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All The King's Men (2006)

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political drama
directed by : Steven Zaillian
featuring : Sean Penn - Jude Law - Kate Winslet - Jame Gandolfini - Mark Ruffalo - Anthony Hopkins
running time : 2 hours 8 minutes

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The legacy of a populist Southern politician whose lofty ambitions for the future leave him open to corruption and scandal is detailed as author Robert Penn Warren's thinly veiled portrait of Depression-era Louisiana governor Huey Long comes to the screen -- again -- this time courtesy of director and screenwriter Steven Zaillian. Willie Stark (Sean Penn) is a man of the people, and for the people; at least that's what he tells the people. Propelled into a race for governor by opposing forces looking to split the "hick vote," Stark is convinced by handler -- as well as by young journalist Jack Burden (Jude Law) -- to not cow-tow to the powers that be. His rhetoric grows firey, and makes his way into office on a not-so-solid foundation of social-service promises. When idealism gives way to the harsh realities of the time, however, the fast-talking politico is quick to discover just how far one can fall when ambition and power leads to a betrayal of one's original motivations.Kate Winslet, Patricia Clarkson, James Gandolfini, Mark Ruffalo, and Anthony Hopkins round out an all-star cast in this second version of Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning 1947 novel; the first won a parade of Oscars after its release in 1949.

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