Telling true stories are tricky endeavors for the big screen. If they become to focused in tragic events, they can be depressing or hard to watch. If they are too saccharine, you could alienate viewers looking for an unbiased portrait of history. Telling true stories can be a balancing act and none more delicate than when they involve the World Trade Center.
The first teaser for Robert Zemeckis' THE WALK put the focus on Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit and the promise of breathtaking 3D. This new trailer delves further into the dramatic exploits that led to this literal high wire act.
Twelve people have walked on the moon, but only one man – Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) – has ever, or will ever, walk in the immense void between the World Trade Center towers. Guided by his real-life mentor, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), and aided by an unlikely band of international recruits, Petit and his gang overcome long odds, betrayals, dissension and countless close calls to conceive and execute their mad plan.
Sony is marketing THE WALK as a PG-rated, all-audience entertainment for moviegoers 8 to 80. It is always tricky making movies that involve the World Trade Center as evoking the events of Septembe r 11th are still traumatic for countless people. Robert Zemeckis is an immensely talented filmmaker, so making this movie with the heart and inspirational feel of FORREST GUMP while using the technical wizardry he has shown in everything from his motion-captured films to the more subtle effects in FLIGHT could make THE WALK an incredible experience. Based on the trailer, I think he may have done it.
THE WALK opens in 3D and IMAX 3D on October 2, 2015.