“In 2025, the best men do not run for President. They run for their lives.”

So goes the tagline for Stephen King ... errrr ... Richard Bachman’s 1982 novel “The Running Man,” now adapted by British filmmaker Edgar Wright. It came out last week to middling reviews and low interest from audiences. Regrettable given Wright remains a favorite contemporary director of mine and the subject seems in line with the excellent modern dystopian epics from 2025 thus far. From “Eddington” to “One Battle After Another” to the OTHER Bachman adaptation “The Long Walk,” moviemakers are finally giving audiences bold artistic takes on the current state of the world.

What went wrong with “The Running Man,” which is clearly a film for the time? Well, let’s get into the plot. The year is never said in the film

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