Time Period
What was the point of changing the time period? In the novel, the majority of the novel took place in the '30s, which is important because the people were in the grip of the Great Depression. That makes what Willie was trying to do more complex, as he was acting in the interests of people who were truly suffering against the will of the rich.
By placing it in the '50s, you lose that. The movie is set roughly 20 years after Huey Long's actual and Willie Stark's fictional assassinations.
Makes no sense to me.