Hitting theaters last week, “The Long Walk,” directed by Francis Lawrence, quickly earned the reputation of being one of the best adaptations of a Stephen King novel to date.
The film stars David Jonsson as Peter McVries and Cooper Hoffman as Ray Garraty, two of the almost 50 contestants in a horrific competition to walk a race that has no true finish line. There are very few rules, but breaking any of them three times results in more than disqualification, but death. Whoever out-walks the rest earns one wish and a large sum of money, that would be life changing in the dystopian totalitarian world this film is set in.
I entered this movie hesitant, after not being a huge fan of the last King adaptation, “The Monkey” that was released in February. However, director Lawrence worked some true movie magic converting King’s first published novel to the big screen. Lawrence does make some significant changes from King’s novel first published in 1979 under the pseudonym Richard Bachman, yet fans of the book seem unoffended by his choices and changes.
This can, likely, be accredited to Jonsson and Hoffman playing such an unforgettable duo. Both expertly cover a wide range of emotion and give a hauntingly accurate and human representation of how young men would handle this horrific competition. The back and forth dialogue, body language, almost yin and yang magnetism between these two keeps the audience feeling the stakes.
The success of the film can also be because of its simplicity. The entire 1 hour and 48 minute run time is spent nearly exclusively following the men on the walk, with just a few flashback scenes told through the narration of Hoffman’s character to Jonsson’s character on the walk. This choice to keep focus mostly on the walk achieved a very keeping-it-moving theme and feeling for the viewer, forcing the audience to feel like there was no escape from the raw human destroying experience that the characters were enduring – successfully immersing the audience into the film.
By the end of the movie, the audience leaves the theater feeling like they have emotionally gone through the entire grueling 400-mile walk right along with the characters. Likely because, while filming, the cast actually walked the distance! Walking roughly 15 miles a day, shooting one scene a day, therefore feeling the effects of the long walk as genuinely as the characters were; taking the idea of practical effects to a whole new level.
Though not for the faint of heart, I would still say this movie is worth making the long walk into your local theater, especially if you are a fan of King’s work. Just don’t forget the tissues…
Lawrence’s “The Long Walk” earns another 5 out of 5 on the spicy peppers rank. The second week in a row we got a great film, let’s see if next week’s viewing of “One Battle After Another” can keep the high-solid spicy score alive.