★★★ (3 out of 4)
They’re calling this the American “Squid Game,” but Stephen King got there first. “The Long Walk” was the horror maestro’s first book, written in 1967 when he was only 19, though it wasn’t published until 1979, under the pseudonym Richard Bachman. King, now 77, was reacting to the senseless deaths of soldiers in the Vietnam war when he penned this dystopian parable of young men being forced into a death race that became a metaphor for the futility of war.
The sadistic villain of the piece, known as the Major, is played by, of all people, Mark Hamill, which means we’re seeing Luke Skywalker himself overtaken by a dark side that would put Darth Vader to shame.
These were the rules: Each walker must keep a minimum pace of three miles per hour. If he falls below that he is given a verbal warning. If he falls below that pace more than three times, he is shot and killed by soldiers in a jeep trailing his every move. The relentless objective is to walk until only one contestant is left. No stopping, no rest. The winner gets a windfall of riches and the fulfillment of a single wish, whatever that may be.
That’s a pretty basic metaphor. And “The Long Walk” could have been basic in the most obvious sense of the word. That it’s not is a tribute to director Francis Lawrence, who did the similar “Hunger Games” franchise and deserves praise here by holding a tight rein of suspense from first scene to last. Even better, Lawrence has an ensemble cast of young actors who are fully committed to the story being told.
Chief among the walkers is Ray Garraty, played by Cooper Hoffman, a standout in “Licorice Pizza” and whose father is the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. Those are big shoes to fill, but the son of the “Capote” Oscar winner invests his role with his own unique take on what makes a character tick. From the moment Ray is dropped off by his distraught mother (Judy Greer filling a small role with grit and grace), we are in his corner. Hoffman plays Ray with a core of kindness that is definitely a liability in a contest built on every man for himself.
Ray forms an unlikely bond with the super athletic Peter McVries, the frontrunner in the race, played by the excellent David Jonsson (“Alien: Romulus”). Peter shares Ray’s intention to come through this ordeal without sacrificing his humanity.
But doing just that is the point set by the Major, a sadist who pretends the marathon is meant to inspire a nation with the ultimate in courage and strength. In reality, the Major is powered by a bloodlust; he gets off seeing young men mowed down one by one. The role is played by, of all people, Mark Hamill, which means we’re seeing Luke Skywalker himself overtaken by a dark side that would put Darth Vader to shame.
Among the supporting cast, the standouts are Ben Wang as Olson and Tut Nyuot as Baker, who draw laughs and tears. Even the bullying Barkovitch has his reasons in the skilled hands of Charlie Plummer. But “The Long Walk” belongs to Hoffman and Jonsson who create riveting, relatable characters in the midst of pure madness.
Working from a tight script by JT Mollner, who dares to change the ending of King’s book and gets away with it, director Lawrence marshals his troops with power and finesse. And the actors do him proud. “The Long Walk” is too lockstep to match “The Shawshank Redemption” as the best film adaptation of a King non-horrorshow, but it’s a tale excitingly and movingly told.