Full Review

Like its demagogue protagonist, writer-director Steven Zaillian's remake of "All the King's Men" (Columbia) -- based on Robert Penn Warren's 1946 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel -- aspires to greatness. Yet, while achieving it to some measure, both movie and man fall short.

Early images -- a gun and a rosary crucifix -- set the thematic tone, cuing viewers through cinematic shorthand that sin and redemption will both be players in the morality tale, loosely inspired by the life of Depression-era Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long.

Sean Penn is Willie Stark, an "honest man" who, in standing up for the common folk, rides a platform of populist reform into the governor's mansion, railing against fat-cat corruption. Once in office, however, he himself becomes polluted by power.

His rise from political patsy to "hick" hero and eventual tumble from grace are charted through the eyes of journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law), an idealist from an upper-crust New Orleans family who falls under Willie's spell.

Fine support is provided by Anthony Hopkins as upright Judge Irwin, Jack's surrogate father who hides a dark secret; Kate Winslet as Anne Stanton, Jack's first love; and Mark Ruffalo as her noble-minded if emotionally fragile brother, Adam. Patricia Clarkson and James Gandolfini play press attache Sadie Burke and local party thug Tiny Duffy, respectively; they are first Willie's puppeteers, then his toadies.

Shifting the setting from an unspecified southern state in the 1930s to 1950s' Louisiana, the film -- shot mostly in pre-Katrina New Orleans -- has handsome period detail.

With a drawl heavier than a bale of cotton, Penn gives Willie a more blustery and, in many ways, sympathetic edge than Broderick Crawford's cutthroat Oscar-winning turn in Robert Rossen's 1949 version, which also won best picture. Like the towering shadow Willie casts on the State House, Penn's performance, though full of passion, lacks the substance of a fully developed character.

The film tosses around lots of big ideas but they never establish a foothold in the actions of the characters. Zaillian's script starts off promisingly, but becomes increasingly opaque. A montage of rousing stump speeches tracing Willie's ascension is nicely done.

But there are too many holes. We're told Willie is crooked, but are not shown much in the way of evidence as in the '49 version. The film presents him as a bully not above blackmail and as a philanderer, but the specifics of his graft and other political misdeeds are left vague. The same goes for Jack, Anne and Adam, who all in large part remain ciphers.

In exploring the means and ends of power, the film asks: Can good be accomplished through evil? Can one effect social progress without losing one's soul? To the latter, the movie seems to cynically answer "no." "There ain't nothin' worth doin' that a man can keep his dignity," Willie growls, adding later, "Man is conceived in sin and born in corruption."

In spite of such pessimism, the film at least avoids a Calvinistic view (people are either good or bad) for a more Catholic understanding that the possibility to choose good and its dark alternative commingle in every heart, like the twin streams of blood on the state seal in the closing shot.

Still, while Penn's fire provides heat, "All the King's Men" generates little light concerning the timely questions raised.

The film contains a violent shooting, implied adultery, a suicide, a bedroom encounter with shadowy side nudity, a provocative nightclub performance, some mildly crude language, profanity and racial slurs. The USCCB Office for Film & Broadcasting classification is A-III -- adults. The Motion Picture Association of America rating is PG-13 -- parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.

Movies have been evaluated by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishop's Office for Film and Broadcasting according to artistic merit and moral suitability. The reviews include the USCCB rating, the Motion Picture Association of America rating, and a brief synopsis of the movie.

The classifications are as follows:

• A-I -- general patronage;
• A-II -- adults and adolescents;
• A-III -- adults;
• A-IV**
• L -- limited adult audience, films whose problematic content many adults would find troubling. L replaces the previous classification, A-IV.
• O -- morally offensive.