I have always stood by Joseph Gordon-Levitt. His great performance in “(500) Days of Summer” and his strong body of work exceeds his otherwise smug tendencies. But, my perspective drastically changed after his directorial debut “Don Jon"; a shallow jerk-off to Hollywood and porn that I’m sure Levitt thinks is way smarter than it is.
Yet, “The Walk” has to be rock bottom when it comes to Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s punchability as he puts on an indulgent French accent and seems to check his pride at the door.
Leading up to the famed Twin Towers walk, Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) works as a street artist in France whose routine includes juggling, tight-rope walking and miming. One day, a young Petit stumbles onto a circus ground, is fascinated by the professional performers and begins working with the troupe leader, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley).
After months of practice and many artistic quibbles, Petit travels to New York City to follow his dream of walking across the Towers. Besides being entirely dangerous, this walk is very illegal so he forms a group of accomplices, including his at-the-time girlfriend, Annie Allix (Charlotte Le Bon).
For better or for worse, “The Walk” crosses genre boundaries by exploring romance, caper and visceral thriller in equal parts. Yet, by the time the 45-minute walk was over, I realized that the best parts were the moments leading up to the activity.
It is quite fascinating to watch Petit along with J.P. (James Badge Dale) and Jeff (César Domboy) sneaking around and setting up the ropes despite all obstacles that come in their way. In fact, the whole caper element of the film is authentic and well developed whereas the actual walk is fascinating yet, arguably, overlong.
Despite some ingenious and crafty moments, Zemeckis relies on hokeyness and cliches all the more frequently. Unfortunately, the gimmicky black and white introduction isn’t even the bottom of the barrel.
Zemeckis attempts to implore a unique storytelling technique by breaking the fourth wall with excerpts of narration throughout. These narrations come from an almost conceited Petit perched on the crown of the Statue of Liberty and are cliched, unnecessary and on the nose.
Not only is the narration a tonal misfire but it is a lazy and weak storytelling device that Zemeckis, an Oscar nominee for his “Back to the Future” screenplay, should’ve known better than to use.
In fact, Levitt seems much weaker in the pretenses of the narrations; when he is the only actor in front of the camera he falters between hammy and too much like himself.
For the most part, Levitt’s performance as Petit is good enough and his French accent is consistent and lifelike. But, there is no doubt that Petit is being portrayed by JGL. He has the same expressions and even a play on the attitudes of his previous characters and the man himself. As long as Gordon-Levitt picks up biopics and turns the incredible subject of the film into caricatures of Gordon-Levitt, he will be perceived as pandering and arrogant.
Because of this, Petit’s personal journey, which concludes with an artistic triumph, comes off hardly more rewarding than Jeff’s exploration of his acrophobia. Domboy is one of the standouts of the supporting cast and realizes Jeff’s emotional arc well with the little screentime he has.
The other standout is Charlotte Le Bon, who does her best in the few scenes she has where she isn’t reliant on Petit. Bon has an expressive face and knows how to balance sassy and sweet equally.
Ultimately, “The Walk” attempts to balance a compelling story on the shoulders of two men who have taken quite a fall from their days of glory: Gordon-Levitt and Zemeckis.
On one hand, the banal direction, weak first half and sappy screenplay (with gems like: “People ask me ‘Why do you risk death?’ For me, this is life.”) are quite unforgivable. Yet, the final act of “The Walk” is a huge technical success that employs IMAX 3D and fascinating camera angles to create a panoramic and realistic portrayal of Petit’s legendary walk. But, more importantly, at its best "The Walk" serves as a sentimental tribute to the World Trade Center.
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Reach the reporter at tanner.stechnij@asu.edu or follow @tannerstechnij on Twitter.
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