‘The Long Walk’ Movie Review: Brutally Unsparing Stephen King Adaptation Packs A Gut-Punch
Photo from Lionsgate
From Jeremy Kibler
The Long Walk is an “unadaptable” Stephen King adaptation done right. Based on the author’s first-written novel (in 1979, under King’s pen name Richard Bachman), the film may share a superficial resemblance with The Hunger Games and other stories read and seen about lives being expendable for the sake of spectacle or some deranged belief system, but this one pulls no punches.
Screenwriter JT Mollner (Strange Darling) and director Francis Lawrence (who, coincidentally, has directed all but the first of the Hunger Games movies) root this harrowing dystopian anti-war tale in a recognizable world. Apparently, the more things change, the more they stay the same, as the United States has fallen on economically desperate times and turned into a military dictatorship. Tough and brutally unsparing, The Long Walk is enriched with well-defined characterization and just enough unforced levity to avoid becoming solely a grueling death march.
As an annual contest of sorts, the government has instituted a televised event in which a voluntary group of 50 young men walk along a route for more than 300 miles. Raymond Garraty #47 (Cooper Hoffman) gets dropped off by his mother (Judy Greer) at the start of the walk and says his goodbyes (her car in the distance hesitant to drive away is a sly, heartbreaking detail). Once Ray joins the other boys, he and Peter McVries #23 (David Jonsson) immediately hit it off as friends. As a rule, they must stay on the path and keep a pace of 3 miles per hour at least. If they fall below that pace, they will be issued a warning by the military vehicles following them. If they are still unable to reach that speed (whether they have to stop to tie their shoe, relieve themselves, or stop for any reason), they will be given two additional warnings. It’s lights out after three warnings. There can only be one winner, being granted a cash prize and bragging rights to be a patriotic symbol of hope to supposedly inspire the nation, or so says the “Major” (Mark Hamill), a barking drill sergeant. All others will basically become road kill.
After the film opens with Ray’s lottery-winning letter to enter the walk, The Long Walk gets right to it, beautifully paced by director Lawrence without ever growing too languid or too rushed. Like the boys, we are lulled into this walk, if only for a few miles. Horrific reality soon sets in for the viewer and for these characters after the first boy (the youngest) “gets his ticket,” which is a tamer way of saying shot in the head. Pete says to Ray that that will probably get easier over time, but Ray says that’s what he is afraid of, becoming desensitized to violence on his fellow walkers. Somehow, it’s just as rattling every time.
Director Francis Lawrence doesn’t shy away from the elimination violence but doesn’t wallow in it, either. It’s blunt and matter-of-the-fact. Same goes with bathroom emergencies for some of the boys who can’t hold it. Lawrence and cinematographer Jo Willems find steady footing with what is essentially a walking-and-talking picture and make it dramatically compelling (aided by an imposing score by The Lumineers’ Jeremiah Fraites). When the camera isn’t on these boys briskly walking and talking (and then dropping like flies), we do get a glimpse of the roadside life or lack thereof in depressed rural areas with the occasional onlookers, and the views are like hauntingly drab postcards.
To the Major, all of these young men are just numbers. To us, they are all well-drawn personalities, enhanced by every actor feeling perfectly chosen. Ray and Pete are our two main anchors on the page, but it’s a testament to such exceptional young actors as Cooper Hoffman (who gave a breakthrough performance in Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza) and David Jonsson (excellent in both Alien: Romulus and Rye Lane) that we care about them as much as we do. Emotionally and physically up to the task, Hoffman is steadfast in his empathy and anger, and Jonsson is unflappable and magnetic with enough charisma for everybody. From the moment these two meet, they forge a bond that feels so true, root-worthy, and unexpectedly moving. We want Ray and Pete to both be okay, but the inevitability that there can only be one man standing just breaks our breaks as their friendship strengthens closer and closer to the finish line.
In a voluminous ensemble of tremendous talent, Ben Wang and Tut Nyuot are two other standouts as gum-chewing smartass Olson and the kind Baker, rounding out the Musketeer-like camaraderie. Charlie Plummer gets to be a total wild card, as the unstable Barkovich, swinging from mercilessly taunting his co-walkers to cracking open his own raw vulnerability. A vocal talent by nature, Mark Hamill uses his blustery voice to sadistic effect as The Major, who would come across as a motivator if his intentions weren’t so chillingly warped and antagonistic. He is a mustache twirl away from being cartoonishly evil but fortunately reins it in, stopping short of becoming too hammy. A lesser performer may have gone too over-the-top or could have made Mrs. Garraty a thankless role, but an emotionally fearless Judy Greer will break your heart into pieces in only three brief scenes (one of which is a flashback). Finally, character actor Josh Hamilton makes a mark in just one fateful scene as Ray’s heroic father.
JT Mollner’s inherently provocative script resists too much hand-holding with “world-building” or even an exact time period (it feels like the late-‘70s, based on the costume design and cars). Most importantly, we remain invested in these boys every step of the way (honestly, no pun intended) with conversational dialogue that can be foul-mouthed but feels entirely organic in the ways it builds character. A late-film reveal involving Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), the most athletically prepared of the men, isn’t too surprising on a narrative level, but it does add another level of nuance in a film that only looks deceptively simple. The ending, apparently altered from King’s novel, manages a way to still be oddly satisfying, but that doesn’t make it any less emotionally gutting and impossible to shake. Paved with unbearable tension and the visceral impact of a gut-punch, The Long Walk is quite the journey.
Rating: 4.5/5
The Long Walk hits theaters on September 12, 2024.
