The Walk (2015)

Approx. 12 mins to read

*My reviews probably contain spoilers*

Directed by: Robert Zemeckis

Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ben Kingsley, Charlotte Le Bon, Clement Sibony

I've been travelling for the past five weeks and as a result have become pretty out of touch with what is in cinemas. So I was looking for something to go see and spotted one that looked intriguing, but that I had no prior knowledge of. It's about a sideshow performer and wirewalker who devises a plan to set up a wire between the two towers of the World Trade Center and walk across in the performance of a lifetime. The movie is called The Walk. It's based on true events, and if you're like me and the synopsis sounded familiar it's probably because there was a documentary made about it back in 2008 that actually won the Academy Award. That film is called Man on Wire.

So I went into this movie quite interested by the sound of the story. The first surprise I got was when the ticket-taker handed me a pair of 3D glasses. "Do I need these? It's not in 3D, is it?" I asked him. But it was no mistake. I was surprised because I'm used to all the 3D movies being blockbusters and franchise films. But anyway...

The first thing that struck me about the movie was when Joseph Gordon-Levitt came on screen. He was like a different person. At first glance I didn't even recognize him. He plays the part of Philippe Petit, a spirited frenchman with a passion and energy for life. He's an amusing character, kind of a physical comedian in many respects (Such is the way of any sideshow performer I suppose). Joseph Gordon did a smashing job though. He really owns the part. And I don't know a whole lot about french accents, but I could hardly believe it was Joseph Gordon! Completely different from other roles I've seen him in. Maybe different people would argue that his accent sounds put on, I don't know. I thought he was great. I had mixed feelings while watching the movie. For the first three quarters I felt underwhelmed. It was straight forward and lacked tension... heh, insert a clever pun here about the tension of the wire not being equivalent to the tension in the movie, as a legit movie reviewer would... haha. Anyway, so the first thing is this: The whole movie is narrated. The main character just tells the story and it's backed up by visuals and "scenes" but not really particularly good scenes. The characters just sort of go through the motions and do exactly what the narrator is already telling us, and things just sort of... happen. I think that's a common problem I find in a lot of movies these days. Things just happen and you don't feel one way or the other about them.

Here, I'll demonstrate my point. So it cuts to Philippe telling the story (This is not exactly as it goes in the movie by the way, just BASICALLY like this):

Philippe: "Now, I knew that I was going to have to become very good at wirewalking, so I went to the park and I set it up, and I practiced. I walked on my wire over and over again. And when I fell down, I would climb back up and try it again. And my girlfriend would watch me, and she would sometimes shake the rope so that I would have to try harder to keep my balance."

Meanwhile, while he's saying this, we are seeing visuals of all of these things happening exactly as he is describing them. It's not much of a movie, it's more like a series of montages. And many of the scenes play out this way. It's not interesting, it's just him doing exactly what he says he is going to do. It's just things playing out exactly as he says they are going to play out. And then he'll say:

Philippe (offscreen): "Eventually my girlfriend Annie did not want me to continue, she said I was going crazy! But I had to keep doing it!" Annie: "Philippe, you have to stop, you're going insane!"

Philippe: "But Annie, this is my dream! I won't stop!"

*and they argue back and forth for a minute with variations of these lines*

You see? So first, the narrator basically tells us what is going to happen in the scene, and then they proceed to show us, the audience, just that. What's the point? This is a great example of why writers should be cautious with the use of voice-over narration (Oh, listen to me, the shitty film reviewer giving advice on writing.. Puh!) I know it's one of those overstated writers guidelines: "don't use narration!" But this is a great example why, and the movie seriously suffered because of it. The drama is kind of there, but everything happens in such a straight forward manner and the tension feels... injected, as I often like to say; created artificially.

... Nevertheless... It's a funny thing about this movie, because while I would probably be inclined to rank the first three quarters of the film fairly low, it takes a significant turn. The whole way through this picture you are in a state of anticipation for the moment when he will finally follow through on his stunt and we will get to see him walk between the twin towers on a cable. That's what we're all waiting for. Well, the story progresses with more or less the same lack of unpredictable drama as they scheme their way up to the top floor of the tower, AND as they struggle to dodge the security guard, AND as they're fighting against time to assemble the complicated wire setup, AND even as Annie (Philippe's girlfriend) thinks she sees Philippe plummeting off the tower to his death... BUT, when he ACTUALLY finally steps onto the wire and begins to walk... Wow... pure magic. I don't mean that sarcastically or as an exageration. The walking scene is surprisingly beautiful and emotionally uplifting.

It is worth mentioning that I haven't typically been an enthusiast for 3D. I could take it or leave it, and when given the option I do prefer to just leave it. But in this film, I would not have wanted to see it any other way: 3D on the big screen. This movie is a terrific example of how 3D can be used to enhance the effectiveness of the storytelling. When you see him walking across the cable 110 stories above ground (or whatever it is), it actually feels unnerving. It creates a sensation of being up high, like "Holy shit Philippe, you're gonna die!" And this was very surprising to me. There are other scenes earlier in the movie where he is practicing on the high wire in a circus tent and he nearly falls, and it has the same effect. I could imagine Hitchcock making great use of 3D technology were he to make Vertigo nowadays. But really, very effectively done. And when he finishes and crosses to the other side, you feel this sense of peaceful celebration, like "Wow! You did it Philippe! You realized your dream!" The whole sequence is just beautiful, suspenseful, and oddly serene, all at the same time.

And then things turn a bit humorous as the authorities are trying to get him to come off but they can't reach him, because of course they won't go out onto the wire, and he realizes that nobody can touch him while he is up there. It plays nicely into this earlier thing that was going on where he talks about the importance of having his space as a performer and demanding that people respect that space. It all comes together nicely, and that's one of the things I love about this film. You're sitting there thinking, "Okay, this is a charming little movie about this eccentric fenchman and this shinanigan that he wants to pull off and how he manages to do it. That's cool." But at the end it becomes so much more. It becomes... deeply emotional. My eyes welled up a little bit during that magical walking sequence, and especially at the very end.

As you might imagine, the movie stirs up a lot of 9/11 memories, and you sit there thinking frequently, "Wow, and to think those buildings will one day become the site of a national tragedy." It does an excellent job though of not alluding to that in a heavy-handed way. It's much more celebratory, and kind of sentimental. There's this wonderful thing happening earlier in the film where a few of the characters are making jokes about the twin towers, describing them as being ugly, looking like two large filing cabinets. After Philippe does his walk and he is in handcuffs at the police station, an officer tells him, "People used to talk about how much they hate those towers. Now everyone loves 'em, thanks to you." Later on in one of the last scenes, someone says to him (I can't remember which character specifically), "You changed it. Before they were just two enormous buildings, but I think you gave them a soul." Man, that really moved me. It's funny because I'm not a New Yorker, I've never been to New York and I don't have any strong affiliation to the twin towers, other than just thinking they were cool and iconic. But there is a theme in this movie, and I think it's something having to do with art and how art gives meaning to life... or maybe how life gives meaning to art. One of the things that Philippe keeps talking about throughout the film is how wirewalking is such a beautiful artform and how he is inspired by objects where he can assemble his wire to walk on. Well, I was sitting in my seat thinking, "Well sure, wirewalking is amazing, but not beautiful. It's acrobatics, not art." The end of the movie really changed the way I felt about that. It made me see the beauty of the craft. And I guess that's what I often hope for in a movie is that it will somehow change my perspective. More than that though, I loved how his performance on the wire brings life to the buildings and changes the perspectives of the people. The World Trade Center in this movie is a character. You might even say it is the villain of the story; the impossible task that Philippe has to conquer. And I can imagine, to the people of New York, it was like a character. It was a symbol of something, and not of Wallstreet corruption or economic power... Well, maybe that. But something more as well. A symbol of community perhaps? Unity? Common ground? Maybe that's it. All I know is, when I watch the movie and I think of that idea, that Philippe gave it a soul, and then think of it under attack by planes... I think of it like this friendly giant of the skyline, being killed, but there to protect the people. It really does seem to take on a life of its own. Maybe it's the life of all those people. And that, for me, made the film profoundly moving.

If I was going to rate just the last act of the The Walk I might give it an 8 or 9 out of 10. Unfortunately it had some heavy drawbacks. So here it is... Story: When it all comes together at the end, the story takes on a nice shape. It is interesting, uplifting, unique and inspiring. But the TELLING throughout most of it is too weak, so I have to deduct points. Performances: I thought Joseph Gordon-Levitt did a standout job in this role. The other guy that stood out to me was Clement Sibony as Philippe's close friend, Jean-Louis. Ben Kingsley and Charlotte Le Bon did their respective parts well, but in general I wouldn't describe the performances as totally outstanding, so I'll rank fairly. Nobody was distractingly bad anyway. Visual Design: I loved the cinemtography capturing the towers, the effective use of 3D and depth was a pleasure during the high wire scenes, but there were also several places where I found things popping out of the screen in a way that wasn't so tasteful. There were also quite a few CG elements that looked bad, frankly... like the scene where they are showing the wire form in mid-air, and maybe some cheesy looking composites. A lot of it just looks too artificial. So I will doc points.

Soundtrack/Music: The score had a lot of nice bits, was well suited to the mood of the scenes and in general the soundtrack was effectively composed. It was good.

Atmosphere: I didn't love the atmosphere until the climax. Throughout the rest of the picture I felt neither one way or the other about it, so to be fair I would rank it as mediocre.

Characters: The two that stood out to me were Philippe and Jean-Louis. I found I could appreciate their friendship more than I could get on board with Philippe's romance with Annie. In general the characters were fine but not extraordinary. Like most of the movie itself, they were sort of bland.

Imaginative Elements: I'd like to give this a couple points because it DOES put you in a very unusual scenario in an unusual environment... It also takes place in the 1970s, which is fun.

Entertainment Value: Despite all the negative things I said about the narration and lack of tension and unpreditability and such, the movie is entertaining at least by virtue of it being an interesting and unique situation. Most of its points though are earned by the last act.

X-Factor: That walk scene and the way things were tied up in the end was special enough to me that I would like to give it full points here. It really changed the way I felt about the film.

Final Score: 64/100

The Walk is, I think, certainly a film worth seeing. It was an excellent cinematic experience, although unfortunately I don't foreseeing that translating as well to home video. But for my experience, I was moved emotionally and came away feeling something special, and when I left the theatre I felt great! An experience worth the money.