This week’s film is “The Running Man,” a dystopian thriller based on the novel by Stephen King, which he published under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1982. Arnold Schwarzenegger headlined a campy adaptation in 1987. The new film is directed by “Shaun of the Dead” director Edgar Wright, who as you can guess absolutely brings it with scene after scene of kinetic action.
A ripped Glen Powell takes over the lead role as Ben Richards, a father so desperate to buy medicine for his sick child, he signs up for a reality TV game show where contestants run from professional hunters and the public, and if they survive for thirty days, they win $1 billion.
Stephen King was clearly ahead of his time in 1982 with his vision of reality-TV-show-based authoritarianism. Wright’s direction produces a dark picture of a society segregated by the have and have-nots, where digital misinformation keeps the masses focused on alleged social degenerates, rather than their own exploitation.
As the TV show’s producer, Josh Brolin oozes greed manipulating “live footage” with editorial deceit to propel his social media ratings, while Michael Cera, William H. Macy and Colman Domingo round out a colorful cast of entertaining, dystopian misfits- although we’ve seen all these characters before in similar films.
Unfortunately, repeat Sundance and “CODA” star Emilia Jones is wasted in a role minimized to innocent bystander. And in a not so ironic turn of hypocrisy, after an otherwise faithful adaptation of King’s book, the studio execs manipulated King’s final scene presumably for a more audience-friendly film ending.
So, on my ski trail rating system, “The Running Man” earns my intermediate BLUE ski trail rating. While this remake is yet another example of lack of film studio originality, compared to Arnold, Glen Powell explodes on screen manifesting the rage which defines Richards as he rises up to challenge “the man.” Like Michael Douglas’ turn in “Falling Down,” Powell single-handedly carries the surprisingly entertaining film from start to finish.
“The Running Man” is playing locally at Megaplex at Park City, with a run-time of two hours and thirteen minutes. The film is rated R for violence, language, and horrifically unrealistic plot developments.
