All the King's Men
Dir: Steven Zaillian
2006
****
I had been meaning to see Robert Rossen's original All the Kings Men for a while but somehow I managed to see Steven Zaillian's version first. In my humble opinion it is as good as the original, a relief when watching any remake although it's a very different film. The acting by the more than capable cast was impressive and I thought the story flowed so well with the odd on/off narrative from Jude Law's character. I thought it was a good choice as it could have very easily been just another cliched and predictable political drama that has been made time and time again. It's not a perfect film by any stretch but there is something quite pleasing about its imperfections and quirks. At the very least it is very watchable, I'm slightly confused by the very low ratings it has been given upon release, I can only conclude that people actually like watching the same film over and over or that they preferred the original.