89% of the Rotten Tomatoes critics have spat upon All The King’s Men, and in such an atmosphere three or four people have remarked with surprise at Kenneth Turan‘s rave in the L.A. Times. I shouldn’t say anything because I slept through about 30% to 35% of Men when I caught it in Toronto, but a sign of a formidable critic is one who says what he/she likes despite the herd mentality, so Turan’s okay in my book. And he isn’t completely alone. A quick scan of the Metacritic survey tells you tthat Time‘s Richard Schickel is mostly a fan; ditto Toronto Globe & Mail critic Rick Groen…well, he only gave it 2 and 1/2 stars but he’s a big fan of Sean Penn ‘s lead performance.
