THE WALK – The Review

Courtesy of Sony Pictures © 2015 CTMG, Inc. All Rights Reserved

By Cate Marquis

In 1974, a high-wire walker strung a line between the twin towers of the newly-built World Trade Center and the walked to distance between the 110 story buildings. More than once.

THE WALK portrays the dramatic, audacious and illegal one-time event when a young French street performer named Philippe Petit walked between the World Trade Towers at dawn. This story has been told in the excellent documentary “Man on Wire,” with Petit recalling his amazing stunt and with the film showing recreations of his preparations for his remarkable stunt. THE WALK covers generally the same story as the documentary, of how Petit became obsessed with the World Trade Center towers and how he worked out how to do this inconceivable stunt, but THE WALK increases the dramatic effect by immersing us in the story by presenting it in amazing 3D images.

This is the kind of story that 3D films were born to tell. THE WALK is creative, imaginative, and gripping, but the 3D effects take us out on the wire with Petit, with mind-blowing results.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays high-wire walker Philippe Petit, who became obsessed with the idea of walking between the twin towers upon seeing an photo in an article promoting the new buildings. At the time, Petit had just wire-walked between the two towers of the Notre Dame cathedral in Paris. Robert Zemeckis directs this thrilling film which also stars Ben Kingsley as Petit’s mentor, and Charlotte Le Bon and James Badge Dale as his accomplices.

Gordon-Levitt does an outstanding job as Petit, by turns charming and outrageous, a man of relentless confidence and determination. In reoccurring segments, the Frenchman narrates his story, as the real Petit does in the award-winning documentary, but with a twist – he does so from the torch on the Statue of Liberty. The location is visually appealing but also appropriate – a high perch on an iconic New York landmark, one that was a gift from France to the U.S. That clever touch is typical of this wonderfully entertaining thriller, and the director’s skillful use of 3D to enhance his storytelling.

All the performances are good, but Gordon-Levitt and Ben Kingsley, as Petit’s mentor Papa Rudy, a member of a legendary family of circus high-wire performers, are particular stand-outs. Petit prefers street performance to circuses but works with Papa Rudy to learn the rigging and other secrets of the world’s best high-wire acts. Petit and Papa Rudy are both strong willed, stubborn, big personalities, and inevitably sparks fly. In fact, Petit’s combination of equal parts charm and unreasoning obsession draw people to him and also make working with him a challenging proposition. Petit has exacting standards, a bracing fearlessness and an unshakeable determination.

As the film’s notes point out, 12 people have walked on the Moon but Petit is the only one to walk between the WTC towers. The film notes that New Yorkers were ambiguous about the new towers at the time they were built in the 1970s, with many feeling they were too big. Petit’s stunt helped endear the towers to New Yorkers and also cement their place as iconic elements of the city. The documentary featured the real Petit commenting on his emotional reaction to the twin towers’ fate in 9/11 but THE WALK stays in the 1970s time period, leaving this unspoken.

With breathtaking 3D images, Zemeckis’ skillful direction and a strong performance by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, THE WALK is a big-screen real-life thriller you don’t want to miss.

THE WALK opens in IMAX 3D and large format screens on Sept. 30 and everywhere October 8.

OVERALL RATING: 4 1/2 OUT OF 5 STARS