Takashi Seida/TriStar PicturesFor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, an Oscar nomination may be just a walk away.
Critics are dazzled by the sheer courage of the Don Jon's latest performance in Robert Zemeckis' The Walk, the newest film commemorating the infamous tale of Philippe Petit, a French daredevil who pulled off the ultimate American stunt. In the summer of 1974, Petit took to new heights between the Twin Towers to accomplish a death-defying tight rope performance.
While the story was first brought to screen in the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary, Man on Wire, featuring Petit himself, this new biopic drags viewers right onto the tightrope to take in the spellbinding cityscapes through IMAX 3D. The cinematography is so realistic, audience members have been vomiting in theaters from the faux sensations of being so high up.
Thankfully, while critics may have been nauseous during viewings, it wasn't from the film itself, which they have been hailing as not just a beautiful tribute to the performer, but also to New York City's Twin Towers. They have so much screen time in the film, they could be likened to an actual character deserving of a credit.
In addition to Gordon-Levitt in the lead role, the movie also features an award-winning cast including Ben Kingsley and Charlotte Le Bon. The film is available to view in theaters now.
Here is what some of the critics had to say:
•"Robert Zemeckis' The Walk is all about "the walk." That is to say, the movie comes to dazzling life in its spectacular final 40 minutes or so, when Philippe Petit, played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, saunters out on a cable and gives us a vertiginous view of the French tightrope walker's 1974 aerial feat, as he tiptoed across the clouds between the towers of the World Trade Center," The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney writes about the film. "Harnessing the wizardry of 3D Imax to magnify the sheer transporting wonder, the you-are-there thrill of the experience, the film's payoff more than compensates for a lumbering setup, laden with cloying voiceover narration and strained whimsy. Zemeckis' delivery of such a sustained money shot — literally breathtaking, stomach-churning, sweat-inducing and exhilarating — should ensure solid numbers for Sony. American audiences, in particular, will respond to the unspoken coda of the Twin Towers' destruction, which gives the film an emotional resonance that might otherwise have been more muted."
•"The camera looks down much of the time and whirls around Philippe's view so realistically that those with a fear of heights may feel a bit squeamish," USA Today's Brian Truitt said. "It's totally worth keeping your eyes open and risking uneasiness for the immersive experience and the majesty of the New York skyline as Philippe moves Zen-like back and forth on the wire before the police inevitably show up. What could have easily been a cloying tribute to the World Trade Center is classily done but still touching. Zemeckis and Christopher Browne's script is ham-fisted, however, with Philippe's declarations of destiny — braving certain doom is a tad more convincing with his actions rather than words.
While the special effects are exquisite, the writer warns that if audience members want to see the real deal, turn elsewhere.
"The Oscar-winning 2008 documentary Man on Wire better tells the story of the real Petit's quest — and features the artist himself. But for those who want to feel as if they're 110 stories up and living in the clouds, Hollywood does its job conjuring movie magic with a breathtaking Walk to remember."
•"Joseph Gordon-Levitt occasionally gets a little cartoonish with the French (and the French accent when he's speaking English) but he continues to build on his impressive film resume with an impish, charming performance as Philippe, who says he never feels more alive than when he's on the wire, far above the ground, with no harness and no guarantee he'll make it to the end of a walk," Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun-Times said.
"The last 30 minutes or so are all about the walk. Dariusz Wolski's cinematography is beautiful, the score is sentimental but well-suited to the visuals, and Gordon-Levitt does some of his best acting when he's out on the wire and mostly silent, his face glowing from the sheer crazy joy he's feeling."