[rwp-review id=”0″]
‘Based on a true story’ – this is a term that is so ubiquitously slapped across a lot of movies nowadays; more specifically on those pertaining to the horror genre. It’s a term that is so casually used by studios that it no longer emits that sensation of awe, which is very ironic. You see at one point ‘based on a true story’ was used as a gimmick to lure moviegoers to cinemas because it piqued at our morbid curiosity to witness dramatic events that could have actually happened in a realm of reality. As with any special trick, what makes these ruses so effective is that they are only deployed once in a while so as to ensure we don’t become desensitized by them but sadly these movie studios never got that memo, thus why we see that slogan sealed above or below the title of every third movie in the theatre. So, imagine my state of non-existent curiosity when I was invited for the premiere of ‘The Walk’ – a movie that, after heavy researching into, works on two main premises – it’s a Robert Zemeckis film and that it is based on a true story.
Regarding the former premise – for those of you that don’t know who Robert Zemeckis is, he is the person who directed the ‘Back To The Future’ trilogy, as well as was responsible for films such as ‘Cast Away’, ‘Matchstick Men’ and ‘Forrest Gump’. Now, if you do not know what those films are, then you literally must have been born yesterday and it’s quite remarkable that you managed to develop your motor controls and cognitive functions this fast, to the point that you maneuvered the internet and came across this article; your parents should be proud of you. Now, moving onto the latter – the movie dwells into the story of Philippe Petit, a tightrope walker who became infamous for tightrope walking between the tips of the Twin Towers. The whole movie revolves around the events and lead ups that culminated in that remarkable feat.
Simply put – this movie is alright; but that in itself is its biggest downfall. You see it’s not just that there is a certain level of expected greatness from a Zemeckis movie but there is also a certain level of fleshing out that one would expect given the source material the movie bases itself upon. Yet, at the end of the day – neither factor comes to complete fruition. This was one of those movies that banked it’s expected success on the idea that people would want to see a film about the guy who walked a tightrope between the twin towers, oh and also that it would have super cool special effects and all that jazz; it barely delivered on both.
Right of the bat, Joseph Gordon-Levitt takes you by surprise with his slightly questionable French accent but this is only at the very beginning. As the movie progresses, you start to forget what his actual accent really sounded like, as you see him bring his character to life; you forget all of the actor’s real mannerisms and behaviors as that knowledge is slowly replaced by the persona of this character. Charlotte Le Bon also does a terrific job of bring out her character to the forefront. We even see the likes of Ben Kingsley grace the film with his presence, and oh my, does he do justice to his role; a perfect mix of humor and seriousness. As the story unfolds, more characters enter the fold played by the likes of James Badge Dale, Steve Valentine and Ben Schwartz. In terms of the acting and individual character immersion, all the actors and actresses do a splendid job of captivating the audience into each of their roles.
Yet, a movie is not about individuals in isolated scenarios, it’s about the interaction and the nuances to the characters relationships that enthrall the audience. So, does the movie have this as well? Not really.
The way the relationships between each of the characters come about is so abrupt and poorly developed, that you really don’t feel any empathy when the tear-jerking scenes of the movie come about. Even the relationship between Le Bon’s character (Annie) and Gordon-Levitt’s character (Philippe) is so poorly written that at times one would wonder if the character’s themselves know if they are meant to be dating.
Aside from the acting, the narrative itself is quite heavily flawed – progression and immersion are this movies chinks in the armor. A clear indicator of this was when they film showcased Philippe’s first tightrope act upon the tower of Notre-Dame, the whole scene along with its build-up could have been used to showcase Philippe’s coming to of his tightrope abilities, as well as it could have been used to shine a light upon the difficulty and struggle that comes with pulling off these great stunts but sadly, none of that was seen in those moments. The whole scene felt like a filler even though it had the potential to be so much more, and this is just one of the many crucial scenes that felt quite lackluster and devoid of congruent narrative.
Even the humor, though overall moderately good, still at times felt dry and redundant, if anything at times it served as a condiment to move the scene forward. The biggest letdown was the SFX, for a movie like this I would expect a few goosebump-inducing scenes or at least one scene that struck me with vertigo but woefully none of that happened. Most of the scenes that were made to show the dangers and scares of tightrope walking were just banal and yawn-worthy, even the animations at times seemed shoddy and poorly rendered – especially this one scene towards the end that was so absurd that I genuinely thought that the theatre had received an un-edited version of the film.
So what does the film do right? It’s quirky enough that it’s still worth the sit-through. Also, as mentioned earlier – the acting is quite spot on, along with the moments that the humor is executed well, all this really ties the movie up nicely. Sadly, there isn’t much that this film has going for it. This movie excels at being average at everything – suspense, animation, humor, narrative, and even the soundtrack! Actually, I can’t even recall a noteworthy song from any part in the movie.
All in all, the movie is worth a watch if you got time to spare and money to spend, it has zero replay value and is probably not going to be something you really recommend to your friends. But one thing is movie does well, really well, is being a testament to that studios need to focus on putting more effort into their films rather than banking on ‘true story’ gimmicks and prospect of inducing vertigo.
This movie had the potential for greatness, you could see there was something underneath all that mediocrity that this movie could have been timeless but wistfully this was one of those films that got stuck halfway across….the tightrope to greatness.
I’m sorry I had to say it.
