By Thomas M. Puhr
A thought-provoking,
morally ambiguous conclusion elevates this otherwise middling genre effort from
director Francis Lawrence. Are The Long Walk’s final moments optimistic
(because the titular game’s lone survivor—Peter McVries, played
by a gravel-voiced David Jonsson—isn’t
immediately gunned down after killing the villain, one hopes he has initiated a
revolution) or pessimistic (because he indulges in coldblooded revenge, our
hero betrays the goodhearted optimism that led to his survival in the first
place)? The film’s last image—of Peter marching into a rain-soaked darkness—may hold the answer: If the “winner” is still walking, then has anything really changed?
