Movie Review: Man on Wire

Let’s cut through the shit right off the bat; I love documentaries.  I’m not exactly sure why, but there is something about being told a story that isn’t complete BS that really gets me going.  Why am I admitting this?  Because I feel it’s extremely important that I let you know this right off the bat so that you have an idea of where it is I’m coming from before we get this whole ordeal underway.  If you’re not the type of person who likes to sit through a film that is as much a history lesson as it is entertainment, then you might not view this in the same light as myself.  However, I do feel that this is one of the times that even those of you who are not typically warm to the concept will be equally as satisfied as those of us who love it.

Having established that I’m a fan of the genre, I feel it really isn’t necessary to go into the finite details of the format.  I will assume that you the reader will at the very least be familiar with the basic setup and delivery of the style of film, and will therefore just speak specifically about its narrative.  Man on Wire, is a film about the true life story of a French man (Philippe Petit) who dared to illegally rig a wire between New York’s twin towers in 1974 and perform for nearly an hour. 

I heard about the film around a year ago when I heard Petit speak online, but it wasn’t until just recently that I managed to move it up the queue on my Netflix list and finally give it a chance.  Just the simple thought of a guy walking the nearly 200 feet between the two buildings was enough to intrigue me into watching the film, but what really sets this documentary apart from the rest of the crap that is out there is its story.  You might think that the tale of a guy who walked upon a wire would be something rather dull, but what you find within the nearly 90 minute film is that there really is a profound narrative to be told.  The tagline for the film calls it the artistic crime of the century, and I would be hard pressed to disagree.  Not only does Petit become completely obsessed with completing a task that very few would even consider, but also he does so before the towers are even constructed and with a mentality that is most often reserved for high-end criminals.

I won’t spoil everything for you, but I will say that the film plays out as much like a crime drama as it does an artistic piece about a man and his craft.  I found myself completely blown away by the set of characters and situations that it represented, and was left wanting more tales of the adventures that this man has most certainly had.  Even if you’re not a fan of the documentary style I find it hard to believe that you could not enjoy this film.  There are stories in life that are just too interesting to miss up, and because of that I would definitely place this one in the must see category!

9/10

Slightly different but equally as cool: Super Size Me