Gordon-Levitt stars as Petit, the determined French wire walker-juggler-street performer who conquered the towers by walking on the air between them. While they case the towers in New York, Petit’s circus mentor, played by Ben Kingsley, wonders back home if his prize pupil will ever meet his ambitions. “The Walk” is a fun ride – both comical and suspenseful.
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Below are some of the highlights of the press conference.
It’s all prelude, of course, to the titular walk itself, and it’s obvious that’s the part of the story that got Zemeckis interested in the first place.
And I thought that sounded ambitious, but he’s such a positive thinker, he believed that I would.
Having a tough time buying Gordon-Levitt as a Frenchman in the film’s promotional campaign? He’s a master at it. A single of the items you notice very first is, as sensitive as he is with camera work, as visually motivated as he is, he generally prioritizes efficiency, and preserving a sincerity from the characters. An occupation, an art form…. What’s fascinating about “The Walk” is that the 3-D puts you out on a limb with Petit while it also reassures you that this is just a movie, or an act, or a performance. And with the screen filling my peripheral vision and the depth of the image pulling me in, I realized I was having the kind of exhilarating experience that can only be had at the movies. “He’s an excellent wire walker, as well”.
Much like “Flight“, that used classic rock to dubious effect, music isn’t really Zemeckis’ forte (he has the musical taste, it’s the execution that’s lacking). He is an illusionist on a level that David Copperfield can only dream of, and he can accomplish real magic from time to time. It’s his best film in decades, and you should run, not walk, to the biggest theater possible and see it for yourself. But the majority was digital.
Joseph – who learnt how to wire-walk for his latest on-screen role – said: “There are some similarities between wire-walking and acting”. Once preparations in New York begin, the movie takes on an entirely different heist movie vibe, replete with high-energy preparation montages and some hilarious bit character moments. So, it was my first summer living in New York after my freshman year. “I think because Philip Pettit was so obsessed and loved New York so much he couldn’t help but bring that out”. I’m assuming the pools are approximately where the buildings stood, is that true?
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If there’s a reason to see The Walk it’s, well, to see the walk. It’s so far, and it seemed so insane. The Walk opens with Gordon-Levitt as Petit talking to the audience from the Statue of Liberty’s torch. Despite some rather gnarly facial hair on most of the male actors, including James Badge Dale, Ben Schwartz, Benedict Samuel, and César Domboy, and an overabundance of turtlenecks all-around, The Walk is as light and breezy as standing on the top of the South Tower observation deck-or more acutely at the epicenter of a 1950s Hollywood fantasy. And it’s boundlessly suspenseful even though we know the outcome. But as a stand-alone it’s just a stunt; a bit of visual sleight of hand. We know he has the skills, the money and the technology to take us there. One feels a sense of wanting the story to hurry up along so we can get to what we’ve been waiting for. My dad is really afraid of heights. After taking about two steps out on “the wire”, I found myself dipping to the right probably would have fallen flat on my face had it not been for the spotter by my side (though I must admit that I was curious what would have happened if I did fall entirely off my balance beam).
