Man on Wire 8

A down-to-earth retelling of what has to be one of mankind’s greatest achievements. Climbing Everest or robbing Brinks seem mundane compared to walking on a wire suspended between the twin towers of the World Trade Center. I cringed in my seat, not surprisingly, at photos of Philippe Petit peering off the roof, and smiled out loud at video of his other feats, on Notre Dame and the Sydney Harbor Bridge. What made the movie truly rich, though, was the cast of characters who formed his team, especially Jean-Louis Blondeau, now with white hair and black eyebrows, cooler than any American could ever be, and their relationships, more interesting and real than, say, Ocean’s Eleven. Petit himself, wirewalker, magician, storyteller, provocateur, made you wonder why it took someone 33 years to make this movie.