The Walk (2015)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: The Walk attempts a tricky balancing act between thrilling visuals and fact-based drama -- and like its wire-walking protagonist, pulls it off with impressive élan.
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Cast
as Philippe Pettit
as Annie Allix
as Papa Rudy
as Jean-Pierre
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Critic Reviews for The Walk
All Critics (256) | Top Critics (45) | Fresh (213) | Rotten (43) | DVD (1)
The Walk turns what is a relatively straightforward act - albeit a scarily placed one - into something stunning by restoring a sense of physicality to what's happening onscreen.
Zemeckis's failing is his inattention to every other detail, but The Walk undeniably exists for its climax: one stunt it does manage to pull off flawlessly.
It's two-thirds of a great film but the slow start and unremarkable first hour hold it back. Still, for those who buy into the precept that "good things are worth waiting for," The Walk unquestionably delivers.
The walk itself is the film's central, and only, real achievement, but it's a doozy.
For at least the duration of the 25-minute wire sequence, The Walk is a breathless, exhilarating moviegoing experience. It's just not much of a movie.
Even in its greatest moment, The Walk breaks the spell with an unnecessary narration about how Petit felt in that moment, how the sky looked to him, how a bird came soaring towards his head.
Audience Reviews for The Walk
Most people have probably heard of Petite's walk between the Twin Towers, so the film doesn't shy away from having the protagonist narrate the entire story in a somewhat unexpectedly quirky way standing on the Statue of Liberty. Unfortunately even way before the big stunt, some of the surroundings seem oddly unreal and can easily be identified as special effect shots. Thankfully, no such thought crosses your mind during the dizzying finale. Sure, they may have added some complications here or there. but it's still wonderfully done. Overall maybe a bit too quirky at times, but the mind-blowing ending makes up for it.
Super Reviewer
Zemeckis displays his usual inventiveness with breathtaking visuals in 3D and stylish camera movements, offering us a nerve-wracking climax that should cause a heart attack on anyone afraid of heights, despite an unwelcome tendency towards corniness in the end.
Super Reviewer
Zemekis and Gordon Levitt endeavor to enliven the already substantive documentary Man On Wire (about Phillippe Petit's fabled wirewalk between the former Twin Towers) with the latest in modern tech cameras and a middling French accent. You'll be unimpressed until the central event occurs, after which you might need a place to sit down.
Super Reviewer
The Walk Quotes
| Petit's Father: | The carrots are cooked! |
| Annie Allix: | ....the carrots are cooked! |
| Philippe Petit: | This is Impossible. But I am still going to do it. |
| Philippe Pettit: | People always ask me "why do you risk death"? For me, this is life. |
| Philippe Pettit: | I was always searching. Looking for the perfect place to hang my wire. |