In my opinion, Robert Zemeckis has always been one of the most underrated directors. He's directed so many classics (Back To The Future, Forrest Gump, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Cast Away) and yet never gets the recognition that a Martin Scorcese or a Steven Spielberg does. With his new film, The Walk, he shows why he's one of the masters of directing but also why he should sometimes pass the screenplay on to someone else. Co-written by Zemeckis and Christopher Browne, this is a fascinating story told in such a cliche, syrupy, dull way that one only wishes Zebecks could have written the film with the same skill he directed it. This is a gorgeous film visually but one that is quite frankly kind of insulting on a storytelling level.
The film is the true story of Philippe Petit, played by Joseph Gordon Levitt, who gives it his all despite his face showing that he knows what an unskillful script he's reading. Petit was an insane man, for all intensive purposes, who was inspired when he saw that The Twin Towers were being built. Being a man who is constantly in need of the next dangerous place to wire walk, he decides that he wants to hang his wire between the tops of The Twin Towers. Naturally, he realizes this is completely illegal and recruits a crew to help him including romantic interest Annie (Charlotte Le Bon,) a character I would criticize for being completely superfluous if it weren't based on a real person.
The first 90 minutes or so are fairly dull. Philippe introduces himself standing on The Statue Of Liberty, a tactic I thought was going to only be used for a jumping off point but that the film unfortunately goes back to time and time again. It's an incredibly jarring aspect that should have been stripped out of the film entirely. Philippe then meets Annie, with whom he has zero chemistry but somehow falls in love with and then Annie and Philippe scavenge for recruits to help them, all of whom are knocked down to one very broad character trait. I would use the phrase "this isn't exactly high art" to describe the story aspect but that would be an insult to high art. This is incredibly cheap stuff.
However, the last half an hour are so incredible and mind blowing that the film suddenly becomes almost worth seeing. When Philippe is up on that wire, the directing makes the audience feel there with him. As someone who doesn't exactly have a fear of heights but rather has a fear of dying from heights (I'd rather be burned or buried alive before I die from falling off somewhere high up,) I was actually sweating in the last 30 minutes. This is improved even further by the IMAX 3D, which is how you should see the film if you're going to see it. That last 30 minutes shows Zemeckis at his best and reminds everyone that he's a master of the visceral along the lines of Scorcese and Spielberg.
For the last 30 minutes, I'm almost inclined to say see The Walk. The final part is amazing stuff. However, the set up is way too long and boring and the narrative style way too jarring. I would say if you have a friend or family member who works at a theater (especially one that has IMAX 3D,) ask them if you can come in for the last 30 minutes of the film. That way, you'll get all of the crab without having to work at digging it out.
(2 and 1/2 out of 5 Stars, The film is rated PG for thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking)
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