9 Films Designed To Win Oscars That Failed Miserably

Robert Penn Warren's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel inspired some great work - from the Best Picture winner of 1949 to Randy Newman's masterful album Rednecks (specifically his song "Kingfish"). The novel and film are loosely based around corrupt Louisiana Governor Huey "Kingfish" Long, following an idealistic young journalist whose optimism is torn down as he witnesses the dirty, backroom deals of politics.

Long had already been dramatized in the TV movie Kingfish by John Goodman by the time Sean Penn and screenwriter Steve Zallian got their hands on the property. Penn had already won Best Actor once (he'd go on again for Milk years later), and the meaty role of young, bright-eyed lawyer-turned-politician Willie Stark seemed like a lock for a second one, particularly with a script penned by one of the most respected screenwriters in the industry.

Unfortunately, both Zallian and Penn brought the worst, most melodramatic qualities to the project. When Stark is first running, to prove he's not part of the machine, he throws his handler (James Gandolfini) in literal pig feces. There's nothing about the All The King's Men remake that isn't blatant or literal. It even includes a scene in which Stark records a version of Long's campaign song. What was once a thinly veiled mask for political corruption was an outright attack on reality.

Penn, often noted for subtlety and carefully chosen character moments, is all over the map with a bombastically cartoonish performance.