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")

THE WALK (2015) **** Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony, Cesar Domboy, Steve Valentine, James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, Benedict Samuel. Filmmaker Robert Zemeckis'epic take on the incredible true account of French artiste Philippe Petit's astounding coup : walking a tightrope across the cavernous World Trade Center Towers in 1974. Told with brio and a caffeinated turn by Gordon-Levitt as Petit (spot on) whose vision and at-times obnoxious confidence is only superseded by the event itself: extraordinary to say the least. The amazing visual effects employed to recreate the Towers and the grande event unfolding is dizzyingly jaw-dropping and a truly beautiful, spiritual triumph. One of the year's best films and a great companion piece to Petit's earlier Oscar-winning documentary "Man On Wire". A must to see in IMAX 3-D!

The walk centers around the famous story of Philippe Petit, a french high wire artist who walked between the New York towers of the World Trade Center. The Walk is presented in a way where the vast majority of the movie is a patient build up to the final stunt. Zemeckis knows that this is what most viewers would come for and carefully prolongs the suspense, with an attempt to knock us down during the glorious finale. As a result, parts of the movie seem simply unnecessary. Too much time is devoted to meticulously showing the preparations, arguments and weird psychological tensions between the characters; and too little time is devoted to exploring who Philippe Petit really is and what drives and motivates him. Zemeckis painted Philippe in an overly simplistic way, underplaying the mysterious and human aspects of the character, that come of so well in the original documentary. The walk is 120 minutes long and it is narrated throughout, which hugely distracts from being able to fully embrace and enjoy the actual experience. Not only is Philippe narrating, but the camera constantly switches to show him talking, whilst sitting on the top of the Statue of Liberty. The underlying story in it's nature is so beautiful, inspiring and surreal that it should not require any guidance. This is something one has to simply see, analyze and drive conclusions from. Admittedly, the 'Art Stunt of The Century' was the actual walk between the towers and Zemeckis conveys that part masterfully. The extremely emotional, vertigo- induced, multi-angled final scene will leave your jaw opened and your palms sweaty. Nevertheless this story should not require a climax, suspenseful finale, but rather simple, continuous observation and exploration, to really give the viewer time to sync the scale in. Much like Zemeckis did with Cast Away. Philippe Petit and his adventures on the high wire, to this day, has been one of the most memorable stories and characters I have ever encountered. Philippe's story includes everything - his start in the circus, The walk between the Notre Dame, the Sydney Harbour bridge, the Towers, as well as who Philippe really is, a question that would be more interesting to answer then 'What did it take to do it'? The walk is a beautifully shot and very well acted film, that does an exceptional job in documenting the struggles of Philippe's final journey as well as righteously glorifying the act. At the same time however The Walk fails to truly explore the gripping story and character of Philippe Petit.

I struggled between 6 and 7 for the score here because "The Walk" isn't much for set-up, the character-development overall is weak, and the love story inept, but the last 45 minutes is edge of your seat stuff that looks great. Not sure if this is gonna fall in my top-25 for 2015 list now, but I'm sure it wouldn't stay there either way so I may just go ahead and throw it on the just-missed list. Joseph Gordon-Levitt is great here. A few minor breaks in his accent, but overall it's great. The supporting cast is basically a bunch of no-names with the exception of Ben Kingsley, and to tell you the truth, he too is a bit under-utilized here. Basically the whole film falls short, but is completely made-up-for by finale'. THe documentary "Man on WIre" is a much better film overall. This is a 6.5, and Man on Wire is about an 8.5. It's grand looking and Levitt's charm and that look give this otherwise average film a passing grade. Check it out. THe bigger the screen the better. Hope it helps.