THE WALK - Review

The Walk

Biopic, 2015
2 hours, 3 minutes
Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
Based on the book To Reach the Clouds by Philipe Petit
Rated PG for "thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking"

Starring
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
Charlotte Le Bon
Ben Kingsley
James Badge-Dale
Ben Schwartz
Steve Valentine

"The carrots are cooked!"

I'm gonna keep this one short and sweet.

The Walk is based on the story of Philippe Petit, a French wire-walker who dreams of one day performing on a wire strung between the Twin Towers in New York City. Doing this, however, is incredibly illegal. So he and a rag-tag team of misfits go and do a bunch of illegal stuff to make it happen.

That's the gist of the film. It's also the gist of the masterful documentary Man on Wire, which won the Oscar for Best Documentary in 2008. It's almost impossible not to compare the two films. Even though The Walk gets most of the story beats right, including a few dramatized and probably fictional events, it has one key flaw: it's not inspiring.

When I saw Man on Wire, and every time since seeing it, inspiration strikes. It's the kind of movie that makes me want to go and do something with my life. I've thought to myself, if a man can walk between two towers on a wire over 400 feet above the ground, then I can do... well, I can do anything. The man accomplished his dream, and his dream was unbelievable in scope. It was an impossible dream. The story itself is inspiring, but Zemeckis turns Petit's story into a flat two hours.

The wire-walk itself (which is actually GREAT in 3D) is drawn out. The effect loses its appeal quickly, despite being a cool visual effect. There are moments with very little tension. Petit's narration (which is sometimes treated like an awkward talking head) interrupts the otherwise suspenseful moments.

Other than the somewhat dull wire-walk itself, the worst part of the movie (by far) is Petit's voiceover. They have him standing on the Statue of Liberty with the towers and the New York skyline behind him while he speaks charismatically to the audience. It's an okay way to start the film, but it quickly becomes a nuisance when they repeatedly cut back and forth from the action to his talking head. The talking head even interrupts during the most suspenseful moments, explaining every thought that crosses through his mind. This was something Man on Wire was able to get away with, because Petit tells the entire story verbally, and more is told than shown.

The real Philippe Petit on August 7th, 1974, before walking the wire.

Honestly, it's just boring. The storytelling in Man on Wire is actually suspenseful when narrated by Petit himself, and there's no more Hollywood flair or visual effects than there have to be.

It's not all bad. JGL's performance is strong, as he matches Petit's charisma with a decent French accent... But he fails to help the audience understand exactly why he needs to accomplish his dream and what it means to him. Ben Kingsley shows up for a bit, but doesn't do much other than have an untraceable accent.

To explain just exactly how I feel about this film, I want to quote a good friend of mine (he's a stellar filmmaker, too), Matthew Sadowski:

"So you're saying that if offered to see "The Walk", we should walk? Take a hike to "A Walk in the Woods" instead? Or go rent "Walk the Line"? Heck, maybe I'd get "Walking Tall" if I'm at the video store anyway. You don't want to spend too much time there; you just end up stumbling around like "The Walking Dead." Spend too much time there, the staff gets angry and calls security. Get pissy and they could take you on "A Walk Among the Tombstones." That would make it "A Walk to Remember."

The Walk: 5/10

Man on Wire: 10/10

Seriously. Watch the fucking documentary!