About a day into “The Running Man” – the titular game show from Edgar Wright’s adaptation of the Stephen King novel – a contestant named Jansky (Martin Herlihy) is about to die.
Jansky is one of three contestants tasked with avoiding a murderous crew of hunters for 30 days in order to win $1 billion. Unbeknownst to him (but broadcast on network television to millions of people), the cashier he’s been hitting on for the last few minutes has reported him to the authorities. One of the other contestants, Ben Richard (Glen Powell), is watching the whole doomed affair play out on television.
Jansky is painted a fool. His attempts at flirting involve telling the cashier that there’s a guy on “The Running Man” who looks just like him, and he heard he’s kind of hot. Before the hunters take him out, his last words amount to what might as well be a raised eyebrow and shrug straight to camera. In short, it’ll all very, very silly. In contrast, Richards is all seriousness, quietly urging Jansky to run away, his rage-filled eyes pained at the sound of the gun shot that kills his competitor.
This moment is emblematic of the type of tonal clash that can be found all over “The Running Man,” a movie that’s a little too absurd for how seriously it takes itself. While Wright is a capable action filmmaker and finds the right balance in a few key moments, convoluted plotting and characterization and a third act that tanks whatever good will the film earns early on, drag “The Running Man” down.
Richards is a working class stiff, unable to keep a job and taking care of his sick daughter. He’s also got an anger problem, but one that comes from his empathy (all of his firings stem from the fact that he cares about other people). All of this – Richards’ desperation for his child, his potent sense of rage – make him an ideal candidate for “The Running Man,” at least in the eyes of the show’s producer Dan Killian (Josh Brolin). I would argue he actually seems like the ideal candidate to burn it all down – which he says he wants to do, multiple times – but hey! I’m not casting this show.
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