by MATTHEW HAYS

It was the late Marlon Brando, the godfather of contemporary American film Method acting, who declared Sean Penn the greatest actor working in cinema. Not faint praise and, coming from Brando, this was tantamount to getting knighted.

Indeed, Penn is a brilliant actor, proving his chops in films like Dead Man Walking and The Thin Red Line (I even liked him in Fast Times at Ridgemont High). But somewhere along the way, Penn’s evolution as an actor moved from what felt like finely tuned, disciplined performances, to bombastic opera. Though Mystic River was a great film—arguably the best of 2003—Penn’s performance was so extreme that he threatened to throw off the entire movie.

All the King’s Men, Penn’s latest, is a further step in that direction. The film is the second page-to-screen adaptation of Robert Penn Warren’s Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel about an ambitious, populist Louisiana governor who would allow corruption to derail his political aspirations. It seems a perfect fit for Penn, and when the film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, it was obvious that Sony Pictures had its Oscar hopes raised very, very high. (The original 1949 film won best picture and best actor Oscars.)

Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Pawel Edelman, All the King’s Men is a period film captured in soft hues and tones, its dark interiors underlining the protagonist’s destiny. But if the production values are carefully calculated, the performance styles are not. Jude Law and Patricia Clarkson appear in supporting roles, both seeming decidedly out of step with Penn’s volume-cranked-firmly-to-11 turn. James Gandolfini also appears, playing (surprise!) one of the governor’s thugs. Mark Ruffalo, Kate Winslet and Sir Anthony Hopkins are also on board, making this one of the most impressive casts in recent history. But everyone appears to be acting from a different stylebook. Were these people told they were in the same movie?

It’s too bad, because the story of the corrupted governor, who sinks into the quicksand of his own tragic flaws, is an amazing one. The story, based on the life of Governor Huey Long, was beautifully rendered in Warren’s novel, and was ripe for another movie version. But All the King’s Men feels less like a great movie than a stunningly shot shampoo commercial, expanded to feature length, in which a series of actors attempt to out-act one another.

Ultimately, it’s a strangely lifeless film, despite the larger-than-life performance of Penn. And odder still given that the screenwriter and director is Steven Zaillian, who won an Oscar for his adapted screenplay of Schindler’s List. All the King’s Men is a fine thing to behold on the big screen, but it’s one of those movies that provides the beauty without ever grabbing our interest. Stunning, but bombastic and empty.

All the King’s Men opens Friday, Sept. 22

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