Review: The Walk

The Walk will make you cling to your seat for dear life! 

3 stars

Mini Review:

Hold on to the armrests! The dizzying views in the movie will have even the most cast iron stomachs and strongest hearts wish to escape through the mouth...  

Main Review:

Read this revu az eef yu arr Franch, and you will see how everything becomes tres magnifique because the hero... he is Franch.

So Franch, there are baguettes and croissants coming out auf the screen. Who am I kidding? It took me three minutes before I got used to the strange French accent Joseph Gordon Levitt was sporting as he narrates the whole movie calmly from the balcony (no longer accessible to the public) of the torch the Statue of Liberty carries. 

By the time you say, 'What the heck is he doing up there!' you are slowly given to understand that he is going to do something 'illegal and dangerous' (best heard said in a French accent)  

So you'll hear how the critics have a problem with French characters in the movie speaking English. Well, maybe that's all they did. 'Hear' the characters speak. Their eyes must have been closed to the awesome, most awesome 3D effects they have seen. 

If they mention Marsh's documentary 'Man On Wire' it is because the documentary captured faithfully what Philippe Petit's friend managed to capture on his still camera. Now imagine Zemeckis recreating the vertigo inducing act on film.  

And Joseph Gordon Levitt is so beautifully cast, you will surprised to see the uncanny resemblance between the real Philippe Petit and the actor.

I'm wary of 3D. It is mostly an afterthought where broken parts of buildings, airplanes, dishes come at you in the final showdown between the good guys and the bad guys, and by then, your ears and the bridge of your nose are weighed down by the glasses.

But here, you simply forget that you are wearing the glasses. The director's vision in IMAX is extraordinary. He recreates the twin towers, and then gives us dizzying views of the buildings, shows us how beautifully designed these towers were, and offers a glimpse of the awe-inducing views from the top of the towers.

The story sort of struggles a bit in the beginning, just like Philippe Petit learning to walk on the tightrope, and the romance seems rather filmi, but it all comes together marvelously and as you clutch at your heart that threatens to leap out of your mouth several times. And it is not only during the final act of bravado. You worry about them getting caught, you worry about everything. 

The final act? If I were his mom, I'd beat him with a rolling pin as they do in cartoons, that's for sure. I was so worried for him. And that hasn't happened to me in a very very long time in the movies.

Without drowning into some patriotic, sentimental balderdash, the movie pays a quiet tribute to the towers. And that I liked too. 

Take your time getting off the seat in the theater. Give your insides time to settle back down in their rightful place, and your legs a chance to not walk as if you are person on a wire...


P.S. The tightrope walkers on our streets have practically disappeared, but if you do see them perform on the street, don't just swear at them for occupying the street. Who knows...