The Running Man And What's Making Us Happy

The Running Man is a new dystopian thriller starring Glen Powell as a man so desperate for money to care for his family that he volunteers to run for his life. As a contestant on a TV game show, he must survive for 30 days while being hunted by a group of highly skilled assassins and by his fellow citizens. Based on a Stephen King novel, director Edgar Wright brings in an all-star cast including Lee Pace, Colman Domingo, William H. Macy and Michael Cera. Follow Pop Culture Happy Hour on Letterboxd at https://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture/letterboxd.com/nprpopculture http://letterboxd.com/nprpopculture See pcm.adswizz.com https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  This message comes from Capella University. That spark you feel, that's your drive for more. Capella University's FlexPath learning format lets you earn your degree at your pace without putting life on pause. Learn more at capella.edu.

• 0:19Linda Holmes?

  Hollywood loves a story about a man on the run. There's The Fugitive, North by Northwest, and, all right, The Running Man. The Stephen King novel was made into an Arnold Schwarzenegger movie in the 1980s, but now it's back. Directed by Edgar Wright, the new dystopian thriller stars the ubiquitous Glenn Powell as a man so desperate for money to care for his family that he volunteers to run for his life, from professionals and amateurs both, to try to win a huge cash prize. I'm Linda Holmes, and today we're talking about The Running Man on Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. Joining me today is Ronald Young Jr. He's the host of the film and television review podcast Leaving the Theater. Hello, Ronald.

• 1:04Speaker 02

  Hello, Lynda.

• 1:05Linda Holmes?

  And also with us is freelance music and culture journalist, Rihanna Cruz. Hi, Rihanna. Howdy, Lynda. All right, so The Running Man is based on a 1982 Stephen King novel, one of a number of early works he originally released under the pen name Richard Bachman. The story is set in a grim future of authoritarian rule and violent exploitative entertainment. A man named Ben Richards, played here by Glenn Powell, is one of many people living in poverty and despair. Desperate to take care of his wife and young daughter, he volunteers for a TV game show called The Running Man. The show is operated by an all-powerful corporation called The Network, and it's spearheaded by

• 1:48Linda Holmes?

  an executive named Dan Killian, played by Josh Brolin. It sends Richards out into the world to try to survive for 30 days while he's hunted by a group of highly skilled assassins and by his fellow citizens. They can earn money for turning him in or even killing him themselves. But if Ben can survive for a month, he'll win unbelievable riches. Literally unbelievable, given that no contestant has ever made it. Unlike the 1987 adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the hero and Richard Dawson as the villain, this film sticks pretty close to King's original story and director Edgar Wright brings in a cast that also includes Lee Pace, Coleman Domingo, William H. Macy, and Michael Sarah to support Powell's central performance.

• 2:33Linda Holmes?

  The Running Man is in theaters now. Ronald, I'm going to start with you. I sat next to you watching this movie, so I have some sense of what you thought. Where did you come down on Running Man?

• 2:43Speaker 02

  So I only recently watched the original Running Man a few weeks ago, just to get ready for this coming out. I think that this is better than the original Running Man. I did not read the book, and I imagine if it stays closer to the book, this certainly makes me interested in the book as someone who has enjoyed Stephen King in the past. I also think this movie has a perspective that fits better for 2025, meaning that walking into this in a theater right now, when I walk out, I'm going to be thinking about where we are now as a society and how this film fits into that vision of society, which is important because a lot of books and movies that were written in the 70s and 80s had a vision of the future that is attached to a future that may or may not have happened,

• 3:27Speaker 02

  but this one feels a little bit more accurate. With that being said, most of the social justice things, most of the revolutionary aspects of this movie feel fumbled to me in a very specific way, and the more that I think about them, the more they make me not really want to watch the film again. But I think it's a fine movie for just going in and watching a movie, if that makes sense.

• 3:49Linda Holmes?

  It does. I get that. All right, Rihanna, what did you think?

• 3:51Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm inclined to agree. I think if you've seen the original, this version is a marked improvement. I'll start with the good. I loved everything about like the actual chase of the game. I love the gameplay. There's also some really captivating sequences in here. There were parts of the movie where I was on the edge of my seat. I adored nearly all of the side characters. Shout out Coleman Domingo. And I thought the world building was really spectacular, honestly. I like little details in there, like fun twink cereal. The various dystopian television shows, like the hamster wheel trivia competition, fake Kardashians. Like, those are shows that I think could actually exist in a world of Beast Games, you know, that we have in 2025.

• 4:33Speaker 02

  Yes. Squid Game, The Challenge, yes.

• 4:36Speaker 03

  Yeah, exactly. I think there's two things here that I had issue with that cast a shadow over the movie overall for me. One of which is like the ham-fisted social justice messaging. I think that really bogs down the film, especially in the latter half. And then second, this might be controversial, but I think Glenn Powell shouldn't have been cast, frankly. I think he's a little too damn charming to sell the anger that the script needs, and particularly the anger that Ben Richards needs. When he's not doing the like action star chase thing, he kind of loses me on the more sentimental scenes. So I come very in the middle of the road on this movie, you know?

• 5:17Speaker 02

  That's fair.

• 5:18Linda Holmes?

  Yeah, I think I liked this significantly better than both of you did. I ultimately enjoyed this. And I do come from a place of having read not just this book, but a lot of early Stephen King slash Richard Bachman. And really valuing in some ways the kind of grimier attitude toward the world that he sometimes has. And this is a really, really bleak book. And as bleak as this movie is in places, it's not as bleak as a book. And I think one thing that happened in the Schwarzenegger movie is that they really shifted it away from that kind of bleak outlook to much more of a kind of shiny, bright lights, game show kind of atmosphere.

• 6:00Linda Holmes?

  Whereas the book is much more about this effort to not get murdered just out in the world on the streets. But I think I was probably glad enough to see that they were following the threads of the story that I do think are interesting more closely. Some of the weaknesses in it probably didn't bother me as much. I do think that there is something here to the way that this guy is so desperate. And nobody has money and nobody has access to money and nobody has jobs. That he winds up volunteering to do this. I'm glad to see that theme coming back. For me, Glenn Powell, I like that kid.

• 6:42Linda Holmes?

  I will say, like, I don't know whether he's exactly the right person for this, but I I bought him angry. I think the moments when he's supposed to be the most angry, I believed he was angry. I think his general kind of affability and his sort of slickness helps to bring a little bit of leavening to kind of the middle parts of the movie where he's in disguise and stuff like that, you know, helped to kind of bring a tonal balance to it, as did the appearance of Michael Cera, which I really enjoyed, the sequence of Michael Cera.

• 7:12Speaker 00

  Yeah.

• 7:13Linda Holmes?

  That is much more an Edgar Wright invention than anything from the book, which is not surprising. I mean, I think if you see the movie, you'll be like, I bet Edgar Wright is responsible for that whole Michael Cera business. I kind of want to hear more from you guys about the stuff that you felt was kind of ham-fisted and not effective. Is it the anti-capitalist stuff?

• 7:32Speaker 02

  I think that if you're going to make a film like this and you're going to be anti-capitalist, especially when you know that capitalism is the bad guy in this film.

• 7:41Linda Holmes?

  Yeah.

• 7:42Speaker 02

  When you know that, you can't stop short of naming it and turning everyone towards that being the bad guy. I felt like the ending, in a lot of ways, was a cop-out to that regard. I expected to see more of an awakening, I would say, that I didn't necessarily get. And it was kind of the same issue that I had with Good Fortune, where I think, like, we have a good movie up until a point, but then we don't really talk about collaboration, which I think also gets kind of sidesteps in movies like this. Because if you watch this movie again, he really didn't accomplish anything as an individual. Everything he accomplished was with help from someone else. Yet, it still posits that as an individual, he will spark the revolution.

• 8:25Speaker 02

  And as an individual, he has one singular focus of getting back to his own family. But the movie doesn't really grapple with the idea of individual and meritocracy and what that means versus what happens when we worked in collective action. And they had an opportunity to do it. Here and they just didn't do it, which to me says, then maybe you shouldn't be making movies like this. And again, this is criticism of the ideas that are written in this movie more than it is of the execution of the movie. Which again, everything y'all said that's good about the movie, I think works. But when I think about anger and I think about Glenn Powell, the affability and the likability makes it harder to sell everything that I'm saying that this movie should be selling.

• 9:06Speaker 03

  Right.

• 9:06Speaker 02

  I would have liked someone to be a little bit angrier in this.

• 9:09Speaker 03

  I agree. I mean, I, I think that is part of why the messaging didn't really land for me because I don't trust it coming from Glenn Powell. Michael Sarah is this revolutionary character in the movie. We see that, you know, in the trailer. He gives this performance that I do believe that he's like actually embodying the messages that he's putting out there in the world. But maybe because that feels so authentic and it feels so real, you know, he makes zines, right? Like his dissemination of information comes from a zine, which I think is very funny, but also very true. And, and I do think another aspect of it is perhaps that like this year from a lot of like big budget directors.

• 9:50Speaker 03

  We've seen the same messages played out, you know, I'm thinking of one battle after another and that I think.

• 9:56Speaker 02

  The long walk.

• 9:57Speaker 03

  Exactly. The long walk. Does these messages so effectively? These pro revolutionary messages are put forward through the film in such an effective and moving fashion. That I think anything else I watched this year that has the same tone is not going to land as well. And I think when I was watching The Running Man, I was like, okay, like we're gesturing at something worthwhile here in what you're trying to say. And granted, it's like, you know, focusing on the news and the media and propaganda and things like that. And I think they make some good points, but I, I think they just stopped short of fully. Realizing the ideas that they set out to establish.

• 10:39Speaker 02

  I think a perfect encapsulation of this is the fat person running on a hamster rail game.

• 10:45Speaker 03

  That was my favorite part of the movie. I was like, I feel like I've seen that before. You know, it's so real.

• 10:51Speaker 02

  Well, it's in Black Mirror. It's in that episode where you have this disdain towards fat people specifically. And I remember watching it here outside of it happening and us knowing that something like this could probably happen. I'm looking at you, the biggest loser celebrity fit club. We know that stuff like this has happened, but they kind of point to it and say, wow, that's wild. And then it's never kind of like addressed specifically again, like fat phobia is not really addressed. And then I think race is kind of absent from the film in a significant way, meaning that there are black people. But I want to know what they think about being black in this universe. And so I feel like if you present an idea, point at it and say, man, this is kind of wild.

• 11:35Speaker 02

  But then you don't actually grapple with it more or have a point there. It, to me, it ends up landing kind of like Civil War where they're just like, Civil War would be crazy if it happened in this country, right? But then you don't actually like talk about the sides or what that means or what's actually at cost here. And I think that's where I, I kind of struggle the most here.

• 11:54Linda Holmes?

  Yeah, I, I think in some ways the ending that both of you are advocating for is the ending of the book. Which has a really different.

• 12:02Speaker 02

  When you told me it, Lynda, yes, I agree with you.

• 12:04Linda Holmes?

  It has a really different relationship between kind of the gravity of the circumstances. It's a very weird comparison, but it tends to happen both in Stephen King books and with John Grisham books. Is that when they get adapted for film and television, those are both writers who often write about some kind of sacrifice to do the right thing. And very often what happens is whatever's going to happen to the person that's bad gets softened for the film. Because what people expect from a film ending is something a little bit neater. The endings are a little harder in the books than they are in what you tend to get out of a film adaptation.

• 12:48Linda Holmes?

  Especially in this one, I think there was definitely, I think, a moment of truth about, are we going to do this ending? Or aren't we going to do this ending?

• 12:57Speaker 03

  Yeah.

• 12:57Linda Holmes?

  Probably for me, as somebody who processes the whole story through the lens of knowing that. Ending and like being familiar with it. It's almost like even if it doesn't happen, my brain fills it in. Do you know what I mean? And sort of still processes that as part of the story. If there's a certain like hollowness to the narrative that they're trying to put together. I'm probably still like reading in some of my understanding of the original story.

• 13:26Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 13:26Linda Holmes?

  For me, I'm wondering if that accounts for my relatively soft touch about the fact that ultimately you're never going to get a truly anti-capitalist film made in this system at this scale. I think that's probably true.

• 13:43Speaker 02

  The only thing I'd say is then don't pantomime it. You know, it feels like they're like, they're like pointing to something and saying. And to be clear, again, just as a regular movie walking in, in the fall, it's November, it's cold, you want to go inside, be warm and enjoy a movie. You will enjoy this movie.

• 14:02Linda Holmes?

  Yeah, I think Rihanna got it right in their take that like the movie is really fun as a chase movie. And I do want to say I firmly agree. There's like a chase and a kind of a flop house.

• 14:14Speaker 02

  Yeah.

• 14:15Linda Holmes?

  That I thought was super fun. The sort of final sequence, which and they show this in the trailer, but the final sequence, which involves a plane is I think really fun and well done. And there are some of those, like when you've seen the way Edgar Wright manipulates like action sequences, there are a few action sequences where I just thought this is just him having so much fun with how he likes to shoot chasing and, and action and jumping and running. And I do think that what I most wanted, not in the philosophical stuff, but just as a movie experience, listen, it's the running man. Let's have him like run a lot, you know? Like let's hit the gas, let's not pause for a lot of slow stuff in the middle. I thought they did a pretty good job of that.

• 14:58Linda Holmes?

  It's a better like action hang than it is a sociological statement.

• 15:02Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I, I think like what it really comes down to is a corniness problem. I think the first half of the movie, you know, it's establishing the stakes, it's establishing the gameplay and I was locked in, you know? And I think the second half, for me, it begins to drag when you introduce all of this messaging, you know? And I, I think it's inherent to the story. You have to address it at some point. But at the end of the movie, I was kind of just like sitting there and I was like, It feels like a deflated balloon, but at the end, I was like, okay, like, I, I feel kind of let down by the inevitable endpoint of what they're trying to set up. And I know the ending of the book, and I think that would have been a much better way to end, as we've been talking about, and kind of tie up all these knots.

• 15:47Speaker 03

  But there were a lot of points in this movie where I was sitting there and I looked at my partner and I was like, damn, that's kind of corny, huh?

• 15:53Linda Holmes?

  Well, it's interesting to me, too, because I agree that the movie drags in the last third. The reason I think it drags in the last third is not the messaging. The reason I think it drags in the last third is that I also think the book drags at exactly the same point, which is where he picks up this woman.

• 16:11Speaker 03

  Yes.

• 16:11Linda Holmes?

  And starts like, kind of toting her around. She's played here by Amelia Jones, who was in Coda, an actress that I like. She sort of becomes somebody who's kind of involuntarily taken along with him as he's running. And I thought the same thing in the book. I was like, this character's boring. They don't know what they're doing with this character. This is the part that I would have just lost the whole thing. I don't think you need it. I would love to know what the original script looked like, because I think the structure of how she's introduced, the feel of the first couple of scenes with her, feel like a lot is missing. Yes. And because sort of all of a sudden, they're having these very candid conversations. And I'm like, what is happening? You know, when you're moving from these characters who are played by, there's Coleman Domingo,

• 16:56Linda Holmes?

  he's fun. There's William H. Macy, he's fun. There's Michael Sarah, he's fun. And then you get this woman and she's kind of a wet noodle and it's... Kind of a drag. Yeah. She has a function, but I think that's my weak point in the script. I think it appears corny because it's forced, because they don't support it with other stuff that I suspect was supposed to be in there.

• 17:17Speaker 03

  I see.

• 17:17Linda Holmes?

  And if you take out the foundation of, of a relationship like that, and you just keep in the emotional moments, then the emotional moments feel forced and they're much more likely to feel corny. So yeah, I think that character didn't like her in the book, didn't like her in the movie. No redemption.

• 17:33Speaker 02

  I think she's supposed to be a foil for moderate thinking. I think so. But again,

• 17:37Linda Holmes?

  I don't know.

• 17:38Speaker 02

  It wasn't overt enough for me to say that because there's several times in this film where you're like, this could mean this, this could mean this. But if you're not writing it with intention to mean that, then it could come off messy and looking half-baked in a lot of ways.

• 17:51Linda Holmes?

  Yeah, I definitely think, you know, you guys have made some, some good points about some reservations that you have. Also, I think we all think that it's often a good time. So, you know, a mixed bag. Tell us what you think about The Running Man. Find us on Facebook at facebook.com/PCHH and on Letterboxd at letterboxd.com/NPRPopCulture. We'll have a link in our episode description. Up next, what's making us happy this week?

• 18:16Speaker 00

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• 19:30Linda Holmes?

  Now it's time for our favorite segment of this week and every week. What's making us happy this week? Ronald Young Jr., what is making you happy this week?

• 19:37Speaker 02

  There is a show on Netflix called Physical 100.

• 19:42Linda Holmes?

  I love Physical 100. On theme, really on theme today.

• 19:49Speaker 02

  Yes.

• 19:49Linda Holmes?

  I love Physical 100.

• 19:52Speaker 02

  I've watched two seasons of that show and I was so excited. And all of a sudden, I'm just randomly clicking around Netflix and I see a show called Physical Asia. And I remember looking at it and being like, now I know this ain't what I think it is. And I opened it and sure enough, because the first two seasons were all Korean focused of Korean athletes with a smattering of other nationalities in there. Whereas this one is straight up the Olympics for physical, the game. For those who don't know physical, it's about a bunch of different athletes with all different body types coming together. They're faced with all these different challenges. There's some reality show gameplay. But what makes this very interesting is that there, again, there's eight different teams and they've all optimized their team for the country.

• 20:34Speaker 02

  So there is a Korean team, there's a Japanese team, there's a Mongolian team, there's a Thailand team. All of them there going against each other. I love the series, the first two seasons. I think sometimes they're a little over dramatic and the editing can stretch things that don't need to be stretched.

• 20:51Speaker 02

  But overall, this is an easy show to watch. Thank me later. Physical Asia, which is now available on Netflix, but also the first two seasons of Physical 100.

• 21:01Linda Holmes?

  Love it. Love that show. Love the fact that they put in all kinds of different challenges. You gotta be lit, you gotta be, sometimes you gotta be big, sometimes you gotta be flexible, sometimes you gotta have balance. I love, I love that show. What a great pick. Thank you very much, Ronald.

• 21:16Speaker 02

  Yes, no problem.

• 21:17Linda Holmes?

  All right. Rihanna Cruz, what is making you happy this week?

• 21:21Speaker 03

  All right, so it's end of the year list season in music land. And I've been thinking and pondering about the records that have sat well with me this year. And I think the number one grower on me this year, it might be Sacrilege, you know, I live in Los Angeles. But it's the Drake Party Next Door record, Some Sexy Songs For You.

• 21:43Speaker 02

  How dare you?

• 21:44Speaker 03

  I know, I know. It's, it's, it's an interesting pick. It's 21 songs, it's an hour 13 minutes. There's songs on this record, I'm thinking like CN Tower, I'm thinking Something About You. They have melodies and lines that kind of burrow their way into your brain. I didn't expect to like it so much, but now I'm at a point where I'm like, this might be one of my favorite records of the year. And I, I find it quite surprising. You know, it's like my taste surprises me sometimes.

• 22:10Linda Holmes?

  You know what, Rihanna? We talk about everyday bravery.

• 22:17Linda Holmes?

  This is the most courageous thing I've ever heard anyone do on this show.

• 22:21Speaker 03

  Yeah, I, I know.

• 22:23Linda Holmes?

  You're standing for Drake. I hate it, but I respect it.

• 22:25Speaker 03

  I hate to say it. I, I really like, this is out of line with my character. But I do want to say that like Broken Clock is right twice a day.

• 22:35Linda Holmes?

  Twice a day.

• 22:36Speaker 03

  Some Sexy Songs For You is one of those times. I gotta tell you, you, you must check it out. There's some funny songs on here, but there's also some of the best melodies that I have heard this entire 2025.

• 22:49Linda Holmes?

  I support it. Absolutely love it. I love this for you. Thank you very much, Rihanna.

• 22:54Speaker 03

  You're welcome.

• 22:55Linda Holmes?

  All right. So what is making me happy this week? A friend of mine recommended to me a podcast called The Wedding Scammer. Where the story starts is that the host talks about the fact that in 2016, he was hired for like, it was the age of like awkwardly named news startups, gonna be sort of like the Huffington Post. And it was started by this guy who was, you know, talked about becoming from a coal baron family. And so he was incredibly wealthy and he hired people, including this host, who's a journalist, and hired all these people. And it became clear that there was no money and they were never going to get paid. And they never got paid and it was a complete scam and he disappeared.

• 23:38Linda Holmes?

  But later they discover that he's put together a whole new thing, which is that he's running like a catering company. He's working on weddings and it turns out that he's scamming a bunch of people out of their wedding money. So this is when he becomes the wedding scammer. What I loved about this show, what I find fascinating about it is it is the most interesting example of like what happens when you are really trying to make a scammer story more than it is. You know, it's all shades of gray. Like, I don't know if this guy is really a bad guy. And like, even after being scammed by him, this host is still trying to figure out how maybe he's just like a very interesting person.

• 24:20Linda Holmes?

  And this podcast, the original run of episodes is a couple of years old, but there was a recent update that I, as a person who listened to that show with that in mind, found immensely satisfying. And I'm not saying this to like be mean to the dude because the dude got scammed and I feel bad for him and bad for everybody. Obviously, all the journalists, he got scammed. But like, I gotta tell you, sometimes a scammer is not a fascinating person. Sometimes a scammer is just a crook. And the whole journey is so satisfying. So again, it's called The Wedding Scammer. I absolutely recommend it. It was what made me happy this week. I listened to it on a road trip, absolutely appreciated its company so very, very much that it is indeed what is making me happy this week. If you want

• 25:05Linda Holmes?

  links for what we recommended, plus some more recommendations, sign up for our newsletter. It's at npr.org/popculturenewsletter. And that brings us to the end of our show. Ronald Young Jr., Rihanna Cruz, thank you so much for being here.

• 25:18Speaker 02

  Thanks for having me. Thanks for having us. Thanks for having us.

• 25:20Linda Holmes?

  This episode...

• 25:24Linda Holmes?

  Yeah, I mean, listen, if you want to just be glad I had you, you know, buddy, what are you gonna do anyway?

• 25:30Speaker 02

  Rihanna made me look bad.

• 25:31Linda Holmes?

  No, not at all. Not at all.

• 25:35Linda Holmes?

  This episode is produced by Liz Metzger, Carly Rubin, and Mike Katsev, and it was edited by our showrunner, Jessica Reedy. Hello, Come In provides our theme music. Thank you for listening to Pop Culture Happy Hour from NPR. I'm Linda Holmes, and we'll see you all next week.

• 25:52Speaker 00

  Stay tuned for the following announcements and messages from our sponsors.