Movie review: The Walk (spoilers)
Summer 1974, and I was 14 years old. My family was logging a lot of time in the car, traveling from our home on Long Island to ... Well, we had relatives in New Jersey, and there was that vacation in Virginia. Our travels took us on routes where we would see the NYC skyline. Including the nascent Twin Towers.
So of course I remember Phillippe Petit, and his famous (illegal) high wire walk between the towers.
I haven't had the chance to see the documentary, "Man on Wire", though now that I've seen the Zemeckis retelling, I may try to find a copy.
Yes, I liked "The Walk". Told as a "caper" or "heist" movie, the story follows Petit from his first encounter with the high wire, to his first sight of the World Trade Center towers in a magazine, and then to acquiring "accomplices" for his "coup".
Hoseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing as Petit. High energy, funny, entertaining.
I loved seeing all the methods Petit and his crew used to access the building and scout out the territory, all the intrigue and subterfuge.
But the most breathtaking moments of the movie -- especially in IMAX 3D -- is the walk itself. Worth the price of the ticket.
Two poignant scenes towards the end of the movie. After the walk, Petit's girlfriend remarks that he has given the Towers a soul. And at the end of the movie, Petit tells the audience that the Port Authority gave him a free pass to visit the observation deck, and instead of an expiration date, the pass would be good "forever".
9/11 isn't mentioned. The audience knows the fate of those towers.
A breathtaking movie.
So of course I remember Phillippe Petit, and his famous (illegal) high wire walk between the towers.
I haven't had the chance to see the documentary, "Man on Wire", though now that I've seen the Zemeckis retelling, I may try to find a copy.
Yes, I liked "The Walk". Told as a "caper" or "heist" movie, the story follows Petit from his first encounter with the high wire, to his first sight of the World Trade Center towers in a magazine, and then to acquiring "accomplices" for his "coup".
Hoseph Gordon-Levitt is amazing as Petit. High energy, funny, entertaining.
I loved seeing all the methods Petit and his crew used to access the building and scout out the territory, all the intrigue and subterfuge.
But the most breathtaking moments of the movie -- especially in IMAX 3D -- is the walk itself. Worth the price of the ticket.
Two poignant scenes towards the end of the movie. After the walk, Petit's girlfriend remarks that he has given the Towers a soul. And at the end of the movie, Petit tells the audience that the Port Authority gave him a free pass to visit the observation deck, and instead of an expiration date, the pass would be good "forever".
9/11 isn't mentioned. The audience knows the fate of those towers.
A breathtaking movie.
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