The Long Walk

Stebbins (Garrett Wareing), Garraty (Cooper Hoffman), Pete (David Jonsson), Olson (Ben Wang) and Art (Tut Nyuot) walk for their futures in The Long Walk (Distributed by Lionsgate)

49 young men, walking on an otherwise empty road, making small talk, needing to keep moving at three miles an hour or they die. That is not only the plot of the Stephen King adaptation The Long Walk, it is an exact description of the entire movie. We meet some of them, get to know them a little, they exchange occasionally witty dialogue, then, eventually, all besides one slows down too much and gets shot by the guards riding alongside them. The trailer makes this look like an intense thriller, and there are a couple of exciting sequences, yet this is mostly a drama about unlikely bonding, determination in the face of an unfair system and persecution from a dystopian military state.

It is closer in tone to Stand by Me than it is to the types of stories King is more commonly identified with. There is the awkward macho camaraderie, dialogue that bounces uncomfortably between overly written and sincere and the ever-lurking dangers of adulthood, which, in this case, is represented by toeing the line or dying. It is a little uneven, repetitive at times, with an ending that makes the story feel sort of pointless. But it is also cleverly made, with likable characters and a constant sense of overwhelming dread hanging over every second. It is a solid King project, with some very good moments.

In an indeterminate point in the future, following a war, people are poor and hopeless. A game is created, called the Long Walk, in which a group of desperate young men compete to outwalk each other. The winner gets riches and any wish of theirs granted. Everyone else dies.

There is a brief introduction so the audience can familiarize themselves with a few characters before they begin their journey. In the opening, we meet Ray Garraty, who is essentially the protagonist. He is being driven to the competition by his mother, who is tearfully begging him not to go. After she reluctantly drops him off, the movie very efficiently introduces everybody the viewer needs to know, in a way that makes it clear who the allies will be and who we shouldn’t get too attached to. This is all done in maybe ten minutes, then the trek starts.

The lack of subtlety in the writing means The Long Walk (101 minutes, minus the end credits) isn’t surprising. Oddly, it seems more interested in getting viewers to care enough about these guys to increase the impact when the inevitable happens than it does in shocking us with gore or untimely deaths. Each of the killings are obvious before they occur. While director Francis Lawrence does not hold back on letting us see the violence, none of it is particularly gruesome. It is effectively sad, even if it is only intermittently suspenseful.

Though I didn’t always believe everything the characters were saying (a frequent issue I have with King’s work), I did like them. While the friendship formed among a group of people who need each other to die so they can live may seem a tad unrealistic on the surface, it is refreshing to see that be the focus. The enemy is the system (embodied here by Mark Hamill’s heartless Major). They are merely victims. I did find myself getting invested in Ray and his new pals, especially Pete, a pleasant and encouraging contestant who really wants everyone to get along. The cast does well with this material.

Lawrence’s biggest challenge when adapting this was definitely how to keep things engaging when we are just watching these kids walk at a steady pace for ninety minutes or so. He does a great job of framing the characters so that we almost forget they are never alone. They can have intimate conversations where it feels like friends chatting. Then it cuts and we can see the line of walkers bracketed by armed guards. The pursuit of companionship as they are surrounded by utter despair is actually touching. That element is what carries this.

The Long Walk does not succeed as a thriller. It isn’t tense and is very predictable. However, as a drama, and extremely jaded allegory, it does work. It is well-directed, well-acted and has more good scenes than bad. Yeah, the ending is a letdown. Still, what I will remember from this is the bravery to be kind even when the odds are insurmountable. That, in and of itself, symbolizes hope despite the depressing brutality. The movie largely does what it sets out to do, just don’t expect horror.

3¼ out of 5

Cast:

Cooper Hoffman as Raymond Garraty

David Jonsson as Peter McVries

Tut Nyuot as Arthur Baker

Ben Wang as Hank Olson

Mark Hamill as The Major

Directed by Francis Lawrence

Screenplay by JT Mollner