THE WALK (6.5/10) Directed by Robert Zemeckis; Written by Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne; Based on the book “To Reach the Clouds” by Philippe Petit; Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Schwartz, Steve Valentine, Clément Sibony, César Domboy and James Badge Dale; Rated PG for thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking.; Running time 123 minutes; In IMAX release September 30 and wide release October 9.
Some movies exist to give audiences a great thrill ride or moment that will stick with them forever. They might not be the most well made or have issues that keep them from being more than just a sum of their parts, but that one part stands out and takes everyone’s breath away. “The Walk” is just such a film. It suffers from being overly cheesy and relying solely on the gimmick of the final act, but when that final moment hits the screen, it’s something that will be seared into memory for time to come.
“The Walk” tells the true story of Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a high-wire artist, who comes to America in the 70s to set up his wire and cross the World Trade Center. It follows his growing up in France where he becomes obsessed with walking tightropes and tries to enlist the help of Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) who runs a local circus production that features such acrobatics. After eventually convincing him of what he wants to attempt in America, Papa Rudy takes him under his wing. As he studies how to walk the wire at such a height, Petit also puts together a rag-tag team of misfits and friends (including Charlotte Le Bon, Clément Sibony and César Domboy) to help him acquire the necessary supplies and access he will need to reach the top of the Towers without being arrested. The fateful day arrives, and Petit and crew barely finish their setup before the authorities show up. With nowhere to go but out, he takes a fateful step onto the wire and into the history books.
As odd as it seems, “The Walk” plays out like a heist movie – gathering the necessary gear, putting together the perfect team, planning the operation and sneaking in under the nose of authority – and it’s really fun while it’s doing that. That said it would have been more interesting had the side characters not been relegated to mere placeholders in Petit’s grand plan. Charlotte Le Bon as Annie does play a double role as his kind-of love interest, but even she gets cast aside in the pursuit of his dream and glory. This is his stage, he is the main character, and narrator, and no one but him will get to take the spotlight.
Thankfully, Joseph Gordon-Levitt excels in the role and absolutely owns every moment he’s on screen. While some may question his odd accent, he nails the speech and quirks of the real Philippe perfectly. He also trained with Petit himself and learned how to actually walk the wire by himself which allowed him to do a lot of his own work in the film.
Not to be outdone, Ben Kingsley steals every scene he’s in as Papa Rudy. While he doesn’t quite lose himself into character the way Gordon-Levitt does – I never forgot that was Ben Kingsley on screen – it’s still easy to tell this is a master at work.
If only they had been more judicious with the constant voiceovers and flashbacks to Petit narrating the story while standing on the Statue of Liberty framed by the Twin Towers. It’s almost like the writers feared that the audience wouldn’t be feeling the correct emotion at the proper time and had to spoon feed us in order to evoke the intended response. As said before, writers need to stop underestimating moviegoers and give them enough credit to follow along.
Or worse yet, perhaps Zemeckis was trying to echo the feel of “Man on Wire” the actual documentary that chronicled the events in this film. Whatever the reason, it’s an odd choice and a constant distraction. Keeping them as separate entities would have been a wiser option.
As annoying and cheesy as the setup can be, the payoff is what everyone bought a ticket for, and it is mind-blowing. Seeing this movie in IMAX 3D cannot be stressed enough, as it’s dizzying being able to look hundreds of meters down to the ground as Petit crosses the wire. Even people who generally don’t have a problem with movies filmed at great heights have been reported to literally throw up during these scenes. Needless to say, anyone afraid of heights need not apply, but whoever wants to get a notion of what it must feel like to defy death above the clouds will love this.
Much like “Everest”, “The Walk” is all spectacle and little substance. While it’s a grand adventure that will get the adrenaline going, it’s hard not to feel a little underwhelmed days later. It’s fun, it’s fluff and it will get hearts racing, but there’s little reason to go back and ride it again.
