The Walk (2015)

In 1974, high-wire artist Philippe Petit recruits a team of people to help him realize his dream: to walk the immense void between the World Trade Center towers.

Director:

Robert Zemeckis

Writers:

Robert Zemeckis (screenplay), Christopher Browne (screenplay)

Stars:

Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Guillaume Baillargeon

3 wins & 17 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Joseph Gordon-Levitt	...	Philippe Petit
Guillaume Baillargeon	...	Outdoor Café Man
Émilie Leclerc	...	Outdoor Café Woman (as Emilie Leclerc)
Mark Trafford	...	American Tourist
Inka Malovic	...	Woman in Chalk Circle
Lucas Ramacière	...	Boy in Chalk Circle
Martin Lefebvre	...	Gendarme
Philippe Bertrand	...	Gendarme
Laurence Deschênes	...	Young Girl with Candy
Patricia Tulasne	...	Dental Office Receptionist
Jean-Robert Bourdage	...	Dental Patient
Sylvie Lemay	...	Dental Patient
Sasha Dominique	...	Dental Patient
Soleyman Pierini	...	Boy Petit
Jade Kindar-Martin	...	Circus High Wire Performer

Storyline

Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man - Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan. Robert Zemeckis, the director of such marvels as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future, Polar Express and Flight, again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story. With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry, The Walk is true big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. The film, a PG-rated, all-audience entertainment for moviegoers 8 to 80, unlike anything audiences have seen before, is a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, ...

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Plot Keywords:

tightrope walker | new york city | 1970s | skyscraper | based on true story | 

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Taglines:

From the director of Cast Away and Flight.

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Genres:

Adventure | Biography | Drama | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG for thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking

Details

Official Sites:

Filmnegah.com (Persian) Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English French Czech

Release Date:

9 October 2015 (USA)

Also Known As:

To Walk the Clouds

Filming Locations:

Montréal, Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$35,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,560,299, 4 October 2015, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$10,137,502, 8 November 2015

Company Credits

Production Co:

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE), TriStar Productions, ImageMovers

Technical Specs

Runtime:

123 min

Sound Mix:

SDDS Datasat Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of two biographical movies featuring Joseph Gordon-Levitt in consecutive years. The second being Snowden (2016).

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Goofs

The Subway entrance near the WTC sports a livery that did not appear until the 1980s.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Philippe Petit: "Why?" That is the question people ask me most. Pourquoi? Why? For what? Why do you walk on the wire? Why do you tempt fate? Why do you risk death. But, I don't think of it this way. I never even say this word, death. La mort. Yes of okay, I said it once, or maybe three times, just now... But watch, I *will* not say it again. Instead, I use the opposite word. Life. For me, to walk on the wire, this is life. C'est la vie.
Philippe Petit: [now standing in the torch of the Statue of Liberty] So, ...

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Connections

Featured in The Amazing Walk (2016)

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Soundtracks

Suzanne
Written by Leonard Cohen
Adapted by Graeme Allwright

User Reviews

Crowd-pleasing popcorn entertainment with miraculous visual effects

To learn about and understand the life of French high-wire artist Philippe Petit, who illegally performed a high-wire walk between the World Trade Center's Twin Towers in 1974, one might be better off with the 2008 James Marsh-directed documentary "Man on Wire". However, "The Walk" is a worthy experience about a dreamer who risked everything to achieve the impossible, and gave the people something beautiful, pure and hopeful.

The film is interspersed with scenes of Phillippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) talking directly to the audience, narrating his life story and the events that led up to his high-wire stunt, or as he calls it – "le coup". This certainly takes away the potential emotional and cinematic impact longer, narration-free scenes would've had on audiences but it served the purpose of moving the story forward swiftly. The first half feels crammed even though it is pretty much by-the-books: we skim through Petit's life leading up to the event without going in-depth. Which is understandable for a reasonable running time as there is a lot of ground to cover.

The unbearably intense second half surely makes up for this. It's taut with thrills and sequences boasting miraculous visual effects. The 30-minute finale is a immersive, transporting and even physical (as evidenced by my sweaty palms) experience that's one-of-a-kind. In fact, I would go so far as to say that there's no point watching the film anywhere else other than at a cinema.

Levitt's passionate performance is commendable and definitely contributes to a sufficiently emotionally satisfying third act. The film also makes it clear that this wasn't a one-man-show by highlighting Petit and his allies' team spirit. With "The Walk", Robert Zemeckis has given us another crowd-pleasing piece of popcorn entertainment.