You could tell Philippe Petit's ego is ENORMOUS, but I still found him charming and interesting.

And the documentary itself is wonderful. It's gripping in its content and perfect in its technical execution. I was on the edge of my seat often. One of the year's best movies and completely deserving of the praise which has been heaped upon it.

A-

Thank you Netflix Watch Now feature.

I can understand not liking Petit. He's kind of a sociopath. But that's kind of what I found engaging about him. The one thing I took away from the film was how so many years later Petit was actively engaging in the telling of how he did it. The way he'd stand on his feet, pop in and out of curtains while pretending to be under a tarp, reenacting a game of hide and go seek with a guard; the guy was just a master storyteller.

And yet he managed to destroy all of his friendships in the process of doing this. MadGez brought up the film Zodiac and both films are indeed very similar in how obsession can have an impact on someone. He had this obsession for several years. He brought in his friends and girlfriend in on the project. Did he care what would happen as long as he got on that wire? Did he even think about it? Was it worth it once it was over with? Based on his interviews in the film, absolutely. That's what makes Petit interesting.

And despite all of that, Petit's charm is how the film is able to get across it's true message and that simply being that anything is possible. To use a corny, but sometimes useful cliche, if you can dream it you can do it. Mix that in with some great recreations, and somehow a buildup of suspense (I never really considered myself to be afraid of heights, but even a photo during the planning stages of the even with Petit standing near the edge of the roof caused me to feel some anxiety) with a payoff and you've got a pretty damn great film.

****

That about sums it all up for me. Utterly enthralling and uplifting. A

As many here may know, I'm no fan of aggregate film review sites - - nonetheless it's hard not to be impressed that Man On Wire has the second highest Rotten Tomatoes score of all time - - 100% over 146 reviews (just two less than Toy Story 2's 100% over 148 reviews).

A wave of sadness just washed over me, as I thought of the many people who haven't yet had the pleasure of seeing this extraordinarily good documentary.