My feelings about this movie are a lot like my feelings on tequila: I can’t handle it but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate its appeal, quality and power.
This is a rare thing in Hollywood: a movie that’s under-hyped.
Expertly made. I have never recommended so strongly a movie that tortured me so profoundly. Excruciating. But many people find roller coasters terrifying to distraction while others thrill at this kind of rush. I clearly fall into the former group. Like some, I have a near irrational fear of heights so viewing The Walk was a true testament to my dedication to movie going. Having said that, this film deserves much more hype and much better buzz than it’s received thus far.
You won’t find a movie more thrillingly intense than the last
thirty minutes of this one, even if I needed to put my head down to weep and grunt aloud several times.
It begins kind of like a pavilion at EPCOT with Joseph Gordon-Levitt meeting us atop the torch of the Statue of Liberty with a swell “Zis iz mah Fraaaance” accent and begins to tell of his quest — “The Coup” he was born to pull off. I kept expecting Mark Twain to join him up there just like in the American Adventure attraction.
Levitt is so damn cute it makes your teeth hurt as we follow him on his journey to walk across a wire between the towers of the World trade Center just prior to its opening in 1973. What may surprise you is just how much time he actually spends on the wire…A LOT. Anyone who has seen the preview knows that he gets out on the wire but you may be astounded at just how long he stays out there while the audience white-knuckles through it. I hung on even though my hands were sweating and my scrotum rose into my lungs.
The only two minor flaws are wigs and Canadians. J. Gordon is featuring a hairpiece that often looks like a swimming cap. Yes, we had bad hair in the 70’s but we rarely looked like we were wearing shower caps. What is going on this year with bad performances by wigs!? I know I keep harping on this but geez. And our leading lady who we’re supposed to believe is from France is clearly speaking with a French Canadian accent but I’m being picky.
The supporting cast is marvelous and the whole enterprise has a lovely, dreamy theatricality to it.
If you’re on the fence about this (no balancing pun intended) go see it. And see it in IMAX. I don’t think you should miss it, if you can take it.
Loudinni specializes in reviews one can read in a minute or less, revealing as little plot as possible.
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