Man on Wire
Discovery Films | Release Date: July 25, 2008 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
89
METASCORE
Universal acclaim based on 31 Critic Reviews
Positive:
31
Mixed:
0
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
100
VarietyRobert Koehler
One of the most wildly entertaining docs of recent years. Read full review
100
Entertainment WeeklyLisa Schwarzbaum
The gorgeous music includes Ralph Vaughan Williams' wafting tone poem ''The Lark Ascending'' -- apt in describing an artist who might well be part bird. Read full review
100
Chicago TribuneMichael Phillips
The film itself is perfectly poised between artistry and audacity. It's beautiful. Read full review
100
Chicago Sun-TimesRoger Ebert
Man on Wire is about the vanquishing of the towers by bravery and joy, not by terrorism. Read full review
100
Wall Street JournalJoe Morgenstern
James Marsh's documentary raises the bar for the genre to skyscraper height. Read full review
100
Los Angeles TimesKenneth Turan
This is a police procedural, if you will, about what's been called the artistic crime of the century. Read full review
100
Washington PostAnn Hornaday
Thanks to Marsh's sensitive storytelling, Man on Wire manages to put Petit's performance into another, more ineffable realm: What began as a caper turned into poetry, and poetry became a prayer. Read full review
100
San Francisco ChronicleReyhan Harmanci
Delightful. Read full review
100
Baltimore SunMichael Sragow
One of the favorite sayings of journalists and politicians is "You don't want to see how the sausage is made." Marsh's movie says you do want to see how a miracle is made, even if the details can be just as unsavory. Read full review
100
Boston GlobeTy Burr
The sight is magical and heartbreaking in equal measure. Look, the movie says: Where so many would fall, a man walks on air. Read full review
91
Christian Science MonitorPeter Rainer
Petit, by the way, is still very much alive and spry. I saw him at a screening of the film at the Sundance Film Festival where he spoke to the audience afterwards. On his way up to the podium, he tripped. Read full review
91
Seattle Post-IntelligencerWilliam Arnold
An engrossing study in abnormal psychology, an inspirational drama that tells us a determined man really can do anything his mind can envision and is the first film that plays on what could become a phenomenon of the new millennium: World Trade Center nostalgia. Read full review
91
Portland OregonianMarc Mohan
Takes on the air of a heist film as the preparations proceed, and even knowing the outcome, tension still remains. Read full review
90
The New York TimesA.O. Scott
Thorough, understated and altogether enthralling documentary. Read full review
89
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
Hauntingly beautiful film. Read full review
88
TV Guide MagazineKen Fox
The film runs 95 minutes, and you'll be holding your breath for most of them. Read full review
88
New York PostLou Lumenick
Engrossing and exhilarating documentary. Read full review
88
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Kamal AL-Solaylee
Marsh's most remarkable directorial achievement, however, is preserving the original sense of amazement and awe when watching historical footage and still photographs of Petit walking that tightrope up in the sky. Read full review
88
Philadelphia InquirerCarrie Rickey
He had the fearlessness of a 104-story man and something more than a daredevil's brass. Read full review
88
Miami HeraldRene Rodriguez
As suspenseful as a full-blown thriller. Read full review
88
Charlotte ObserverLawrence Toppman
Wallenda once said, "Life is being on the wire; everything else is just waiting." This film makes that motto ring true. Read full review
80
Film ThreatMargot Gerber
Pre the events of 9/11, the film might have simply been an entertaining, high risk tale of a death-defying feat related in both interviews, archival footage and photos and Marsh's usual meticulous and creative re-enactment vignettes. Post 9/11 you find yourself marveling that a man in far away France became smitten with the twin towers long before they became the target of terrorist attacks. Read full review
80
New York Magazine (Vulture)David Edelstein
The most miraculous thing about Man on Wire is not the physical feat itself, 1,350 feet above the ground, but that as you watch it, the era gone, the World Trade Center gone, the movie feels as if it's in the present tense. That nutty existentialist acrobat pulled it off. For an instant, he froze time. Read full review
80
Village VoiceAnthony Kaufman
While largely lighthearted, Petit's walk and Marsh's film take on new meaning post-9/11. Man on Wire never mentions the events of that day, but the Trade Center's collapse continues to weigh on Petit, as if its destruction was every bit as tragic as the human lives lost that day. Read full review
80
New York Daily NewsJoe Neumaier
History has made his midair stroll meaningful, but the film shows how even then, everyone - from Petit to his accomplices to the cops who were waiting for him atop the North Tower - recognized the stunt's crazy poetry. Read full review
80
SalonAndrew O'Hehir
Speaking as one New Yorker who lived through 9/11 and saw this film with a packed house of natives at its Tribeca Film Festival premiere, I experienced Man on Wire as an almost mystical incantation. Read full review
80
SlateDana Stevens
Man on Wire brings back a time when the towers were still symbols of aspiration and possibility. Read full review
75
PremierePriya Jain
Much of this story is indeed entertaining: there's a tone of lighthearted mischievousness to the plotting and scheming of an illegal act that is essentially harmless. Read full review
75
ReelViewsJames Berardinelli
A fascinating time capsule: a combination of talking-head interviews, actual footage, and re-creations that evokes a kinder, gentler world and provides insight into one of the most audacious stunts of the 20th century. Read full review
70
Chicago ReaderJ.R. Jones
In archival photos Petit seems to float between the towers, a tiny black figure against a vivid blue sky; the images are all the more poignant for the unstated fact that Petit is still around when the buildings aren't. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubNoel Murray
It's a story worth telling, yes--but after 90 minutes, it's hard not to wonder if the storyteller can talk about anything else. Read full review
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