Partial Nudity|Intense Sequence of Violence|Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 22, 2006, Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 1, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA): $7.2M
Runtime: 2h 8m
Sound Mix: Dolby SRD, DTS, SDDS
Aspect Ratio: Flat (1.85:1)

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