That’s my opinion of Steven Zaillian’s All the King’s Men. The film, while true to the book (at least in telling it from Jack Burden’s point of few), is a mess. Jude Law’s accent is horrendous and Sean Penn reminds me more of his character in I am Sam. James Gandolfini is awful and the plot is underdeveloped unless you’re intimately familiar with the novel and even then it just disappointing.
Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet (who are both on the screen for very little time) are ok as is Patricia Clarkson. Zaillian directed another life long New Yorker, the very talented Mark Ruffalo, to use a southern/cajun/new orleans – hybrid accent for the 10 minutes of screen time he has. Stupid. And the ending is just plain weird.
Stay away from this film.