Review by Bob Ignizio
Every now and then the world needs a little joyful anarchy.
Fortunately, there are people like Philippe Petit who are willing to provide
just that. THE WALK tells the story
of how Petit, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, managed to sneak into the World
Trade Center shortly before it was finished and, with the help of his
accomplices, string a wire between the twin towers. Once this wire was secured
and as the sun was coming up, Petit walked back and forth between the towers to
the shock and delight of onlookers, an amazing (and illegal) feat for which he
was ultimately arrested. His sentence: performing for children in the park.
There has already been an Oscar winning documentary detailing
this story, 2008’s excellent MAN ON WIRE.
Truth be told, when it comes to real life stories I tend to favor documentaries
over dramatizations, and this is no exception. That said, what
director/co-writer Robert Zemeckis has accomplished with his scripted version
is to present the story in a more emotionally involving and visually
spectacular way that audiences will respond to on a visceral level.
