When people hear that The Long Walk is a Stephen King novel, the first thought is it is a horror film (because of his more recent work). Believe me, it does have horrific scenes, but this dystopian story is one that he started writing in the mid-1960s (his first novel as Richard Bachman) but was not published until 1979. For some who lived during the years of the Vietnam War (mid – 1950s to mid – 1970s), it is not difficult to see how the anger, protests and other highly emotional times in the US during the conflict turned war could impact or inspire the writer to create this dystopian thriller. The novel has a big-screen adaptation, The Long Walk, as a survival horror film directed and co-produced by Francis Lawrence (Hunger Games) and screenwriter JT Mollner (writer/director of Strange Darling). See what poverty and necessity leads some young men to do and the price they must pay.
The entire cast of young men participating in this “contest” for riches after walking a very long way is very good, with some of them giving memorable performances such as Cooper Hoffman (Licorice Pizza, Old Guy) and David Jonsson (Wasteman, Alien: Romulus) in particular. This large group of young men are determined, some more than others, as many are out-of-hope in their family life but participate in the walking without knowledge of what is really to be encountered up ahead. They are issued numbers with Ray Garraty as # 47 (Hoffman) appearing to be calm and cordial. Ray bonds with #23 Peter McVries (David Jonsson) who presents himself as having goals and supportive, although none of the contestants appear to have known each other prior to the day they initiate the walk. I have not read the source material to know if the bonding was allowed in that dystopian world, but the choice to do so in the cinematic version is a good one. Ray discloses that he left his widowed mother, Ginnie (Judy Greer), back home overwhelmed by grief after the passing of his father William. The scene is shown in a flashback and provides a background for the character. For audience members not familiar with this young actor, his father is the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Amid the contestants also with key scenes and great performances are Hank Olson (Ben Wang, Karate Kid: Legends), Gary Barkovitch (Charlie Plummer), as well as additional cast including Jordan Gonzalez (“Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin” TV series) as Richard Harkness, Joshua Odjick (“IT: Welcome to Derry” TV series) as Collie Parker. Mark Hamill‘s character, The Major, barks orders at them, warnings come over the speaker system and shots are fired soon. A very good actor with very little to do in the film.
If the audience can get beyond how tragic the deaths are on the screen, this is an opportunity to see so many young actors show the skill and talent they have for such a dramatic and impressive story.
Run time – 108 minutes ‧ Rated R ‧ with nationwide release in theaters on September 12.
Source: Lionsgate, Wikipedia, IMDb
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