Man on Wire
I’m late to the party, but man was Man on Wire an excellent film. On its face, it’s a straightforward documentary about high-wire walker Philippe Petit and his 1974 walk between the tops of the Twin Towers, but the fact that he and his crew did so without alerting authorities – at least until he was in the middle of the wire, a quarter mile above the ground – makes the film that much more fun to watch. It comes off as part heist movie (How did they sneak in?) and part Mythbusters episode (How did they prepare and plan for it? What equipment did they use?), and it’s edited proficiently. I’m still dealing with the slow trickle of 2008 films that comes with living in a 4th tier movie city, but this is one of the best I’ve seen from last year so far.
Comments (3)
I have only just gotten around to watching the film as well. I was pleasantly surprised by how moving the film is. The emotional response of his colleagues at the moment of his triumph makes the entire film so much more satisfying, and daresay a little transcendent.
a smarter Academy would put this and Wall-E in the Best Picture category. You will not find many films that were more thoughtful and better crafted.
Yeah, I forgot this was '08- it brought a tear to my eye. Another factor for me was how amazing all of the characters were. Surely the story was given some fictional flourishes and such (beyond just the reenactments, I mean), but this was all handled brilliantly I thought.