Some people realize their dream over a long period of time, say for example, The Rolling Stones, celebrating their 60th year this summer. Some do it in a series of peaks and valleys. And then there's this guy, Phillip Petit, who decided to do it all in one morning's time, one incredible feat to be remembered throughout all of time.
Man On Wire takes us brick by brick from conception of Mr Petit's vision in a dentist's office (yes!) to his success on the morning of August 7, 1974. Nothing with our goals ever goes smoothly and the story is exciting in a couple of lucky incidents as they tried to set up that saved what looked certain to be a dud. The film certainly more than reminds us of the value of never giving up on our dreams. It also won an Oscar for best documentary that year.
Oh, Robert Zemeckis. I really like his films but often find the pacing and structure to be anti-climatic and even detrimental. Castaway is a great example. A very engaging film which has us rooting for him to get off the island and when he finally does, the sequence where he's out on the ocean is awesome. That could have been stretched out and led to his climatic discovery for a nice ending. But instead we get this lengthy boring third act about how everyone feels now that he's back and will he get back with Kelly.
I think Flight is a great movie and I like the story that develops after the plane landing. But the first section with the actual flight is so good that it just feels like the energy of the film is all gone for the whole remaining hour and a half. Fortunately, here with The Walk, he sticks to a much more linear format and in a lot of ways it plays like a Hollywood version of Man On Wire. But it's good and to recreate the towers the way they did and the special effects are beyond awesome. Gordon-Levitt shines in this role and this is an actor whose work I'm really starting to enjoy lately.
Man On Wire currently streams free on Roku, Tubi and Vudu. It's also on sale for only 6.99 HD on Amazon. 4.0 stars/5
The Walk is available VOD on all the major outlets. 3.5 stars/5
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