Those perfect Summer or Fall days. The sun is shining, the temperature is JUST right, and you’ve got nothing else to do. Therefore, isn’t it time to get outside and take a nice stroll through the park, or along the shoreline (should you be that fortunate), or even just around the neighborhood? Sure. BUT…..if one lives in the America found in the newest film adaptation of the work from horror author/cultural icon Stephen King…..doing this SHOULD be the LAST thing you hope to find yourself engaged with.
That’s the reality–and it is one DARK, deeply disturbing, and totally anarchic one–that is ultimately revealed and traversed through via this newly released feature film from director Francis Lawrence (majority of the “Hunger Games” franchise, “Red Sparrow“). Most assuredly borrowing some baseline premises and thematic tangents from the former while placing a decidedly edgier and more harshly, violently visceral content onto the screen, this is one weighty effort that won’t, most likely, make a lot of people’s “MUST SEE AGAIN” list.
Chosen through a lottery system to each represent one of the nation’s 50 States (somewhat similar to the Districts in “Hunger Games” but wider in scope), the film follows a group of young men as they embark on The Long Walk, where there is NO stopping, NO sleeping, NO anything (3 warnings or you’re done) until only ONE person remains as the “winner”, who’s promised riches and a single wish that WILL be granted. This is televised and supposed to “inspire” a broken nation. Honestly, I just don’t see that happening, even with the state of affairs being depicted. The film IS well done. Yet, can you say “I LIKED it”???
It really becomes a lesson in the governing regime maintaining control through fear and false promises of showcasing “bravery” and “the best of these young men”, which is truly a facade for the genuine barbarism The Long Walk represents. Yet, admittedly, in the midst of this chaos, necessary friendships, sincerely building trust and camaraderie, and perspectives on what life has been, currently is, and could be manage to insert themselves, as well as a particular motivation one of the primary characters holds close to the vest.
But again, folks, make no mistake, this IS a truly severe visual and emotionally numbing exercise, more so (as would be expecting) when the bodies start dropping, with the reasons for so wincingly varies and manner of execution just so jarring no matter how many times you KNOW it’s coming. By the film’s third act, that aforementioned numbness has only been tempered by a LITTLE humorous banter or emotively potent dramatic instances between the characters to that point, leading up to a finale that suits the film but might leave you grateful it’s over.
Cooper Hoffman (yes, son of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman) does do an amazing job in his role as Raymond Garraty #47, one of the lead characters who exudes such a dominant dedication to BE the one who wins, with the reason not initially revealed. David Jonsson is equally excellent as Peter McVries #23, who becomes a best friend/brother to Cooper along the torturous, exhausting way, almost channeling a similar vibe to Andy and Red in King’s “The Shawshank Redemption“. The pair do work believably together and it does provide SOME light to otherwise gloomy circumstances.
Garrett Wareing, Tut Nyuot, Charlie Plummer, Ben Wang, Jordan Gonzalez, Joshua Odjick, and Roman Griffin Davis all provide memorable supporting turns as other “contestants” while Mark Hamill absolutely manifests the type of character you simply LOATHE through his turn as The Major, the military commander who oversees The Long Walk for its entirety, coldly issuing random proclamations of “support”, while otherwise just remorselessly watching the carnage unfold along the way.
The portrait of a totally fragmented nation (this facet perhaps ALL TO REAL given recent events that rocked us in real life) being ruled over by those who keep the citizens at their heel and initiate a yearly, cruel contest as a means of “hope” definitively hits home here, with the kind of unnerving collision with your soul that is, granted, intended. This is a work of FICTION, done by THE master of the macabre, but let’s TRULY hope nothing like this would ever even come CLOSE to happening, much less even CONSIDERED. THAT, in itself, and for EVERYONE, would be a LONG, unforgiving road to walk.
Comments