The Running Man
In the near future, Ben Richards (Glen Powell) is struggling to provide for his family after continually being fired for standing up for fellow workers in an authoritarian regime run by The Network. With his wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson, "Sinners"), working a demeaning job as a cocktail waitress, and a sick baby daughter, Ben goes to audition for one of The Network's many brutally competitive reality shows, but even though he'd promised Sheila he wouldn't try out for its most notorious one, Ben is convinced he 'has what it takes' by show runner Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) to be the first to survive 30 days of being hunted on "The Running Man."
Laura's Review: C+
Cowriter (with his "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World" collaborator Michael Bacall)/director Edgar Wright ("Last Night in Soho"), more faithfully adapts the Stephen King novel (under his Richard Bachman pseudo name) first made into a film in 1987 starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a prisoner vying for his freedom, but while the film is intermittently entertaining, it is often incoherent as it moves from one set piece to the next, as if something was lost in editing. It doesn't inspire confidence that a misplaced good luck charm reappears before disappearing again in a continuity error in the film's opening minutes, either. The main villain, which Richard Dawson was Oscar nominated for in the original film, has been split into two characters here, Brolin joined by Colman Domingo as his showmanship counterpart, "Running Man" host Bobby Thompson, but while Domingo's great in the role, his set and studio look cheesy for such a highly rated program.
Richards is paired with Laughlin (Katy O'Brian), his neighbor from down the hall in his Co-op City apartment, and Tim Janksy (SNL's Martin Herlihy, "Happy Gilmore 2"), a hapless optimist who Ben has to save during tryouts, the three all given twelve hour 'running' starts, cash and a video camera to record themselves for ten minutes every day. They'll earn money for every day they survive and more for killing any hunters on their trail, but if they fail to mail in a daily videotape, they forfeit everything while continuing to be hunted. The public is awarded prizes for calling in tips on their whereabouts or a much bigger bounty for actually killing one.
Ben begins executing his plan immediately, going underground to obtain fake IDs, disguises and a gun from Molie (William H. Macy), who isn't at all pleased to see him, but who helps him out for several hundred New Dollars (NDs). By the time Ben, disguised as a businessman with glasses and a fake moustache, checks into a New York City hotel, Molie's being tortured by The Hunters for information on the man's whereabouts. After witnessing Tim being easily snuffed out on the street, Ben heads to Boston, holing up in a YVA, but Stacey (Angelo Giorgio Gray), a little kid out on his bike recognizes the man, offering to help, and after Ben manages to elude the Hunters once again, setting off a devastating explosion, he'll hide out with Stacey's family, his older brother Bradley (Daniel Ezra) revealing himself as The Apostle, an underground media prophet who proselytizes to the masses about The Network's deep fakes while encouraging aiding and abetting the Running Man.
Ben will head north disguised as a blind priest, then to Derry, Maine, where he'll connect with Elton (Michael Cera), one of Bradley's contacts, the son of a former policeman whose rebellion against The Network cost him dearly, but left his wife, Elton's mom Victoria (Sandra Dickinson), a rabid enthusiast, actively cheering on the hunt for the man her son's trying to help. Elton's big, old, booby-trapped house is good for some chuckles, but the sequence is confusing, as is the role of Amelia Williams (Emilia Jones), a wealthy woman who learns a lot about her worldview after Ben carjacks her, declaring her purse a bomb as he approaches his final showdown with the last hunter standing, Evan McCone (Lee Pace), the three boarding a plane where Killian tries to strike a deal as the masses cheer Ben on.
While Wright's been more faithful to the Richard Bachman book, he leaves the door open for Ben's return, although what the now legendary hero would be returning to is left a mystery. The story's themes, more relevant than ever, come through despite narrative choppiness and a leading man who never really inspires rooting interest. Lawson, with far less screen time, earns more as several bigger names get lost in the shuffle, Pace's beautiful face kept hidden through most of the run time, the fierce O'Brian largely wasted. Sean Hayes appears early and briefly as a nameless game show host. As far as this year's adaptations of dystopian Stephen King stories go, a long walk proves more stimulating than a lengthy run.
Robin's Review: C+
Times are tough for Ben Richards (Glen Powell). He lost his job because of his volatile temper, his wife has to work a demeaning job to pay the bills and his young daughter is seriously ill and needs expensive medicine. He decides to audition for a TV “game” show where he very well may not live long as “The Running Man.”
I just so happens that some of the premium subscription stations have been showcasing the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger original of Stephen King’s story – a glossy, over the top action fest with lots of noise, violence and cartoonish mayhem. Here, it is a post-apocalypse world with rampant unemployment and hunger where game shows are the only hope for the masses – the chance to make some quick cash, something that appeals to Ben Richards.
Against the wishes of his wife, Sheila (Jayme Lawson), Ben heads to the broadcast capital to audition for one of the safer game shows. But, the producer of “The Running Man,” show runner Dan Killian (Josh Brolin) sees that Ben has more anger than “any man I have ever seen.” But, Richards is not interested. Killian dangles immediate dollars and treatment for his dying daughter and it is too much to pass up.
The rules for the runner are simple – survive being hunted by professional killers for 30 days and earn one billion New Dollars. He gets $1000 and a 12 hour head start. Then, it is open season on the runners and anyone watching, not just the Hunters, can be a part of the action and earn cash rewards.
Glen Powell is Everyman Ben Richards and unlike the glitz and glitter of the Schwarzenegger adaptation is a far more somber participant in the deadly game. As such, this version, while more closely hewed to King’s novel, is far less fun than the comic-book ’87 original. Where that one had laughs, this one gives us sober reflection.
Oddly enough, the source material from King, published in 1982, is set in 2025, a time when “the nation’s economy is in ruins and world violence is rising.” Does that not sound familiar? It is a sign of our times that a dystopian world is not so far away from us now – and not fun
Paramount releases "The Running Man" in theaters on 11/14/25.
