If the events depicted in Man On Wire were from a fictional movie, chances are that most viewers would dismiss them as too fantastical and unrealistic. However, in 1974 Philippe Petit actually spent 45 minutes walking back and forward between the Twin Towers 1,350 feet above the ground (a total of eight times), making James Marsh’s documentary all the more extraordinary. Given that Petit and his team’s coup was completely unsanctioned, it’s as much as heist film as it is anything else, with British filmmaker Marsh employing plentiful archive footage, useful re-enactments and contemporary talking head interviews to construct a strong narrative. At times, sure, there are occasional lulls, but Petit is a funny, charismatic and endlessly enthusiastic raconteur(he is to artistic crime and wire-walking what Arnold Schwarzenegger is to bodybuilding), while it’s also nice to see something about the World Trade Center which doesn’t mention 9/11 or terrorism. Frequently enthralling stuff.

Continued at: www.flixcapacitor.co.uk/film-review/man-on-wire-2008