Robert Zemeckis directs The Walk, and the film plays like a man who has finally found his footing again. It tells the true story of Philippe Petit, the French wire walker who crossed between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974, and it treats that act not as a stunt but as a mission. The result is a film that is both thrilling and tender, a strange mix of historical drama and personal adventure that lands somewhere between a documentary and a fairy tale.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt plays Petit, and he commits fully to the role. He walks, he swings, he balances, and he does it all with a physicality that sells the danger without ever losing the grace. This is a performance built around movement, and Levitt turns it into something mesmerizing.
Trailer, via Universal Pictures.
The Tightrope Between the Towers
The film opens in 1973, with Petit in Paris, where he bites a hard candy from an audience member and damages his tooth while working as a street performer. In the dentist’s waiting room, he sees a photograph of the Twin Towers in a magazine and decides then and there that he wants to walk between them. The film follows him through the early stages of planning, through the gathering of his team, and through the actual crossing itself.
Ben Kingsley plays Papa Rudy, the circus master who takes Petit under his wing and teaches him everything he knows about knots and rigging. Charlotte Le Bon plays Annie Allix, Petit’s lover and partner in crime, who helps arrange his training sessions at her music school. James Badge Dale plays Jean-Louis, the photographer and second accomplice, who introduces Petit to Jeff, another accomplice with a fear of heights. Together, they devise a plan involving a bow and arrow tied to a fishing line to get the cable across the towers.
The Crossing Itself
The centerpiece of the film is the walk itself, and it is here that Zemeckis truly earns his reputation as a technical director. The film uses IMAX 3D to capture the height and scale of the towers, and the sequences where Petit crosses the gap are genuinely breathtaking. The camera stays close to Petit, and the world below drops away until the viewer feels the vertigo along with him.
It is a remarkable set piece, and it works because the film has spent the first hour building the stakes. We know Petit’s family history, we know his fears, and we know what the walk means to him. So when he finally steps onto the wire, the tension is real.
The Romance Behind the Rope
Annie is the heart of the film, and Le Bon gives a performance that grounds the adventure in something human. Their relationship is tender, funny, and ultimately tragic, since the film ends with a dedication to the victims of the September 11 attacks. That dedication hangs over the entire enterprise, giving the romance a weight that the film never quite acknowledges directly.
The supporting cast is strong throughout. Ben Schwartz plays Albert, and Steve Valentine plays Barry Greenhouse, a life insurance salesman who becomes a fan of Petit’s after seeing him at Notre Dame. These small roles are given real personality, and they add texture to the story without ever taking focus from the main narrative.
The Technical Craft
The film was released in 2015 by Sony Pictures Releasing. It premiered at the New York Film Festival before its wide release, and it opened in IMAX 3D on September 30, 2015, followed by a regular 2D and 3D release on October 9. The film grossed $61 million worldwide, which is modest for a major studio release but respectable for a film with this niche appeal.
| Release Date | Format |
|---|---|
| September 30, 2015 | IMAX 3D |
| October 9, 2015 | 2D and 3D |
The film’s technical craft is its strongest asset. The IMAX 3D sequences are stunning, and the wire work is seamless. The film also benefits from a strong musical score that complements the action without overwhelming it.
The Verdict
The Walk is a film about courage, obsession, and the power of a single idea. It is also a film about the city of New York, and about the towers themselves, which loom large in the story even before the walk begins. The film respects its subject, and it rewards the audience that gives it their full attention.
It is not a perfect film. Some of the middle stretches drag, and the pacing slows during the planning sequences. But when the wire is stretched between the towers, the film finds its pulse again.
7 of 10.
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