No one doubts that writer Stephen King is the King of Horror with novels such as It, Carrie, The Shining, etc., but he also has written several less evil/scary stories like The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. For a time, he even wrote under the pseudonym Richard Bachman and published 7 books under that name, which he borrowed from a friend of King's literary agent, Kirby McCauley. One of these novels, The Long Walk, was published in 1979. This month, the film adaptation, starring Cooper Hoffman (Saturday Night), David Jonsson (Alien: Romulus), Ben Wang (Karate Kid: Legends), Charlie Plummer (Words On Bathroom Walls), and Mark Hamill (the Star Wars franchise), makes its way to theaters.
Ruled by a totalitarian regime in a dystopian United States, a group of 50 young men are chosen for The Long Walk each year. Besides a monetary prize, the winner is granted a wish. However, to get to that point, the men must walk at a pace of three miles per hour. If they fall behind, they receive a warning. If they go one hour without receiving a second warning, their "penalty" resets back to zero. If they don't pick up their pace, they receive a second warning. After the third warning, they are killed. The last man still walking is the winner.
As the contestants line up at the start, we meet Raymond (Hoffman), Peter (Jonsson), Arthur (Tut Nyuot; The Witcher: Blood Origin), Gary (Plummer), Hank (Wang), among others. As the Major (Hamill) calls their name, they collect their number and their rations, and the walk, which is televised nationwide, begins. For the first few hours, everything seems ok and some of the guys even talk amongst themselves; however, as time wears on, one guy gets a leg cramp, another starts throwing up, and things get progressively worse until the last two are all that remains.
The first thing needed when making a great movie is an interesting story. The second thing is a well fleshed out /well written script. The third thing is a terrific cast. Luckily, The Long Walk has all three. Of course, a story by King is going to be well thought out with plenty of character development. The script, by J.T. Mollner (Strange Darling), takes King's concept and gives the plot dialogue. The cast comprises up-and-coming actors in Hollywood who give fantastic performances that bring King's characters to life.
If one wasn't already aware that the novel existed back in 1979, one would probably think the concept for the film is a rip-off of The Hunger Games. The similarities are hard to miss, and comparisons are bound to be made. However, since King's novel is almost 30 years older than Suzanne Collins' books, the argument can be made that Collins stole her idea from King. Regardless, the story, in whatever form it takes, has proven itself to be a subject that is robust and intriguing and offers a great deal of material with which to write a novel and make a movie.
The Long Walk, which is beautifully shot and put together by Francis Lawrence (who ironically directed the last three Hunger Games movies), will bring up numerous emotions from the audience, among them is sadness, anger, disgust, fear, and anxiety. Lawrence keeps the pace moving (again, ironic since it is a film where the audience literally watches people simply walk to a set pace) and keeps the story interesting.
In the wrong hands, this movie could have been boring with nothing more than a few minutes of gory, bloody scenes, but between the writer, the director, and the actors, The Long Walk is an exceptional example of excellent filmmaking from top to bottom.
Grade: A-
