All the King's Men, 1949/2006

I kind of hate to say it, but the original movie wins. I love looking at Jude Law and Mark Ruffalo (Sean Penn not so much), but the story just wasn’t the same…close, but not quite what I would’ve expected. There would've been no complaints about the chocies for Willy being that neither actor would be what you considered a "pretty boy." Jack on the other hand is a whole different story...both are absolutely eye candy. I have to say that I finished the films thinking of Willy Stark as a model for Francis Ford Coppola’s godfather character. Seeing James Gandolfini as “Duffy” in the newer film definitely helped to make this even more so.

I loved seeing the story evolve in the 1949 version from pre-Willymania to the final moment when he asks "Why?" after being shot, not by Jack, but by Anne's brother! That's right! She has a brother! Lucy and Sadie also each play larger roles in the film version. In the film, the cast is comprised of Willie, Jack, Sadie, Anne, Adam (Anne’s brother), Judge Stanton (uncle to the siblings), Lucy (Willy’s wife), Tom (Willy’s adopted son), Sugar Boy (Wille’s lackey), and Jack’s parents. I think this would’ve been a decent sized cast for Floyd’s opera. I’m not sure why he did away with them. Alongside them would be a huge chorus as Willy’s “hick” following.

The first 45 minutes of the film are dedicated to Willy’s rise to power. He begins by trying to tell the people about the corrupt government, but is quickly arrested and later released (with “apologies”). Jack plays the narrator of the story, sent by his newspaper to have a look at Willy. An idealist, and still green, Willy doesn’t even know it when he’s being used to split the vote in the gubernatorial election. He fails as an orator until he decides to go against Lucy’s wishes and has his first drink. Sadie is sent to him to keep track of his progress and make sure he doesn’t win while at the same time making his bid for governor seem valid. After losing the election Willy says he’s learned how to win. We see Jack and Willy cross paths some time later, and Willy seems to have made some new friends. Willy also uses Jack to get in with society. The second half of the movie follow Willy’s career as governor over an extended period of time, with a few extra details including Willie’s son Tom getting into a drunk driving accident and killing the young girl riding with him. It is Willy’s covering up of this crime that lead to his impeachment proceedings.

One thing I will say was of note between the two screenplays was the soundtrack. The original movie had almost no soundtrack at all besides the music that would be playing on the campaign trail. However, the 2006 version had a fittingly inspiring musical accompaniment provided by James Horner. I can imagine that if Floyd had perhaps decided to expand the opera to include Willy’s entire story, it would’ve left a more lingering impression. I can only imagine what he would’ve done with the drunken speech. I also think it would be interesting to see what he would do with the music itself as Willy fell further and further away from his original intentions.