Cinemazlowski 'The Walk' is worth running to the theater for

When we're children, we all have a crazy dream inside of us, a secret wish that we could do something so truly amazing that the whole world would notice. For many, it's a desire to be able to fly, soaring like Superman through the skies.

 

Most of us get over those dreams as we become more aware of the world and our limitations. But for one Frenchman named Phillippe Petit, the dream of doing something daring in the sky and having the whole world notice never went away.

 

He even found a way to come closer to the experience of flying than almost any person in history, by walking a tightrope between the rooftops of those iconic buildings an amazing eight times one morning in 1974. And thanks to an utterly astonishing ability to use the most cutting-edge film technology available today, director Robert Zemeckis has managed to make audiences feel they're right there with Petit in the amazing – and family-friendly – new movie, "The Walk."

 

Starring Joseph-Gordon Levitt as Petit, "The Walk" immediately makes use of its star's innate charm by having him talk to the audience in character, setting up Petit's highly unusual story in unusual fashion. Petit is standing in the narrow walkway surrounding the flame held aloft by the Statue of Liberty, and speaks enthusiastically to the audience in a way that wins them over with the same charisma the real-life daredevil used to build a team of accomplices who helped him pull off his near-impossible feat.

 

The narration guides us further through Petit's childhood, showing how he accomplished daring feats from a young age, and developed a passion for learning all manner of circus tricks from juggling to tightrope walking. Kicked out of his home by his parents during his teen years, Petit managed to get taken under the wing of Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), the patriarch of a family of daredevils traveling as acrobats in a circus.

 

Moving up from street performing to walking a rope between the towers of Notre Dame Cathedral, Petit had one dream above all: to move to New York City, where he could find the ultimate skyscrapers to walk between. And so he arrived in New York in 1974 with his supportive girlfriend in tow and a team of friends with different types of expertise who could help him plot and execute his walk at what were about to be two of the tallest and most secure buildings in the world.

 

That elaborate setup, involving Petit and friends using a number of disguises to gain access to the World Trade Center's inner workings in preparation for an early-morning sneak-in that was more finely conceived than the best bank heists, is what moves "The Walk" into entertaining overdrive. Director Robert Zemeckis, who has helmed classics ranging from "Back to the Future" and "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" to "Forrest Gump" and "Flight," then takes every trick he's ever learned as a master of special effects to suck the audience in right alongside Petit as he steps out onto the wire and makes jaw-dropping history.

 

Now, I can't vouch for how the movie comes across in regular 2D viewing, and I understand that 3D and "The Walk" is like no other movie you have ever seen, and I am telling you that if you can afford it, see it in 3D and if possible at an IMAX theater, because you WILL feel like you're up there with Petit, and the stunning sense of making entire audiences feel the thrill just as much as Petit did is a truly rare entertainment experience that will likely be appreciated fondly for a lifetime.

 

Kudos go out to Zemeckis and everyone involved for managing to make the movie spine-tinglingly tense while somehow making it OK for kids to handle the tension, in addition to keeping it clean with little or no foul language. The only thing that might make parents get annoyed is that Petit decides the best way to feel if a narrow piece of rope reached his rooftop from the other Trade Center rooftop is to strip naked and feel around for it in the dark with every available inch of skin.

 

But the moment is so off the wall and silly, offering comic relief from all the tension while devoid of any sexual pretext, that seeing a bare-bottomed Petit dancing around in the dark for five to ten seconds should not spark any sinful thoughts in any viewer and should also not spark any parental concerns.

Filled with wondrous special effects that seem all too real, a witty and tension-packed screenplay that ultimately inspires viewers to make their own dreams come true, and a highly charismatic performance from Gordon-Levitt, "The Walk" is worth running to the theater for.