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.
Advertisement
In “The Walk”, the climactic stroll of the title gets so much visual competition en route, that its impact is muffled. Zemeckis is a master at creating cinematic experiences, and much like the plane crash in Flight, the director uses all of his skills to put the audience on a high-wire 1,700 feet in the air, delivering a thrilling, astounding experience.
From the very beginning, the film builds and builds in anticipation and sets up the final 17 heart-stopping minutes.
Of course, depending on how you feel about heights, that may be a good thing. Gordon-Levitt, an actor capable of tremendous brooding subtlety in films like Brick and Mysterious Skin is fully extroverted here, almost acting as if he’s hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. He’s resplendent in a goofy wig, jarring blue contact lenses, and a heroically silly French accent (a fluent French speaker, he sounds great when speaking the language, but far less so in English). And yes, the streak of sentimentality that runs through his films is found here as well, but it’s easy to get beyond that, because the movie is just handsome to behold, and the run-up to the walk itself plays out like a caper. Paris is photographed in chintzy black and white, as if viewers were watching newsreel of the Bohemian turn of the century, and it’s a wonder every character isn’t costumed in berets, striped shirts, and rings of garlic, so unsubtle is the rest of the imagery.
During a dentist appointment, Petit sees an article in a magazine that talks about the construction of The World Trade Center in New York City.
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 actual walk is a gripping sequence that continues to ramp up the tension as Philippe gets bolder and bolder on his wire. The problem with his plan is that it requires them to illegally trespass, necessitating all sorts of disguises, accomplices, dodges and surveillance work. To embellish this, Zemeckis shows just what his camera can do combined with state-of-the-art CGI, sweeping up and down the 115 stories of the World Trade Center easily and showing off the surrounding views, rendered in immaculate period detail.
With The Walk, he is up to his old tricks and once again raises the bar for what can be done on a movie screen. 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 wonderful 3D images.
“The Walk” is the grossly understated title of director Robert Zemeckis’ thriller of a re-enactment.
Advertisement
Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s moment is lasting a really long time.
