Review of The Walk (2015) by Eduardo C — 09 Oct 2015

I am old enough to remember Philippe Petit. What he did in August 1974 was a magical moment of my childhood. In my young mind, he was part daredevil, part comic book superhero. And I felt he had done it in my city, not 3000 miles away in NYC.

Truth is, he had done it for the world, for mankind, and that's why I felt that way. This film is PURE MAGIC. It is deeply humane, deeply inspiring, deeply gripping. You won't believe how much fun it is until you see it.

I am scared of heights just like a key character in this film and I was often grabbing my head with both my hands. I may get the courage to see it again and in 3D. There is something supernatural about this story, this film.

It was downright miraculous how the high wire was actually placed on the towers. This could never have worked as a story of fiction. It would have been declared too unbelievable and yet, it all happened as depicted.

Even though you are aware the high wire was finally placed, it still had me on the edge of my seat like a thriller. And the moment he finally gets out there, shifts his weight to tempt all the gods of high wire luck, and with a still injured foot no less, something beyond miracles is occurring.

It cannot be compared to athletes being in a "zone", it was mystical, it was supernatural, especially when you consider he made it across, all 140 feet, and for a second felt it was over , but felt compelled to get back out there, for a total of 5 passes! Even with the police on both towers trying to mess with his equilibrium, his mental prowess, his sanity, he kept going on and on, making dangerous turns on the wire, and doing things not considered possible, such as looking down, kneeling down, even completely lying down on his back ! While he was lying completely down on his back, he seemed he was FINALLY tempting the Gods just a bit too much.

At that moment he had a mystical experience. A seagull came down almost landing on top of him with a stern glare in his eye, as if to say "Who do you think you are? You think you can fly"?? .

It's the best film of 2015 (so far).