The Walk (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Ben Kingsley) – Some of the most memorable movies of the last three decades have been directed and written by Robert Zemeckis. He brought us Forrest Gump, Romancing The Stone, all three Back To The Future movies, Contact, Flight, and Cast Away among others. In The Walk, he tells the story of Philippe Petit, a Frenchmen who fell in love with tightrope walking at a young age and dreamed of walking between the two World Trade Center buildings. He did it in mid-to-late ‘70s.
Zemeckis tells this true story based on Petit’s biography with a bit of whimsy in addition to a measure of tension. In another wonderful performance, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who has long since moved past his Third Rock From The Sun character, dominates the screen and envelops the character. It helps that Gordon-Levitt speaks fluent French because his command of the accent is clear. The performance is potentially Oscar nomination-worthy.
Here, his supporting cast includes Oscar winner Ben Kingsley, who plays Petit’s mentor, and Charlotte Le Bon (The Hundred-Foot Journey) as the young singer who befriends Petit and fuels his dream.
With incredible special effects, most notably the hovering Twin Towers over New York City, The Walk transforms us back to the much more innocent time four decades ago. Imagine what would happen today if a man were spotted walking a tightrope between two buildings in a major city. Petit was celebrated around the world for his death-defying feat. Zemeckis, in his dialogue-heavy script, captures it beautifully. We feel Petit’s passion and enjoy his journey even as we are amazed by the chutzpah it took to undertake it.
The Walk is a fantastic biopic to be enjoyed by the entire family.