{"id":31982,"date":"2025-09-10T18:55:36","date_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:55:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=31982"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:55:36","modified_gmt":"2025-09-11T01:55:36","slug":"the-long-walk-makes-a-lasting-impression","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=31982","title":{"rendered":"THE LONG WALK Makes a Lasting Impression"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Running Time: 108 minutes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This motion picture from Lionsgate opens exclusively at\nmovie theaters on September 12th<\/sup>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes, movies can bring remarkable happiness, delivering\nhumor and an upbeat narrative that can even result in, as the French might say,\na sense of \u201cjoie de vivre,\u201d after the credits roll. Other pictures, no less\nimportant or effective, have other goals on their mind. The Long Walk<\/em> is\none example of a grim story that takes viewers down a particularly bleak path.\nBut in spite of the tone, the film benefits from an excellent, relatable and\nlikable young cast whom viewers will see put through the ringer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Based on a 1979 novel by Stephen King (written under pen\nname Richard Bachman), the story alludes to a future that doesn\u2019t seem all that\nfantastic. The United States has become a totalitarian state, with the country\nisolated and in economic ruin. Against the wishes of his mother (Judy Greer),\nRaymond Garraty (Cooper Hoffman) enters the annual \u201cLong Walk\u201d, a 50-person\ncontest in which one competitor from each state partakes in a televised walk\nfor as long as they can last. Any participant who falls below three miles per\nhour is given a warning, with three admonishments before the competitor is shot\ndead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This event is seen as a way to inspire the nation to work\nharder and eliminate laziness. The last man standing wins anything they want\nfrom The Major (Mark Hamill), and freedom from a life in poverty. Garraty\nquickly befriends fellow competitor Peter McVries (David Jonsson), and over the\ncourse of the grueling challenge other young men like Stebbins (Garrett\nWareing), Gary Barkovich (Charlie Plummer), Hank (Ben Wang), Arthur (Tut Nyuot)\nand Collie (Joshua Odjick) also form bonds with each other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The entire running time features a group of 20-ish\ncharacters walking together on an open road. This group grows more exhausted\nwith every step. They begin to let their guards down and open up as they\ncontinue down an unending road. Initially, a few individuals are competitive\nand ready to throw each other under the bus, but cliques soon form, changing\nthe interactions. And as each day passes, more begin to explain their reasons\nfor entering. Some young men are simple and\/or na\u00efve in their rationalization, though\nmost ultimately admit the strife that is leading them to this last resort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In spite of the grim stakes, there are a few humorous\ncomments and jokes between group members. And as they become friendlier,\nGarraty and McVries initiate more talks about their pasts, the government and\ntheir outlooks on life. One is, in some respects, sunnier than the other, and\nit\u2019s interesting to hear the characters express their views, as well as see how\nthose ideas change over the course of events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As you might imagine, much of the movie is dependent on the\nwork of the performers. None of this works if the cast aren\u2019t up to the\nchallenge of creating distinctive and memorable individuals who interact\nauthentically. Thankfully, everyone here does the job with surprising ease.\nCooper Hoffman has been the lead in pictures like Licorice Pizza<\/em>, and\nDavid Jonsson made a notable impression in Alien: Romulus<\/em>, but they are\ngiven even more time to shine here. The emotional extremes on display over the\ncourse of the tale must have been incredibly difficult to navigate, but these\nleads and their cohorts pull it off exceptionally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a very harsh and brutal movie that doesn\u2019t pull any\npunches when it comes to depicting the horror of the competition. These\ncharacters don\u2019t have many options in front of them as the walk extends, and\ntheir bodies and minds slowly break down. The movie promises no easy solutions\nor hastily thrown together plans to usurp those overseeing these youngsters or\nget them out of trouble. It makes the drama of the scenario all the more\nchilling.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Admittedly, it is a long time spent trudging along, and one\ncritique is that the film at times goes a little far in graphically showing its\nexecutions, employing obvious CGI effects. One understands the need to shock\nthe audience early on, but at times the effects are noticeably artificial. The\nfilm might have benefitted from a subtle and practical, but no less shocking,\napproach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Despite a few little issues, this genre film still exceeds\nexpectations. The dark and distressing source material was considered a\ndifficult one to adapt into a feature film. The Long Walk<\/em> shows that,\ngloomy as it might be, when all are united in mounting a compelling story, the\nend results can hit home and make a lasting impression.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Running Time: 108 minutes This motion picture from Lionsgate opens exclusively at movie theaters on September 12th. Sometimes, movies can bring remarkable happiness, delivering humor and an upbeat narrative that can even result in, as the French might say, a sense of \u201cjoie de vivre,\u201d after the credits roll. Other pictures, no less important or […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":31983,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[216,2538,3295,3306,4141,4772,5311,6251,6639,8114,9319,11071,11119,12473,13254,19051,21417,21418,21419,21420,23373],"class_list":["post-31982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-216","tag-ben-wang","tag-book-adaptation","tag-book-to-film-adaptation","tag-charlie-plummer","tag-cooper-hoffman","tag-david-jonsson","tag-drama","tag-dystopian","tag-garrett-wareing","tag-horror","tag-joshua-odjick","tag-judy-greer","tag-lionsgate","tag-mark-hamill","tag-stephen-king","tag-the-long-walk","tag-the-long-walk-film-review","tag-the-long-walk-movie-review","tag-the-long-walk-review","tag-tut-nyuot"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=31982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=31982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=31982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=31982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}