I think I missed something. Who exactly was Sadie Burke (played by Patricia Clarkson)? What was her relationship to Stark? Are we to assume they were having an affair? At one point she seems jealous of the dancing skater and other women the governor and his croneys were cavorting with.
Rick
Yeah, I think we're supposed to assume that they were having an affair until Stark and his roving eye moved onto sluts on skates.
When darkness overcomes the heart, Lil' Slugger appears...
Sadie Burke was in business with Tiny Duffy in that whole plan to "split the cracka vote" from the beginning. What the film doesn't show is that the night that Willie Stark(Sean Penn) realizes he is being played, the two of them get into a big argument. This is the beginning of Starks corruption, the first time he drinks in a long time. Stark goes on to lose that election for governor and a few years later goes back on the campaign trail with Tiny and Sadie and wins. This part isn't shown in the movie, but Sadie and Stark an affair. There are numerous occasions in the novel where Stark is both unfaithful to Sadie and his wife, and the only one depicted is the "slut on skates." And there are other occasions where Stark is seeing his wife, and Sadie is completely jealous of that fact.
shareit's hinted at several times in the movie - and most obviously shown when Sadie throws a fit when she discovers the truth about the "Slut on Skates".
Watch it again and notice how Sadie and Stark look at each other, the way he strokes her face, her longing glances at him as he walks away...
Hollywood is fast losing its subtlety and this movie is one of the few that heroically tries to bring it back. Unfortunately the only way people "get it" nowadays is to see the actress flash her assets and other things across the screen before the audience murmurs "I think they're having an affair..."