An unnerving, exhilarating, you-are-there capturing of the sensations an aerialist experiences is really all that matters in The Walk. Director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future, Forest Gump, Cast Away) tells the story of Philippe Petit, who walked a high wire strung between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center not long before the irrecoverable monuments opened to the public in 1974. Zemeckis trumpets Petit’s daredevilry and moxy amidst an extravagant if impressive feast of special effects probably not for the fainthearted, nor for the acrophobic.
Perfectly designed to showcase IMAX 3-D technology, the film’s visceral immediacy is so enhanced it ought to also work effectively in conventional 2-D formatting. Almost lost in the technical giddiness are a couple of close calls. Zemeckis does his best to shore up any uneasiness concerning the towers’ eventual tragic fate. His solution is a climactic, hope-laden tribute that although it is not without honor, rings a bit glib and hollow. It doesn’t help that The Walk will not win any awards for its screenplay elements but of course complaining about story elements here is like whining about a slow Ferris wheel in an amusement park with a dozen state of the art roller coasters. Zemeckis overcomes any hammy ingredients largely with the help of lead actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt.
Gordon-Levitt may seem about as much of a Frenchman as Ian McKellan but he’s perfect in portraying the intensely purpose-driven Petit, who must mastermind a task equal in difficulty to the actual walking of of the wire. Posing as an architect and various workmen, Petit, along with an assembled team, including a key aide suffering from an acute fear of heights, investigates the lay of the land in the towers. After using a bow and arrow to project a thin wire from one tower roof to another, followed by a rope and finally the actual wire, Petit sets out on the wire in time for the morning rush hour. Before long NYC cops right out of “Car 54, Where Are You” are bellowing epithets like, “Hey, that’s enough buddy; knock it off.” In defiance, Petit turns around just before reaching his destination and goes back to the other tower.
On second thought, if you are afraid of heights, take a chance on this film anyway. It’s only a movie, but a damn good one from the thrills perspective. If more recondite aspects are needed, follow it up with the 2008 James Marsh documentary, Man on Wire. Yet as good a film as Man on Wire is, you won’t actually feel like you were there.