Tag Archives: Colman Domingo

The Running Man

Does America harbor a sadistic society? Are stunt-based TV competitions a last refuge for the desperate? Is “reality” TV real or is it faked? How close are we to a dystopian police state? 

These are legitimate questions one might ask after seeing the new film The Running Man. But if you want to ENJOY the movie, it’s best to table those questions for now and let the almost non-stop action take you along on Ben Richards’s quest for survival. It’s a fun ride with new challenges for The Running Man popping up constantly.

Richards (Glen Powell) is a husband and father whose baby daughter needs meds. He can’t keep a job and keeps getting fired for insubordination. His wife Sheila (Jayme Lawson) works at a strip joint as a waitress. Richards goes to network studios to pursue a spot on a game show and ends up as one of three contestants on The Running Man. The odds that he will survive the hunters who chase him are small but the potential reward is a huge pile of money. 

The film is a revised remake of the 1987 film The Running Man which starred Arnold Schwarzenegger as Richards and Richard Dawson as Damian Killian, the producer and host of the TV show. The new film stars Josh Brolin as producer Dan Killian and Colman Domingo as Bobby, the show’s host. The prize money is in “new dollars” and the currency shown has Schwarzenegger’s photo on it!

Richards’s journey takes him from the dystopian city where he lives to New Hampshire and Maine. The tale is from a book by Bangor resident Stephen King, originally published under the nom de plume Richard Bachman.

Before he hits the road he gets disguises and fake IDs from a crafty anarchist played by the always excellent Willam H. Macy.

In a beautiful old New England home Richards is given refuge by Elton, a strange man played by Micheal Cera whose crazed mother (Sandra Dickinson) ID’s Richards and calls in the Hunters to take him in. For Cera, this is his second odd ball role this year, following his appearance in The Phoenician Scheme back in the spring. 

Richards escapes, ending up in a highway chase, riding with a young woman Amelia (Emilia Jones) before boarding an airplane where he faces off with a prior Running Man contestant Evan McCone (Lee Pace) on his way to the story’s conclusion.

The action is intense and the story moves fast. The movie isn’t exactly one long chase scene but Richards has to stay on the move. A one word review of The Running Man might be “kinetic.” As mentioned, it’s a fun film and Glen Powell is up to the task of carrying it to the finish line. Enjoy it with the large bucket of popcorn.

The Running Man is directed by Edgar Wright, written by Wright and Michael Bacall. Rated R.

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Sing Sing

Who knew prison could be this much fun? Okay, not really FUN but Sing Sing begins with a light mood. Men in prison in a repertory theater company. Workshopping ideas together and coming up with an amalgam of a show to be written by their leader Brent (Paul Raci) who comes from outside the walls.

It’s prison but it appears more orderly and civilized than prison is often depicted in films. The men stay in units that look more like dorm rooms than cells. They chat amiably at meals and in the yard—with a few exceptions.

What makes Sing Sing special is these prisoners in the film are, for the most part, formerly incarcerated men. They bring a special level of reality and humanity in their portrayals of prison inmates. Yes, they have been convicted of serious crimes but they are real, generally likable, people.

Divine G (Colman Domingo) is the alpha of the rep company. He’s also working to get his conviction overturned. G is cool and calm in his clemency hearing. But the pressure of being behind bars slowly builds. Domingo, who was an Oscar nominee for his portrayal of civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, is a compelling presence onscreen.

Also meriting special mention is Clarence Maclin, a former inmate, whose work on Hamlet’s “To Be Or Not To Be” soliloquy during the film goes from ludicrous to powerful. This is not the last time you’ll see him onscreen.

While the mood of Sing Sing is not as intense as that of some prison movies, there are reminders that the men are isolated from society. The frequent shots of men looking out at the Hudson River and of the trains traveling right next to the prison make that point clear. (The lyrics to Johnny Cash’s Folsom Prison Blues came to my mind each time the train rolls by.)

Sing Sing is likely to be in conversations in a few months when awards season kicks in. Not just for Domingo and Maclin but for the film’s director Greg Kwedar who co-wrote the script with Clint Bentley. It is one of the best movies to be released so far this year. Rated R for language.

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