Movie Review: 'The Walk'

The death defying true story of high wire artist Philippe Petit's 1974 walk across the Twin Towers is brought to a life in the new movie "The Walk." Neil Rosen filed the following review.

Philippe Petit had a dream to accomplish a feat that most people would say was crazy and impossible. Yet, this wire walker from France was obsessed with making his vision a reality. 

Played nicely by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, we see Petit as a young man who learns the skills of tightrope walking from a mentor played by Ben Kingsley. Petit falls in love with a street musician, played by Charlotte Le Bon, who accompanies him to New York as he tries to figure out exactly how to accomplish his lofty goal.

He assembles a team of co-conspirators to help him pull off this illegal stunt, and much of the film plays out like a crime caper. They have to devise covert ways to get the heavy cables and other equipment upstairs and get past security guards, which is no easy task.

The backstory of Petit's trials and tribulations was brought to life in more dramatic fashion in the 2008 documentary "Man On Wire."

But what makes this new movie a must see is the walk itself, which is an eye popping spectacle. Director Robert Zemeckis has re-created the death defying stunt in 3D, and it's a technical marvel. On a big IMAX screen, for that incredible 17-minute sequence, you'll feel like you are on the wire with Petit. I was in awe of the spectacle of the camera looking down from the wire and seeing the Twin Towers plaza 110 stories below.

Zemikics meticulously digitally recreates the 1970's New York skyline as well as the World Trade Center itself. And although the ultimate fate of the towers and 9/11 are never mentioned, it's there in your mind as you look at how Zemeckis lovingly brings the buildings back to life on film.