Man on Wire

Discovery Films | Release Date: July 25, 2008

8.2	USER SCORE Universal acclaim based on 143 Ratings

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RichardSFeb 26, 2009

I don't understand why people like this movie at all. The best I can think of is that it involves some kind of symbolic recoding of the WTC event of 2001. I thought the movie was overwrought and that everyone in it seemed stupid. I was I don't understand why people like this movie at all. The best I can think of is that it involves some kind of symbolic recoding of the WTC event of 2001. I thought the movie was overwrought and that everyone in it seemed stupid. I was not surprised when one of the accomplices said his memory was foggy because he used to smoke too much pot; they all talk like pot-heads. This film is like an exercise in mind control; you have these lunatics histrionically telling you how amazed you're supposed to be and then they don't give you anything to be amazed at. If the tone had been less strident, it would have been a better film. In fact, I feel that the filmmaker's tendency to blow up every detail out of proportion deflates any value that might be inherent in this dumb story.… Expand

1 of 1 users found this helpful

SaraMAug 14, 2008

This movie had a really great CONCEPT and a super STORYLINE but it was simply wayy too long. Occasionally funny and moving, it was a 90 minute movie that could have been done in 30 min.

0 of 1 users found this helpful

BadMovieMay 1, 2009

Worst movie known to man. Dramatizations really ruin a documentary and this one is full of them. Main character is completely full of himself and makes you want to hate him despite his semi-cool caper. The recent doc on Joy Division was 100 Worst movie known to man. Dramatizations really ruin a documentary and this one is full of them. Main character is completely full of himself and makes you want to hate him despite his semi-cool caper. The recent doc on Joy Division was 100 times better. I am a democrat and I now use the term "freedom fries" instead of "French fries" after watching this. Dont be fooled by the reviews like I was, the emperor has no clothes.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

AndrewDJul 11, 2009

The story is mildly interesting, but is told in such a self indulgent way that it is hard to stomach. They talk about breaking into the WTC and setting up their wire as if they were pulling off some great robbery, sorry but it's more The story is mildly interesting, but is told in such a self indulgent way that it is hard to stomach. They talk about breaking into the WTC and setting up their wire as if they were pulling off some great robbery, sorry but it's more like the time my buddies and I snuck into the Dolphins stadium to take pictures of ourselves with "GO CUBS" painted on our chests. The tight rope walker, Phillipe, wants to martyr himself so badly that he says, the police threw him down a flight of stairs and that he didn't know if he would be put in jail for the rest of his life or what. He continued on because he had to fullfill his dream no matter the cost. Give me a break, his punishment for this feat was to put on a street show for some kids and the city dropped all the charges. Oh and look what he does to his mates and his girlfriend once the feat is completed. He comes off to me as self absorbed, self-centered jerk. The wire walk between the towers in itself is a beautiful site to behold, but I don't see why it warrants 90 minutes of contrived build-up. I still don't understand why they couldn't just ask to setup the wire instead of all the cloak and dagger BS. People shoot movies in NYC all the time and it would provide great publicity for the towers which had just been built at the time. Why would the city say no? The Notre Dam walk I understand not asking there since it is church, but come on - NYC? Sign a few waivers and go knock yourself out, why not? This doc is a waste of time.… Expand

0 of 1 users found this helpful

FilipeNetoMar 1, 2021

I am not an expert in evaluating documentaries (or anything else, I do not consider myself an authority on any particular subject), but I confess that I did not feel particularly excited about this documentary. For an Oscar-winningI am not an expert in evaluating documentaries (or anything else, I do not consider myself an authority on any particular subject), but I confess that I did not feel particularly excited about this documentary. For an Oscar-winning documentary, I think something was missing.

To begin with, the topic is quite alien to me. I am not a fan of acrobats, and I hate the circus and almost everything related since I was a child. I don't know why, it's something that I always carried with me. Furthermore, I liked the way Philippe Petit pursued his dream, but that's it. As a person, Petit seemed repugnant: an unreasonable man, who does not listen to anyone when making a decision, an artist driven by his own desire for self-assertion, with an overly dominant and self-centered personality. In the documentary, his wife says a phrase that, for me, sums up Philippe Petit's personality and way of being: "We became inseparable and, in his life, I completely forgot mine, and he didn't even care about realize if I had my destiny to follow. It was evident that I had to follow his." I rest my case.

The documentary addresses the topic correctly and is technically well done, it makes everything clear to those who are watching. However, it starts from an incorrect premise: that the public knows in advance what Philippe Petit did in the towers of the World Trade Center. The American public, perhaps, and fans of funambulism will surely know this acrobat quite well... but I, like most people in Europe, no longer even remember the World Trade Center for any reason other than the tragic way how it ceased to exist.… Expand

0 of 0 users found this helpful00

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