THE WALK

GRADE: A
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte LeBon, James Badge Dale
Screenplay by Robert Zemeckis & Christopher Browne 
Based on the book "To Reach the Clouds" by Phillipe Petit
Rated PG ( Intensity, brief nudity, brief rug references)

Reviewed by Paul & Patrick Gibbs

No matter how good the home viewing experience gets, there are some things Netflix will never be able to offer. Even a 60" TV screen can't put you on a wire between strung between the towers of the famed World Trade Center and make you feel as if you're actually there, stepping out into the void. But 3D IMAX can do that, if you have a master like Academy Award winning director Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future, Cast Away) at the helm.

The Walk tells the story of Phillipe Petit, a French wirewalker/performance artist who pulled off the legendary feat in 1974, the most important year in world history (we were born in 1974).  After Petit's story was memorably told by the acclaimed and Oscar-winning documentary Man On Wire, many were left wondering why there needed to be a narrative film. The answer is to give us the sensory experience of being there on the wire with Phillipe. Director Zemeckis has long been renowned for his nearly unparalleled skill with visual effects sequences, and as the late Roger Ebert observed, Zemeckis' trademark is that he uses the effects in the service of the story, never the other way around. Here he has used it to give us a one of a kind cinematic experience. What's more surprising is that the experience is surprisingly emotional.

Phillipe is played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, in an energetic performance sure to be loved in some circles and hated in others. It's always inherently challenging to accept any American actor affecting a French accent, and doubly so when we we're very used to hearing that actor speak without it. While Gordon-Levitt's accent may not be perfect, the problems many viewers will likely have with it are more due to who is doing the accent than the quality of the accent itself. As for his personality, imagine Robert Clary from Hogan's Heroes playing Ferris Bueller. Phillpe is cheerful, passionate intense, cocky in a way which is alternately endearing and annoying, and narrates the film directly to the camera (in wraparound sequences in which he stands in the torch of the Statue of Liberty). Phillipe's physicality is of extreme importance, and it's undeniable Gordon-Levitt nails this aspect of the performance to sheer perfection.

The story begins with Phillipe in France as a young performer, hatching his plan to walk between the twin towers. Phillipe meets a young woman named Annie Allix (Charlotte LeBon), a fellow artist who becomes the first of his accomplices, and soon adds two more accomplices, Jean-Louis (Benedict Samuel) and Jean-Francois/Jeff (Cesar Domboy). Phillipe also hones his skills as a wire walker under the tutelage of Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), leader of a legendary family of wire walkers. This opening section of the film is played with a great deal of whimsy, trying to be as cute (and occasionally surreal) as possible. Again, this will get mixed reactions from the audience. Some will likely find it enchanting, others insufferable. We were squarely in the middle. It can be a bit much, but mostly it works.

Act II is where the film really starts to take off, with Phillipe making it to New York and recruiting an American accomplice (James Badge Dale, perhaps Hollywood's best ensemble player and current most underrated actor). Here The Walk becomes a heist film without the stealing, and the closer Phillipe and company get to "The Coup", the more Zemeckis dials up the suspense, getting to almost Hitchcockian levels on the day of the walk itself. Finally, there's the walk, which is everything you could want it to be. Dazzling, terrifying, beautiful and funny, it's among the most impressive sequences Zemeckis has directed, which is saying a great deal. Adding the 3D to the superb effects and Dariusz Wolski's top-notch cinematography is likely to give some viewers vertigo, and will leave almost everyone gripping their seats tightly (be sure to get control of the arm rests the second you sit down). It's a phenomenal set piece, and Zemeckis wisely chooses not to give us too many reinvent the wheel money shots. He wants us to experience the walk, not to marvel at his technique.

The supporting cast is strong, with Badge Dale and especially Domboy as the standouts. Domboy's Jeff (who has a paralyzing fear of heights) is the most likable character in the film, and he acts as the audience's window, providing somebody we can relate to. He thinks all of this is cool, but also terrifying.

The Walk isn't an especially deep film, but as a tribute to following your dreams and to the twin towers themselves, it's surprisingly emotional. It's not a perfect film, but it's an awfully good one, and a truly memorable experience.

The Walk is rated PG for intensity, brief (and pretty mild) drug references, and a flash of nudity so innocuous you'd have to be a world class prude to get uptight about it.