The Walk

In 1974, the French street juggler and equilibrist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) decides to cross the towers of the World Trade Center walking on a tightrope. He travels from France to the USA with his girlfriend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and their friend and photographer Jean-Louis (Clément Sibony). They team-up with a small group of residents and plot a scheme to take their equipment to the roof of the building. Will Philippe make his dream come true?

"The Walk" is a highly entertaining adventure based on a true story. The performances are great but the special effect of the crossing of Philippe is amazing. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "A Travessia" ("The Crossing")

What did you expect from the director of Back to the Future and Forrest Gump? Robert Zameckis has another thoroughly enjoyable film, The Walk, about Philippe Petit's (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) high-wire walk between the World trade Center's twin towers in 1974. It's as romantic as Gump and addictive as Future with the added interest of a biopic that is true to its history.

From the first moment we meet Petit talking to us from the top of the Statue of Liberty, and this story is about freedom if nothing else, we know we are in the presence of a man who has followed his dream and achieved it. To co-writers Zameckis and Christopher Browne must go praise for giving the Frenchmen poetic English in small doses, just enough to elevate the proceedings from nuts and bolts to heady ambition.

Those 15 minutes on the wire are as suspenseful as possible—a mark of the true auteur, who can make us worry for our hero even though we know he will survive (he does narrate after all, and some audience will remember Man on a Wire, the excellent doc from 2008). Because Zameckis knows his special effects, I was mesmerized by the shots from atop the towers to the street below. Although I don't like heights anyway, I had to look down every time in wonder at the scope of the danger to Petit.

While the Walk is about this extraordinary man, it is also a romantic eulogy to the towers, which arguably became favorites of New Yorkers after Petit's stunt. The "forever" pass to the top of the towers he receives as a reward from the city is painfully ironic considering 9/11. Because his feat was once in a lifetime, perhaps the passing of the towers reminds us that nothing lasts "forever."

The Walk (2015)

*** (out of 4)

The incredible true story of high-wire walker Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who got to live his dream of crossing the Twin Towers in 1974.

THE WALK was first brought to the screen in the Oscar-winning documentary MAN ON WIRE but obviously director Robert Zemeckis saw something in the story that made him want to turn it into a feature. THE WALK was released to Luke warm reviews and it ended up dying a rather painful death at the box office but I'm going to guess that it won't be forgotten but instead fine a good cult audience somewhere down the road.

The story itself is something of complete wonder and there's no question that the documentary did a much better job at telling it. With that said, even thought the documentary is the better of the two films, this feature still offers up some impressive visuals and performances that makes it worth seeing. I didn't get to see the film in 3D so I can't comment on that but I thought Zemeckis did a wonderful job at making the viewer see and feel how high up Petit was.

The scenes certainly have a very claustrophobic feel to them and you can't help but panic yourself just wondering what you would do in a situation like that. Just reading or hearing about the story will make you wonder how a human could do it but this film gives you a great feel and idea of the terror that it would cause in most people. Gordon-Levitt gives a very good performance in the role of Petit and I especially liked how the movie didn't back down from him at times not being so likable. I thought the actor did a remarkable job getting into the role and you had no problem believing that he was the real guy.

THE WALK does contain some flaws and that includes it running on a bit too much. Everyone going into the movie knows the story so there's a rush to get to the actual walk in the movie. I thought the early stuff dragged on a bit too much and I think some editing probably would have helped things. However, once we actually get to the walk itself there's no question that the magic takes over and that alone makes the film worth sitting through.

This movie surely exceeded my expectations, let me start by saying this is one of the best well-made movies I have seen this year. The technique, cinematography, music, ... are all top notch. Most of us already know the story, and some of us saw other movies about the same man, but this one definitely has the highest production values. What I like most about "The Walk" is what I think differentiates it from the other movies, you feel the importance and grandeur of the twin towers, for a moment there you feel they are the stars of the movie, an integral part of the story that Robert Zemeckis did a great job capturing their character and presence. I felt this movie was more of a tribute to the towers than of Philip's, it sheds a different light on the walk that will give you a warm feeling by the end. You realize that they weren't just any two buildings, they attracted a young man from across the Atlantic and changed his life forever.

To learn about and understand the life of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who illegally performed a high-wire walk between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1974, one might be better off with the 2008 James Marsh-directed documentary "Man on Wire". However, "The Walk" is a worthy experience about a dreamer who risked everything to achieve the impossible, and gave the people something beautiful, pure and hopeful.

The film is interspersed with scenes of Phillippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) talking directly to the audience, narrating his life story and the events that led up to his high-wire stunt, or as he calls it – "le coup". This certainly takes away the potential emotional and cinematic impact longer, narration-free scenes would've had on audiences but it served the purpose of moving the story forward swiftly. The first half feels crammed even though it is pretty much by-the-books: we skim through Petit's life leading up to the event without going in-depth. Which is understandable for a reasonable running time as there is a lot of ground to cover.

The unbearably intense second half surely makes up for this. It's taut with thrills and sequences boasting miraculous visual effects. The 30-minute finale is a immersive, transporting and even physical (as evidenced by my sweaty palms) experience that's one-of-a-kind. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there's no point watching the film anywhere else other than at a cinema.

Levitt's passionate performance is commendable and definitely contributes to a sufficiently emotionally satisfying third act. The film also makes it clear that this wasn't a one-man-show by highlighting Petit and his allies' team spirit. With "The Walk", Robert Zemeckis has given us another crowd-pleasing piece of popcorn entertainment.