the walk movie review

‘The Walk’ Review: An Immersive Retelling of Petit’s Impossible Dream| NYFF 2015

'The Walk' isn't just a successful IMAX 3D thrill. It's also a fun, inspiring and heartfelt story.

Having seen James Marsh ’s Academy Award-winning documentary, Man on Wire , and having read high-wire artist Philippe Petit ’s book, To Reach the Clouds , I couldn’t imagine how director Robert Zemeckis could possibly find a unique yet worthy way of retelling and honoring this incredible true story. Lo and behold, he pulled it off with  The Walk , turning Petit’s “coup” into an especially harrowing, entertaining and heartfelt feature film.

Philippe ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) always had a thing for magic, gymnastics, juggling and performing, but when he discovers high-wire walking, his aspirations go through the roof. He’s determined to find the perfect place to put his wire and then one day, in the dentist’s office, he finds it - right between the towers of the World Trade Center. With the help of his mentor, Papa Rudy ( Ben Kingsley ), his girlfriend Annie ( Charlotte Le Bon ) and a team comprised of close friends and unlikely associates, Philippe sets out to pull off his coup and walk across his wire 110 stories up.

Having a tough time buying Gordon-Levitt as a Frenchman in the film’s promotional campaign? Sadly that never really goes away. The Walk opens with Gordon-Levitt as Petit talking to the audience from the Statue of Liberty's torch. It’s laughable at first and makes The Walk feel more like a cheesy theme park ride rather than a quality feature, but it doesn’t take long for Gordon-Levitt’s undeniable charm to kick in. He never hits the point where you look at him and think “Petit” rather than “Joseph Gordon-Levitt playing Petit,” but there’s so much honesty and energy to his work that it’s easy to get swept up in his showmanship.

The movie definitely focuses on Philippe’s determination and talent, but it certainly doesn’t ignore the fact that he could also be extremely hotheaded and selfish. The Walk easily could have been all about the walk itself, but because Zemeckis and co-writer Christopher Browne take the time to show how Philippe’s behavior affects the people around him, the movie functions as a strong character journey as well.

Speaking of his companions, Philippe has many, but James Badge Dale and César Domboy are the scene-stealers. Dale steps in as JP, a salesman Philippe meets in New York who winds up becoming one of his most valuable accomplices. Dale completely loses himself in the role, expertly adopting JP’s persuasive, quick-talking style and dishing out a good deal of the film’s most successful one-liners. Domboy plays Jean-François, aka Jeff. He’s introduced to Philippe through a mutual friend and is the most unlikely member of the “World Trade Center Association.” He’s completely dedicated to helping Philippe fulfill his dream, but the problem is, he’s afraid of heights. Jeff is a quiet, unassuming guy, but Domboy has a very natural, appealing on-screen presence that pays off big time when he finally gets his chance to shine during the big rigging sequence.

Kingsley has a handful of memorable moments as Papa Rudy, the leader of the famous Omankowsky Troupe. There’s definitely something familiar about his mentor/mentee relationship with Philippe, but there’s more than enough nuance and high-wire walking particulars in his lessons to make their connection engaging and unique. As for Le Bon, she’s certainly got chemistry with Gordon-Levitt and manages to sell Annie as a real person rather than just Philippe’s girlfriend. The movie doesn’t bother to address how the coup affects their relationship until the very, very end, but that’s definitely the result of the need to shape the narrative for the screen. It is an interesting scenario, but it doesn’t belong in Zemeckis’ interpretation of the story and the one subtle reference he makes to it is effective enough.

When Gordon-Levitt first steps out on screen and starts preaching to the audience in his French accent, while posing on the Statue of Liberty’s torch nonetheless, I thought the movie was going to be total nonsense. However, Zemeckis proved me wrong quick enough through his firm handle on the tone, style and pacing of the film. There’s something about the way he shoots Paris that feels too clean and fairytale-like, but otherwise, The Walk is especially well shot and edited before it hits the absolutely astounding wire-walk sequence. The Walk could be one of the most intense IMAX 3D experiences out there, but a big reason Philippe’s trek across that wire is so nerve-wracking is because of how clearly all the details are presented. Not only are we with Philippe as he collects all the important measurements and tools for his coup, but then there’s the elaborate rigging scene where you get to see Philippe and Jeff put it all to use. By the time he takes his first step out on that wire, you’re right there with him in every respect. Zemeckis’ use of IMAX 3D undoubtedly enhances the event, but it’s the strong performances, storytelling and shot selection that make the movie’s big moment especially immersive.

The Walk is a high quality crowdpleaser. It’s big, bold, beautiful and zips through the wildly inspiring narrative with a powerful amount of momentum. Zemeckis delivers big when it comes to the use of the IMAX 3D technology, but what makes The Walk far more than a quick thrill is Zemeckis’ respectful and heartfelt approach to telling Philippe’s story, and especially what the Twin Towers mean to him, an aspect of the film that will undoubtedly strike a chord with many.

• International edition
• Australia edition
• Europe edition

The Walk review – vertiginous fun

Heartfelt and entertaining dramatised version of Philippe Petit’s amazing 1974 wire walk between the twin towers does a decent job of making palms sweat

J ames Marsh’s great documentary Man on Wire, about the French acrobat Philippe Petit and his magnificent 1974 wire walk between the towers of New York’s World Trade Center was a healing act: a celebration of Petit’s act of love to cancel the act of hate on 9/11. Petit missed a single trick: he omitted to get cine film of the event, and now Robert Zemeckis has tried to rectify this with a heartfelt and extremely entertaining Imax-3D fiction feature based on the event.

It reproduces pretty faithfully what Marsh got on the record, though tactfully removing the fact that Petit was afterwards unfaithful to his French girlfriend Annie by having a fling with an American fan. This is a family movie, after all. Joseph Gordon-Levitt does an intelligent, conscientious job playing Petit: alert, focused, with decent French, though maybe he doesn’t capture the childlike, unworldly quality that emerged in Marsh’s film. Ben Kingsley is Petit’s irascible old circus mentor Papa Rudy; Charlotte Le Bon is Annie and that notable acting chameleon James Badge Dale plays a French-speaking New Yorker who helps Petit and his crew infiltrate the building. The great wire-walk scenes themselves are really tense, vertiginous and very enjoyable. You know he survives in the end – like General de Gaulle at the end of The Day of the Jackal – but it doesn’t stop it being exciting. Zemeckis has specialised in plane-crash drama in movies such as Cast Away (2000) and Flight (2012). His brand of high anxiety has a different outcome now.

• Drama films
• Robert Zemeckis
• Joseph Gordon-Levitt
• September 11 2001

Comments (…)

Most viewed.

In Theaters and Digital

The walk - movie review.

{jatabs type="content" position="top" height="auto" skipAnim="true" mouseType="click" animType="animFade"}

[tab title="Movie Review"]

{googleAds}

Don’t look now but there’s yet another film currently playing in theaters with a strong central character which isn’t played by a human. Everest Director Baltasar Kormákur’s mountain carried that film as an imposing juxtaposition that perfectly highlights man’s insignificance in the world, while the harsh alien landscape in The Martian is as imposing a movie villain as you’ll ever see.

Now it’s Robert Zemeckis’s turn to anthropomorphize in The Walk , a film that recounts the amazing feat of Philippe Petit, a frenchman who defied gravity– and authority – by stringing a cable between the twin towers of the World Trade Center back in 1974 and tightroping between them for nearly an hour. The feat effectively transformed the buildings New Yorkers callously referred to as filing cabinets into something alive and very poetic.

What you get out of The Walk – and subsequently how much you like the film – will depend greatly on whether or not you saw James Marsh’s Oscar-winning 2008 documentary called Man on Wire . As expected, the two are very different films, but familiarity with the event, its significance, and its eventual outcome strips The Walk of much of its suspense and intrigue. Remove the event itself and really all that’s left is its historical relevance and getting to know the “artist” behind the feat. Unfortunately, we learned more about Petit, his preparations, and motivations in the documentary and Zemeckis does little to frame the story in a distinct place and time.

The Walk opens with Joseph Gordon-Levitt talking to the camera in a thick French Parisian accent as the downtown Manhattan skyline glows eerily behind him. As the camera pulls out, we see he’s standing on the torch balcony of the Statue of Liberty. Get it? Both are gifts from the French. Subtlety has never been one of Zemeckis’s strong suits.

It’s from this vantage point that Petit narrates the story, giving us some insight into his inner thoughts about the upcoming feat which he lovingly refers to as his coup. What is meant to lend a fairytale, fable-like charm to the story as Petit talks to the camera, actually comes off as a cheap gimmick and blatant use of green screen CGI.

We follow Petit’s life from the beginning as a street performer in 1960s Paris where he learns to tightrope under the tutelage of Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley) a famous-at-the-time Czechoslovakian highwire performer. It’s also here where Petit falls in love with Annie Challis (Charlotte Le Bon), another street performer with whom he shares his most private dreams and aspirations.

One of those dreams is his walk between the twin towers, an obsession which consumes the next six years of his life as he formulates an elaborate plan. The Walk , at this point, turns into somewhat of a heist film and the segments of clandestine preparations represent some of the film’s most entertaining moments as he scouts it out Mission: Impossible style. He spends weeks mapping out the grounds, watching workers come and go, and familiarizing himself with schedules and patterns. Petit and his motley crew of abettors, including James Badge Dale’s jean-Pierre, exploit the fact that the towers are under construction. Through some pretty sneaky maneuvers, they are able to get their numerous crates of equipment to the tower’s rooftop. The suspense to this point is minimal however as getting caught scoping out the World Trade Center in a pre-911 world would likely only mean an arrest and short detention. My, how things have changed.

Once Petit’s walk begins however, the danger cranks up to maximum levels and so does the audience’s anxiety. The actual walk sequence is a gripping as it gets, enhanced by the eye-popping 3D effects that open up in a huge iMax envelope. Save for a few cheap gotcha moments as things jump at the camera, it’s worth the premium to experience it in 3D. The camera zooms around and under Petit as he slides his feet onto the cable and shifts his balance from the building’s edge onto the wire. Only a handful of still photographs exists of Petit’s real-life walk so it’s quite thrilling – and actually a bit genuinely unsettling – to see it unfold from the first-person perspective. Warning: those with acrophobia had better take heed. Your fear of heights will be pushed to the limits as will your white-knuckled grip on the armrest.

Though it’s not fair to compare the two, The Walk is an anemic comparison to Man on Wire . Or perhaps it’s just unfortunate that Man on Wire came first. Either way though, Zemeckis’s script, with writing help from Christopher Browne, tries to build character and provide fulfilling motivation on the buildup to the film’s climax, but always seems in too much of a hurry to get to the money shot. The film’s tone is harmless and innocent, though a bit misguided. The real star of the show, however, is the World Trade Center, with its ghostly appearance that still evokes heavy emotions to this day.

[tab title="Film Details"]

MPAA Rating: PG for thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking. Runtime: 123 mins Director : Robert Zemeckis Writer: Robert Zemeckis and Christopher Browne Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Charlotte Le Bon, Guillaume Baillargeon Genre : Adventure | Biography Tagline: A true story. Memorable Movie Quote: "JPeople ask me "Why do you risk death?". For me, this is life." Distributor: Sony Pictures Releasing Official Site: http://thewalkmovie.tumblr.com/ Release Date: October 9, 2015 DVD/Blu-ray Release Date: No details available. Synopsis : 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. Robert Zemeckis, the director of such marvels as Forrest Gump, Cast Away, Back to the Future, Polar Express and Flight, again uses cutting edge technology in the service of an emotional, character-driven story. With innovative photorealistic techniques and IMAX 3D wizardry, The Walk is true big-screen cinema, a chance for moviegoers to viscerally experience the feeling of reaching the clouds. The film, a PG-rated, all-audience entertainment for moviegoers 8 to 80, unlike anything audiences have seen before, is a love letter to Paris and New York City in the 1970s, but most of all, to the Towers of the World Trade Center.

[tab title="Blu-ray Review"]

No details available.

[tab title="Trailer"]

New in Theaters/VOD

New on Home Video

• Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tommy Lee Jones Join Swelling LINCOLN Cast
• See a Bad-ass Joseph Gordon-Levitt in New HESHER Trailer
• HESHER Trailer and Short Clip
• The Walking Dead Complete First Season - Blu-ray Review
• (500) Days of Summer DVD Review

Movie Trailers

• Trailer Watch - JANE Season 2
• Trailer Watch: DINOSAUR
• Trailer Watch: BLOODLINE KILLER
• Trailer Watch: KIM'S VIDEO
• Trailer Watch - RADIOACTIVE: THE WOMEN OF THREE MILE ISLAND

BADass B-Movies

Movie Reviews

Morbidly Hollywood

• Colorado Street Suicide Bridge
• Death of a Princess - The Story of Grace Kelly's Fatal Car Crash
• Joaquin Phoenix 911 Call - River Phoenix - Viper Room
• Screen Legend Elizabeth Taylor Dies at 79
• Suicide and the Hollywood Sign - The Girl Who Jumped from the Hollywood Sign
• The Amityville Horror House
• The Black Dahlia Murder - The Death of Elizabeth Short
• The Death of Actress Jane Russell
• The Death of Brandon Lee
• The Death of Chris Farley
• The Death of Dominique Dunne
• The Death of George Reeves - the Original Superman

Screen Rant

The walk review, the walk is an entertaining and often thrilling piece of storytelling, in addition to being an impressive display of 3d filmmaking..

The Walk stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Philippe Petit, a French street artist who becomes obsessed with tightrope walking at a young age. Philippe hones his craft under the guidance of the experienced high-wire performer Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley), before setting out to "hang his wire" in a variety of challenging and dangerous locations - sometimes illegally, if need be. However, after seeing an image of the mid-construction World Trade Center, Philippe decides that his dream is to perform the artistic "coup" of the century: walking a high-wire strung between the Twin Towers.

Philippe, with assistance from his friends and fellow artist/lover Annie Allix (Charlotte Le Bon), travels to 1970s New York to fulfill his dream, along the way picking up additional "accomplices" who help him scope out the World Trade Center and plan their operation ahead of time. However, as Philippe's date with destiny approaches, even he begins to wonder if the crazy idea is truly feasible... and if his most ambitious high-wire walk yet will also be his last one.

The true story of Philippe Petit's high-wire walk between the Twin Towers (back in 1974) was previously brought to cinematic life with the 2008 Oscar-winning documentary, Man on Wire . The Walk 's Oscar-winning director Robert Zemeckis - whose iconic filmography includes Back to the Future , Who Framed Roger Rabbit , and Forrest Gump - avoids merely rehashing what Man on Wire did with Petite's story by instead framing the tale as a contemporary larger-than-life fable, told by Petit himself (whose energetic narration throughout the film works more often than it does not, taken on the whole).

Zemeckis and his script co-writer Christopher Browne's screenwriting approach, in turn, elevates The Walk  beyond a re-enactment of Petit's grand "coup" and transforms it into a Big Fish -esque parable about the American dream - one that doubles as a refreshingly subtle (and even touching) ode to the World Trade Center and what it symbolized, through the eyes of Petit. The Walk often strives to hit the same polarizing notes of whimsy as previous Zemeckis movies have ( Forrest Gump , in particular) - sometimes to better effect than others, while examining Petit's "origin story" during the narrative's first act. However, once the plot moves further into heist genre territory (similar to Man on Wire before it) during its second act (and the setting shifts from France to the U.S.),  The Walk really - pardon the pun - hits its stride.

Unsurprisingly, it's The Walk 's third act that really impresses, as Petit's famous "walk" brings both his personal journey and the overall film to a climax that's both nerve-wrackingly exciting and thematically satisfying, at once. Zemeckis and director of photography Dariusz Wolski (the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, Prometheus ) use immersive camera angles and shots to powerful effect throughout the movie - pulling viewers deeper into Petit's fast-moving and colorful world - yet it's with the setup and execution of Petit's Twin Tower "walk" that the movie truly breaks new ground, as an example of what 3D can be used for in terms of cinematic storytelling.  The Walk does not consistently push the boundaries of 3D craftsmanship like Alfonso Cuarón's Gravity , but it does reach similar artistic peaks with the eponymous sequence - enough to make Zemeckis' film must-see material in both 3D and IMAX, on its own. (Those scared of heights - consider yourselves warned.)

Beyond that, The Walk boasts a lovely, softly lit, visual style that allows the film's world to resemble something from a dream or a nostalgic memory not altogether grounded in reality (similar to Life of Pi in that regard). This element further enhances the idea that Zemeckis isn't creating a docudrama about Petit; rather, this version of the story is informed by Petit's eccentric outlook and the film's look reflects that narrative framework, aesthetically. That is in addition to the liberties that Zemeckis and Browne take with the facts that inform their script work, for creative purposes (e.g. to generate more dramatic tension in the story when necessary, and so forth).

Joseph Gordon-Levitt nimbly adapts the look of the real Petit (blue eyes, orange hair, sinewy physical build) with his turn in The Walk , while also boasting a consistent French accent that (arguably) sounds just as authentic as the genuine French accents that certain of his costars here possess. However, like with any great performance, it's not how Levitt changed his appearance that makes Petit come alive as a character; it's his unbridled (and sometimes border-line erratic) passion and manner that makes the actor thoroughly convincing as a man willing to do whatever it takes to achieve his "impossible" dream. The Walk , as mentioned before, isn't always as naturally whimsical as it aspires to be, but Levitt is very much the beating heart that gives this shiny display of 3D cinematic showmanship life.

Still, the supporting characters in The Walk are not as fully developed as Petit (and the real-life important roles they played in executing Petit's "coup" is arguably played down at times), yet Petit's accomplices each have a distinct personality. Bringing a nice mix of humanity and humor to their respective roles are such talented character actors as Charlotte Le Bon ( The Hundred-Foot Journey ), James Badge Dale ( Iron Man 3 ), Ben Schwartz ( Parks and Recreation , House of Lies ), and Steve Valentine ( A Christmas Carol (2009) ) - with Ben Kingsley rounding out the strong ensemble as Petit's curmudgeonly mentor, Papa Rudy.

The Walk is an entertaining and often thrilling piece of storytelling, in addition to being an impressive display of 3D filmmaking. If Flight represented Zemeckis' return to form after several years of directing polarizing motion-capture feature films, then The Walk demonstrates the director is still invested in telling great stories through whatever cutting-edge filmmaking technology is available to him. While The Walk isn't on the same level as Gravity  as a whole experience, it nevertheless does raise the bar for future 3D filmmaking ventures in numerous ways - while still incorporating the core ingredients of any good movie (good performances, solid writing, etc.).

Those who have never seen Petit's story brought to life before may find The Walk to be an exhilarating rendition of his tale - one that should be experienced on the biggest screen available. Some fans of Man on Wire might find The Walk to be more of a style over substance take on the same narrative (and could also take issue with how it departs from the facts); but again, those open to a different rendering of the same plot may find Zemeckis' film to be an equally admirable take on Petit's "artistic crime of the century."

The Walk  is now playing in select IMAX 3D theaters, and will expand nation-wide on October 9th, 2015. It is 123 minutes long and is Rated PG for thematic elements involving perilous situations, and for some nudity, language, brief drug references and smoking.

Let us know what you thought of the film in the comment section!

Common Sense Media

Movie & TV reviews for parents

• For Parents
• For Educators
• Our Work and Impact

Or browse by category:

• Get the app
• Movie Reviews
• Best Movie Lists
• Best Movies on Netflix, Disney+, and More

Common Sense Selections for Movies

50 Modern Movies All Kids Should Watch Before They're 12

• Best TV Lists
• Best TV Shows on Netflix, Disney+, and More
• Common Sense Selections for TV
• Video Reviews of TV Shows

Best Kids' Shows on Disney+

Best Kids' TV Shows on Netflix

• Book Reviews
• Best Book Lists
• Common Sense Selections for Books

8 Tips for Getting Kids Hooked on Books

50 Books All Kids Should Read Before They're 12

• Game Reviews
• Best Game Lists

Common Sense Selections for Games

• Video Reviews of Games

Nintendo Switch Games for Family Fun

• Podcast Reviews
• Best Podcast Lists

Common Sense Selections for Podcasts

Parents' Guide to Podcasts

• App Reviews
• Best App Lists

Social Networking for Teens

Gun-Free Action Game Apps

Reviews for AI Apps and Tools

• YouTube Channel Reviews
• YouTube Kids Channels by Topic

Parents' Ultimate Guide to YouTube Kids

YouTube Kids Channels for Gamers

• Preschoolers (2-4)
• Little Kids (5-7)
• Big Kids (8-9)
• Pre-Teens (10-12)
• Teens (13+)
• Screen Time
• Social Media
• Online Safety
• Identity and Community

Explaining the News to Our Kids

• Family Tech Planners
• Digital Skills
• All Articles
• Latino Culture
• Black Voices
• Asian Stories
• Native Narratives
• LGBTQ+ Pride
• Best of Diverse Representation List

Celebrating Black History Month

Movies and TV Shows with Arab Leads

Celebrate Hip-Hop's 50th Anniversary

Common sense media reviewers.

Well-meaning but uneven desegregation drama has language.

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Takes on prejudice, asking big questions such as "

The movie has four "good" characters, though some

Story hinges on issues of integration and race. So

A character gets shot; he throws himself in front

Teen couple caught kissing. Sex-related dialogue.

Extremely strong, constant language includes "f--k

Character drinks several cans of beer on front sto

Parents need to know that The Walk is a drama about an attempt to desegregate Boston schools in 1974. The story focuses on the buildup of tension before the first day of school, but the movie is so talky and static that it lacks any drama or power. Language is constant and extremely strong, with uses of "f--k…

Positive Messages

Takes on prejudice, asking big questions such as "Why do White people hate Black people so much?" and "If I'm not racist, but I don't do anything about other racists, does that make me just as bad?" Also questions where racism comes from. The big issue -- the idea of mandatory desegregation -- is shown as problematic, but the movie doesn't offer alternative ideas. Still, the major takeaway is that, despite all the layers and gray areas, the best you can do is try to be kind to everyone.

Positive Role Models

The movie has four "good" characters, though some are a bit thinly written. Black teen Wendy stands up to hatred with love and forgiveness at her new White school. Her father has the same values and is an EMT who saves lives. White police officer Billy tries not to be racist and frequently shows kindness to Black characters, but he could be seen as a "White savior" character. His wife, Pat, advocates kindness and appreciates her husband's attempts to do the same.

Diverse Representations

Story hinges on issues of integration and race. Some positive depictions of Black characters, but -- largely because of the 1970s setting -- they're generally portrayed as somewhat powerless and largely without agency. Some minor Black characters are depicted as pimps, sex workers, thieves. A White woman is from an unnamed foreign country (the actor is from Siberia) and is teased for "talking funny," but she still shows kindness and forgiveness. Racial slurs are used in a negative way.

Did we miss something on diversity? Suggest an update.

Violence & Scariness

A character gets shot; he throws himself in front of a bullet to protect a teen. Man shoves teen girl down on grass and punches another man repeatedly; bloody face. White characters throw rocks at two Black characters in a car. Tense, angry protest sequence with man shoving cop. Robber is arrested, slammed into roof of car. Strong violence described in dialogue. Arguing, shouting.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

Teen couple caught kissing. Sex-related dialogue. Married couple kissing.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Extremely strong, constant language includes "f--k," "motherf----r," "c--ksucker," "s--t," "t-ts," "p---y," "a--hole," "whore," "goddamn," "pr--k," "balls," "hell," "damn." Racial slurs include the "N" word, "nigga," "coon," "spade," "spear chuckers," "negro," "in the jungle," "cracker."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Character drinks several cans of beer on front stoop. Casual social drinking, mostly beer and whiskey. Cigarette smoking. Some pot smoking and cigar smoking. A character appears to have used heroin; a rubber hose is tied to his arm. Spoken references to drugs.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Parents Need to Know

Parents need to know that The Walk is a drama about an attempt to desegregate Boston schools in 1974. The story focuses on the buildup of tension before the first day of school, but the movie is so talky and static that it lacks any drama or power. Language is constant and extremely strong, with uses of "f--k," "c--ksucker," "pr--k," and many more, as well as many racial slurs. Violence includes a man being shot, a man shoving a teen girl to the ground and repeatedly punching another man (with blood), teens throwing rocks at a car, tension and shoving at a protest, and violent dialogue. There's also kissing and sex-related dialogue. Characters drink beer and whiskey, mainly in social settings, and smoke cigarettes, cigars, and pot. A character appears to have used heroin (he's shown with a rubber hose tied around his arm). To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Community Reviews

• Parents say

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

What's the Story?

In THE WALK, it's 1974 in Boston, and the Massachusetts Supreme Court has ordered a mandatory desegregation busing plan. Several high school seniors have been forced to switch schools, with some White students attending the Black Roxbury school, and some Black students attending the White Southie school. Kate ( Katie Douglas ), who lives with her progressive parents Pat (Anastasiya Mitrunen) and police officer Billy ( Justin Chatwin ), has started dating local "bad boy" John (Matthew Blade), picking up racist behavior as a result. Meanwhile, widowed EMT Lamont ( Terrence Howard ) and his daughter, Wendy ( Lovie Simone ), are preparing for Wendy's year at Southie with courage and forgiveness. At work, Billy feels pressure from his old Southie cronies ( Malcolm McDowell and Jeremy Piven ) to try to prevent integration, but Billy is committed to protecting all the kids, regardless of color.

Is It Any Good?

Well-meaning and full of progressive, anti-racist themes, this drama is nevertheless directed like a static after-school special. It's all heavy dialogue, with little emotional involvement or visual flair. The Walk -- not to be confused with the same-named 2015 movie about tightrope walker Philippe Petit -- opens with several slides full of historical data. It's a clunky way to pass on a great deal of information that's essentially about the Supreme Court outlawing segregation and the many years that passed while nothing was being done. And while the movie seems to agree that mandatory busing of kids to other districts wasn't the greatest idea, it doesn't offer any better ones.

Likely modeling itself after Crash , The Walk tries hard to paint its characters in shades of gray, but it also has a need to drive home its messages, resulting in most characters neatly falling on either one or the other side of the line. The most interesting character is Kate, who was raised well by her progressive parents but easily slips into racist behavior anyway. Douglas plays her in a rounded, organic way, but the movie still doesn't quite know what to do with the character or how to explore her. And some of the setups are so laughable -- Pat carrying groceries through a shadowy parking lot at night, for one -- that they negate the scenes' meaning. The big moment -- the first day of school and a violent protest -- feels artificial and clumsy. It's less a history lesson than a sleep "walk."

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about The Walk 's violence . How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?

How does the movie address issues related to race and diversity ? Do non-White characters have power or agency? Why, or why not?

Is Billy's character a positive role model? In what ways could he improve? Is he also a "White savior"?

Why do you think it took so long for Boston (and other cities) to implement desegregation? Why was the idea to bus teens to other schools problematic?

How are drug use, smoking, and drinking depicted? Are they glamorized? Are there consequences?

Movie Details

• In theaters : June 10, 2022
• On DVD or streaming : June 10, 2022
• Cast : Justin Chatwin , Katie Douglas , Lovie Simone , Terrence Howard
• Director : Daniel Adams
• Inclusion Information : Female actors, Black actors
• Studio : Vertical Entertainment
• Genre : Drama
• Run time : 105 minutes
• MPAA rating : R
• MPAA explanation : language throughout including racial slurs, and some violence
• Last updated : June 17, 2023

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Suggest an Update

Our editors recommend.

BlacKkKlansman

Best History Documentaries

Black history on the screen: arts, business & culture.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

The Walk : A Hokey Drama With a Thrilling Climax

Robert Zemeckis painstakingly and beautifully renders the high-wire artist Philippe Petit’s 1974 walk between the Twin Towers.

The Walk opens with a spectacular shot of the New York City skyline, complete with the Twin Towers perfectly recreated in faultless CGI, described lovingly in voiceover narration by the French high-wire artist Philippe Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). Then the camera pulls back to reveal Petit balanced on the torch of the Statue of Liberty, and the gentle magical realism immediately becomes absurd.

That’s The Walk ’s problem: For most of its running time, it can’t do anything visually splendid without crossing into hokey territory. There’s no quiet, poetic moment that isn’t immediately followed by a loud, clunky piece of comedy, an overwrought monologue, or a ridiculous display of technical prowess.

Recommended Reading

The Two Reasons Parents Regret Having Kids

When Does Someone Become ‘Old’?

Why Toddlers Deserve More Respect

Still, the movie almost gets away with it, because it closes with its titular set-piece, the famous wire-walk Petit performed between the two towers of the World Trade Center in 1974. Its director Robert Zemeckis has, of late, become intently focused on the limits of CGI and how they can impact storytelling on film, making motion-capture animated films like The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. All of that technological mastery is on display in the film’s final 30 minutes, best seen on the biggest screen possible. But whether you can enjoy the stodgy and formulaic lead-up to that bravura stunt depends on your tolerance for bad accents and worse dialogue.

As anyone who saw the Oscar-winning 2008 documentary Man on Wire would know, Petit is at heart a showman, a thrilling daredevil, and caddish clown, and The Walk tries to imitate his spirit from minute one. Gordon-Levitt, an actor capable of tremendous brooding subtlety in films like Brick and Mysterious Skin is fully extroverted here, almost acting as if he’s hosting an episode of Saturday Night Live. He’s resplendent in a goofy wig, jarring blue contact lenses, and a heroically silly French accent (a fluent French speaker, he sounds great when speaking the language, but far less so in English).

The film tries its best to match Gordon-Levitt’s carnival-barker performance, but there’s a fine line between charming and strained, and The Walk doesn’t have enough plot to breeze past every ridiculous affectation. Paris is photographed in chintzy black and white, as if viewers were watching newsreel of the Bohemian turn of the century, and it’s a wonder every character isn’t costumed in berets, striped shirts, and rings of garlic, so unsubtle is the rest of the imagery. That tone persists when the film shifts to mid-’70s New York, where every Brooklyn-accented cop looks and acts like he’s on the prowl for the Sharks and the Jets.

There’s an obvious motivation for this kind of pastiche: In personality and actions, Petit is hardly a subtle person, so why not rise to that? But until he gets on that high-wire, there isn’t much for Petit and his gang of misfits—including his girlfriend Annie (Charlotte Le Bon) and photographer buddy Jean-Louis (Clément Sibony)—to do. We see the restless Petit learn the circus trade at a young age from a domineering carnival owner, Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley, sporting an implacable accent of his own concoction,) and then quickly resolving to complete the “coup” atop the Twin Towers once he sees an article about their construction in a magazine.

The narrative bulk of the film is Petit’s meticulous planning and spy-work inside the Towers, building a case for a task the audience already knows he will accomplish. To embellish this, Zemeckis shows just what his camera can do combined with state-of-the-art CGI, sweeping up and down the 115 stories of the World Trade Center with ease and showing off the surrounding views, rendered in immaculate period detail. For anyone made queasy by heights, these are the moments that are easily the most dizzying. Once Petit is on his wire and ready to put on a show, The Walk finally settles down, pulls back on the plot and character stereotypes, and lets its images speak for themselves.

From a dramatic perspective, the most notable thing about Petit’s wire-walk was that it was relatively crisis-free, and the film is happily faithful to that fact. Zemeckis allows himself a couple of wobbly moments (will a specific cinder block break?) but mostly understands that the very sight of Petit between those towers is engrossing enough without any further tension. Once everyone has stopped talking and The Walk ’s technical wizards (along with Gordon-Levitt, who really did perform on a wire, though not 1,350 feet in the air) do their work, the film finds the grace it’s been seeking all along, and its self-serving narration finally feels necessary to the show, rather than thuddingly obvious.

As a piece of storytelling, The Walk has nothing on its documentary forebear, tripping over its lame attempts at humor and suspense too many times. But as something to see—akin to, say, a trip to the Planetarium, or a 20-minute IMAX movie—its set-piece cannot be ignored. Zemeckis’s failing is his inattention to every other detail, but The Walk undeniably exists for its climax: one stunt it does manage to pull off flawlessly.

By Peter Travers

Peter Travers

Expect the worst from the first half of The Walk . That’s the part before high-wire artist Philippe Petit ( Joseph Gordon-Levitt ) hits New York in 1974 and strings up a wire between the World Trade Center towers. Director and co-writer Robert Zemeckis kills time with curdled whimsy as Gordon-Levitt, speaking in zee outrageous French accent, shows us Petit’s early years as a Paris street magician, student of Papa Rudy ( Ben Kingsley ) and lover of Annie (Charlotte Le Bon). But then, oh, baby, does this movie fly.

Trump Forced to See Mean Memes About Him Shared by Prospective Jurors

Supreme court justices may do trump and jan. 6 rioters a solid, cher's son argues she's 'unfit to serve' as his conservator, o.j. simpson executor clarifies stance on goldmans receiving money from estate.

We’re off from the first suspenseful minute as Petit and his accomplices sneak into the towers (prepare to choke up at the digital re-creation), set up shop and pull off the most lyrical and illicit piece of performance art in, like, ever. Sure, James Marsh’s striking 2008 documentary Man on Wire traveled the same road. But Zemeckis, a technical virtuoso, does it in 3D IMAX. With the help of a killer FX team and cinematographer Dariusz Wolski, The Walk puts us up there 1,360 feet above the ground so we can almost feel the swirling air, the tautness of the wire and the rush of exhilaration.

Well, we could if Zemeckis didn’t pile on the voice-over telling us exactly what Petit is thinking. Ignore the tell and focus on the show, spectacular in every sense. The wondrous Gordon-Levitt has always been an actor of natural acrobatic finesse. Here, with lessons from Petit himself, he finds the poetic joy in performing that honors what the movie is about, a man who truly believes art can give you wings.

Jordan Klepper Questions MAGA Supporters Outside Donald Trump's Trial on 'The Daily Show'

• Late-Night TV
• By Emily Zemler

Christina Applegate Turned Down Offer to Appear on 'The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills'

• It's a Pass

Kimmel Roasts Trump for Trying to Pass Alleged Hush Money as 'Legal Expense'

• By Charisma Madarang

Ana de Armas Fans Settle False Advertising Lawsuit Over 'Yesterday' Trailer

• Courts and Trials
• By Tomás Mier

Newly Discovered Video Brings Tony Soprano Back to Life — But We Have Questions

• Sopranos Lore
• By Alan Sepinwall

Most Popular

Ryan gosling and kate mckinnon's 'close encounter' sketch sends 'snl' cold open into hysterics, keanu reeves joins 'sonic 3' as shadow, michael douglas is the latest actor to make controversial remarks about intimacy coordinators, masters 2024 prize money pegged at $20m, up $2m from prior year, you might also like, patra spanou film acquires bafici title ‘the pleasure is mine,’ shares first-look teaser while snagging chilean neo-western ‘bitter gold’ (exclusive), brad pitt and penélope cruz star in chanel tribute to classic french film, the best yoga mats for any practice, according to instructors, inside that epic ‘shogun’ episode 9 moment: ‘the best scene of the season’, caitlin clark smashes another tv record as wnba draft draws 2.45m.

Rolling Stone is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 Rolling Stone, LLC. All rights reserved.

Verify it's you

Please log in.

• Become a Critical Movie Critic
• Movie Review Archives

Movie Review: The Walk (2015)

• Greg Eichelberger
• Movie Reviews
• 8 responses
• --> October 10, 2015

I have to be honest, I might just have the world’s worst case of Acrophobia (for laymen, a fear of heights). This phobia could not have manifested itself any more acutely than during the newest release, The Walk , directed by Robert Zemeckis (“Who Framed Roger Rabbit,” the “Back To the Future” franchise and Academy Award winner for “Forrest Gump”), the story of Frenchman Philippe Petit’s famous high-wire walk between the two towers of the World Trade Center in the summer of 1974.

The scenes involving work at the top of the structures brought about a dizzying, head-spinning, almost nauseous wave which washed over me throughout the film’s relatively short 123-minute running time, forcing me to cover my eyes several times like a teenage girl at an “Evil Dead” marathon. Still, the effort to cinematically recreate this amazing feat was so well done, so realistic, so intricately designed that I could not look away for long, lest the full spectacle of The Walk be denied.

The credit here goes to art director Félix Larivière-Charron (“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button”), production designer Naomi Shohan (“ The Equalizer ”) and especially cinematographer Dariusz Wolski (“ The Martian ”) for recreating the New York skyline of the mid-1970s, including the now long missing World Trade Center towers.

Despite this glowing introduction, though, it does take a little work to hit its stride. We are introduced to Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “ Don Jon ”), an imp-like waif with a questionable French accent juggling and doing a street act in 1973 Paris. Entranced by the high-wire, he ingratiates himself into the world of tightrope walker patriarch Papa Rudy (Ben Kingsley, “ Exodus: Gods and Kings ”) and soon becomes confident enough to try his first public event. Unfortunately, he loses that confidence, stumbles and falls. Later, however, he succeeds at an illegal trek across the twin spires of the Notre Dame Cathedral, drawing media attention and whetting his appetite for his New York adventure. Of course, Petit cannot do this alone, so he recruits some Frenchmen, a street singer, Annie (Charlotte Le Bon, “The Hundred-Foot Journey”), photographer friend Jean-Louis (Clément Sibony, “ The Tourist ”) and math whiz Jean-François/Jeff (César Domboy, “Week-ends”), as well as Americans J.P. (James Badge Dale, “ World War Z ”), Albert (Ben Schwartz, “ The Other Guys ”) and the scene-stealing Barry (Steve Valentine, “I’m in the Band” TV series and looking very much like Hugh Jackman in “ Pan ”).

The actual walk is enough of a climax, but the real fun is how Petit and Co. prepare for such a journey. Spying on construction workers (the south edifice had yet to be completed), sneaking equipment up the 110 stories and then connecting the tightwire in the dead of night caused any number of chills, especially with characters matter-of-factly working to complete these procedure made this author feel even more queasy. There are so many problems to solve: Security guards to evade, equipment to test, disguises to wear, it makes for wonderful cinema.

Petit, who calls the walk the “coup,” is also immovable and firm in his conviction to complete his objective, even when police, helicopters and false friends get in his way. Despite the fact that we all know (namely those who witnessed or heard about the affair, or those who saw the 2008 documentary, “ Man On Wire ”) that Petit completed his walk safely several times, including kneeling and lying down on the wire (just like we knew the Titanic sank and the Apollo 13 spacecraft made it back home), so there are no spoilers here. The trick, however, was to make each step in the walk as suspenseful and intriguing as possible. I, for one, could not help be recoil and stare in wonder at the final walk at the same time. It was a truly amazing sequence.

Zemeckis, who co-wrote with Christopher Browne — based upon Petit’s book To Reach the Clouds , do just that. And while the action overwhelms the actors at times, the characters hold their own with the story when push comes to shove.

Finally, it’s difficult for us today to see the towers and know they are no longer in existence. Zemeckis realizes this too and acknowledges their loss by lovingly lingering upon them at their birth. The Walk becomes not only the story of a man obsessed with an almost impossible dream, but a requiem to metal and concrete and that which is good in all of us. It’s a bittersweet experience, but it’s also one of the most stirring and emotional experiences one is likely to see in the cinema in many years.

Tagged: New York City , novel adaptation , tightrope , true story

I have been a movie fan for most of my life and a film critic since 1986 (my first published review was for "Platoon"). Since that time I have written for several news and entertainment publications in California, Utah and Idaho. Big fan of the Academy Awards - but wish it would go back to the five-minute dinner it was in May, 1929. A former member of the San Diego Film Critics Society and current co-host of "The Movie Guys," each Sunday afternoon on KOGO AM 600 in San Diego with Kevin Finnerty.

Movie Review: Despicable Me 3 (2017) Movie Review: Transformers: The Last Knight (2017) Movie Review: All Eyez On Me (2017) Movie Review: The Mummy (2017) Movie Review: Baywatch (2017) Movie Review: King Arthur: Legend of the Sword (2017) Movie Review: The Promise (2016)

'Movie Review: The Walk (2015)' have 8 comments

October 10, 2015 @ 8:11 pm ngon

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no and no.

Log in to Reply

October 10, 2015 @ 8:41 pm Robert

I have no fear of heights; what I am afraid of is being in a theater full of people who are who may get nauseous from the action on screen. I’ll wait to watch this one from the sofa where I’m safe.

October 10, 2015 @ 9:13 pm douga

Sometimes you don’t need a reenactment. Man On Wire is all you need to see to witness Philippe Petit’s stunt.

October 10, 2015 @ 9:20 pm Garthman

I think I’ll thowup if I watched it.

October 10, 2015 @ 9:57 pm marbledbeef

So the actual walk is the climax of the movie? It’s all backstory and planning for 100 or more minutes? Screw that guys, I’m staying home.

October 10, 2015 @ 10:35 pm OptimusPr1me

Big deal. I saw Tom Cruise rappel and maybe even dance a jig on the side of Burj Khalifa skyscraper…

October 10, 2015 @ 11:18 pm pope on fire

I wonder if they figured in during production meetings how many people will NOT see this because of their fear of heights. Then they can claim that number just like they do when talking about how much money their losing because of those terrible torrenters.

October 10, 2015 @ 11:39 pm clemmons

Barfing into my popcorn is not my idea of a good time. This review will have to be enough for me.

Privacy Policy | About Us

 |  Log in

‘The Walk’ Review: This Well-Intentioned Civil Rights Drama Simpflies Boston’s Struggle for Integration

Terrence Howard and Malcolm McDowell bring depth to a pedestrian melodrama about court-mandated busing in Boston.

By Lisa Kennedy

Lisa Kennedy

• ‘French Girl’ Review: Zach Braff Finds Himself Pitted Against Vanessa Hudgens in a Clumsy Love Triangle Rom-Com 1 month ago
• ‘Sue Bird: In the Clutch’ Review: Adulatory Portrait of a WNBA Legend Takes the Softball Approach 2 months ago
• ‘As We Speak’ Review: Kemba Examines When Artistic Expression Is Wielded as Evidence 3 months ago

Irish Catholic police officer Bill Coughlin believes in the right thing enough to attempt to do it, when in 1974, he is assigned to protect Black children being bused to a high school in South Boston. We know of his public service bent because of what happens when he apprehends a shoplifter outside a Black-owned food market early in the well-meaning, if wrong-headed feature “ The Walk ,” starring Justin Chatwin as Coughlin. He cuts the guy a break, even though the mart’s owner isn’t nearly as sympathetic. The exchange between cop and thief isn’t all Kum Ba Yah, but it is intended to signal Coughlin’s decency. When it comes to walking the walk, Bill Coughlin may prove to be the real deal. As for “The Walk,” the film’s insights about racism come as familiar baby steps.

In 1974, the District Court of Massachusetts ordered Boston to integrate its public school system, using busing. The order was met with white community pushback, fury and violence. Much of this history was beautifully laid out in the 1985 book “Common Ground.” Anthony J. Lukas’s Pulitzer Prize-winning account of race relations in Boston during those years featured three families: one Black, one Irish American, one Yankee. Directed by Boston native son Daniel Adams (and co-written with George Powell), “The Walk” trains its focus on two families, each with a daughter about to begin senior year at the same high school: Coughlin, wife Pat (Anastasiya Mitrunen) and their willful child Kate (Katie Douglas); widower Lamont Robbins ( Terrence Howard ) and daughter Wendy (Lovie Simone). The first day of the school year looms large and menacing for each family. Think Little Rock in 1957 or New Orleans in 1960.

Furious that her senior year is being highjacked by desegregation, Kate Coughlin suffers from the peculiar myopia of many teens (it’s all about her), but she also embraces an overt racism her parents don’t share. Indeed, mother Pat’s halting Russian accent underlines the ways in which Bill is already an outlier in the tight-knit, Irish community.

Popular on Variety

Kate dumps her upstanding junior-year suitor and starts sneaking around to canoodle with neighborhood bad boy John (Matthew Blade), a scion of South Boston brutalism. She begins using racial epithets and one night she joins in throwing a rock at a car driven by a Black man. In that pelted car are Lamont and a terrified Wendy.

The soon-to-be-senior’s head is so screwed on straight that she genially putdowns the local pimp. That ease doesn’t extend to the fact she, her pining best friend Terrance (Coletrane Williams) and their friends will be bused from her predominantly Black neighborhood to an all-white high school. Wendy may be the opposite of Kate, but she too is troubled by of the court mandate.

Instead of richly evoking the era, the movie looks more like it was shot with the scant resources of the 1970s. Even so, the performances often rise above the After School Specialness of the filmmaking and its lessons. Howard brings capped anger and warmth to Lamont. In a pivotal role, Malcolm McDowell does a nice-ugly job as Laughlin, the cigar-chomping neighborhood boss who exerts a smooth, if treacherous, paternalism. Jeremy Piven is particularly loathsome as Johnny Bunkley. He’s John’s father and Laughlin’s muscle (not necessarily in that order), who’s been released from prison too late for a rabies shot but just in time to ply his brand of racist violence.

There is no shortage of familial drama or trauma in “The Walk.” Instead of shoring up an under-told story, this contributes to its flaws. Dramatizing the nation’s big problems — its systemic outrages — by having them play out within the confines of one or two households may have reached its limit in terms of insight. Kate’s teenage rebellion muddies the waters. And the mobster subtheme sets up a “High Noon” heroism for Bill that feels overstated. Although the reliance on it may underline a belief in the spoon-feeding some white audiences require at this late date to grasp the rot of racism.

Arguably, the story of how “The Walk” came to be is more interesting than the film itself. Director Adams met co-writer Powell while he was serving time for defrauding investors. Powell was incarcerated for drug trafficking. Years earlier in Boston, Adams’ father had a hand in the desegregation reforms. Powell’s sister was among the Black children bused. That the two connected, maintained that connection post-incarceration and took to tell the tale of their riven city, now that’s a story.

Reviewed online, May 21, 2022. MPA Rating: R. Running time: 105 MIN.

• Production: A Vertical Entertainment release of a Cinema Management Group, MMF Handshake Partners presentation, in association with Vertical Entertainment, of a Mooncusser Filmworks production. Producers: Hank Blumenthal, Michael Mailer, Paul Hazen. Executive producers: Alex Nazarenko, Rich Goldberg, Mitch Budin, Peter Jarowey, Jeremy Piven.
• Crew: Director: Daniel Adams. Screenplay: George Powell, Daniel Adams. Camera: Don E. FauntLeRoy. Editor: Justin Williams. Music: Robert ToTeras.
• With: Justin Chatwin, Terrence Howard, Lovie Simone, Katie Douglas, Anastasiya Mitrunen, Jeremy Piven and Malcolm McDowell

More From Our Brands

Christina applegate turned down offer to appear on ‘the real housewives of beverly hills’, robb report’s napa valley wine club has 3 stellar new reds on the way, caitlin clark smashes another tv record as wnba draft draws 2.45m, be tough on dirt but gentle on your body with the best soaps for sensitive skin, christina applegate: i was asked to join real housewives of beverly hills but ‘i would be the worst housewife’, verify it's you, please log in.

Log in or sign up for Rotten Tomatoes

Trouble logging in?

By continuing, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes and to receive email from the Fandango Media Brands .

By creating an account, you agree to the Privacy Policy and the Terms and Policies , and to receive email from Rotten Tomatoes.

Email not verified

Let's keep in touch.

Sign up for the Rotten Tomatoes newsletter to get weekly updates on:

• Upcoming Movies and TV shows
• Trivia & Rotten Tomatoes Podcast
• Media News + More

By clicking "Sign Me Up," you are agreeing to receive occasional emails and communications from Fandango Media (Fandango, Vudu, and Rotten Tomatoes) and consenting to Fandango's Privacy Policy and Terms and Policies . Please allow 10 business days for your account to reflect your preferences.

OK, got it!

Movies / TV

No results found.

• What's the Tomatometer®?
• Login/signup

Movies in theaters

• Opening this week
• Top box office
• Coming soon to theaters
• Certified fresh movies

Movies at home

• Fandango at Home
• Netflix streaming
• Prime Video
• Most popular streaming movies
• What to Watch New

Certified fresh picks

• Civil War Link to Civil War
• Monkey Man Link to Monkey Man
• Scoop Link to Scoop

New TV Tonight

• Under the Bridge: Season 1
• The Sympathizer: Season 1
• Conan O'Brien Must Go: Season 1
• Our Living World: Season 1
• The Spiderwick Chronicles: Season 1
• Orlando Bloom: To the Edge: Season 1
• The Circle: Season 6
• Dinner with the Parents: Season 1
• Jane: Season 2

Most Popular TV on RT

• Fallout: Season 1
• Baby Reindeer: Season 1
• Ripley: Season 1
• 3 Body Problem: Season 1
• Shōgun: Season 1
• Parasyte: The Grey: Season 1
• Sugar: Season 1
• A Gentleman in Moscow: Season 1
• Franklin: Season 1
• Best TV Shows
• Most Popular TV
• TV & Streaming News

Certified fresh pick

• The Sympathizer: Season 1 Link to The Sympathizer: Season 1
• All-Time Lists
• Binge Guide
• Comics on TV
• Five Favorite Films
• Video Interviews
• Weekend Box Office
• Weekly Ketchup
• What to Watch

25 Most Popular TV Shows Right Now: What to Watch on Streaming

30 Most Popular Movies Right Now: What to Watch In Theaters and Streaming

What to Watch: In Theaters and On Streaming

Awards Tour

Immaculate Director Michael Mohan’s Five Favorite Horror Films

Fallout : What to Expect in Season 2

• Trending on RT
• The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare
• Play Movie Trivia

2022, Drama, 1h 45m

You might also like

Where to watch the walk.

Watch The Walk with a subscription on Prime Video, rent on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, or buy on Apple TV, Fandango at Home.

Rate And Review

Super Reviewer

Rate this movie

Oof, that was Rotten.

Meh, it passed the time.

It’s good – I’d recommend it.

So Fresh: Absolute Must See!

What did you think of the movie? (optional)

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

Step 2 of 2

How did you buy your ticket?

Let's get your review verified..

AMCTheatres.com or AMC App New

Cinemark Coming Soon

We won’t be able to verify your ticket today, but it’s great to know for the future.

Regal Coming Soon

Theater box office or somewhere else

By opting to have your ticket verified for this movie, you are allowing us to check the email address associated with your Rotten Tomatoes account against an email address associated with a Fandango ticket purchase for the same movie.

You're almost there! Just confirm how you got your ticket.

The walk videos, the walk   photos.

Boston Irish cop Bill Coughlin contends with fierce social pressure in his neighborhood and rampant bigotry within the police force after being assigned to protect black high school students bused into all-white South Boston High during the court-ordered forced integration of the Boston School System in 1974. The political and social fallout resulted in brutal violence and city-wide protests. The film also is the story of Wendy Robinson, an 18-year-old black student, and her father Lamont, who both display immense bravery and moral fortitude. And the story of Kate, Bill's 17-year-old daughter, whose racism evaporates when she witnesses Wendy and Lamont's brave acts, as all three stories collide during that fateful first day of school.

Rating: R (Language Throughout|Some Violence|Racial Slurs)

Genre: Drama

Original Language: English

Director: Daniel Adams

Producer: Hank Blumenthal , Michael Mailer , Paul W. Hazen

Writer: George Powell , Daniel Adams

Release Date (Theaters): Jun 10, 2022  limited

Runtime: 1h 45m

Distributor: Vertical Entertainment

Production Co: Mooncusser Filmworks

Cast & Crew

Justin Chatwin

Bill Coughlin

Terrence Howard

Lamont Robbins

Lovie Simone

Wendy Robbins

Katie Douglas

Kate Coughlin

Anastasiya Mitrunen

Pat Coughlin

Jeremy Piven

Johnny Bunkley

Malcolm McDowell

Timothy McNeil

Mr. Douglas

Jason Alan Smith

Maggie Wagner

Barbara Douglas

Thomas Francis Murphy

Jenny Griffin

Cheryl Douglas

Coletrane Williams

Matthew Blade

Jackson Baker

Daniel Adams

George Powell

Screenwriter

Hank Blumenthal

Michael Mailer

Paul W. Hazen

Alex Nazarenko

Executive Producer

Rich Goldberg

Mitch Budin

Peter Jarowey

Don E. Fauntleroy

Cinematographer

Justin Williams

Film Editing

Robert ToTeras

Original Music

Timotheus Davis

Production Design

Jessica Davis

Art Director

Costume Design

Sheila Jaffe

Bryan Riley

Critic Reviews for The Walk

Audience reviews for the walk.

There are no featured audience reviews for The Walk at this time.

Movie & TV guides

Play Daily Tomato Movie Trivia

Discover What to Watch

Rotten Tomatoes Podcasts

Fallout TV Show: Ending Explained

Let's talk about the series finale and how it sets up the future of the tv show..

It’s safe to say that at the end of its eight-episode first season, Prime Video and the Westworld team of Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy have seemingly pulled off the impossible and successfully adapted Fallout for television.

While Prime Video's TV treatment doesn’t directly adapt any of the video game storylines, there are connective tissues throughout the show that call back to various games in the series, all culminating in a season finale which sets up a tantalizing new adventure to one of Fallout’s most beloved settings.

Spoilers for major plot points in the Fallout TV Series.

The Fallout TV Show's Ending Explained

The secret of vault 33.

Fallout begins 219 years after the nuclear war of 2077 decimates the United States and forces select citizens to enter nuclear war-protection shelters known as Vaults . Initially, it was set up to make viewers think that the story was a spiritual adaptation of Fallout 3 where our protagonist, Lucy MacLean (Ella Purnell), is forced to venture outside into the Wasteland and rescue her father, Overseer Hank MacLean (Kyle MacLachlan).

Fans of the Fallout games know that each Vault set up by Vault-Tec wasn’t just a shelter from nuclear war, but also a testing site where the corporation could run various experiments on its residents. It’s initially suggested that the MacLean’s Vault 33 was designed to simulate a “perfect meritocracy.”

This is in fact not the case at all. In reality, Vault 33 is part of a trio of inter-connected Vaults alongside Vault 32 and Vault 31, the latter of which actually houses loyal Vault-Tec employees from the year 2077 who were cryogenically frozen. This was done intentionally by Vault-Tec to ensure that its most loyal and successful employees could be awoken in the future to take charge of what’s left of the United States after the war ends and when radiation levels on the surface subside enough for them to rise up and take command of the wasteland.

Vault 32 and Vault 33 were designed as “breeding pools”, with highly desirable genetic subjects for Vault-Tec employees in Vault 31 to mate with and produce successful, Vault-Tec-aligned offspring, including Lucy and her brother. This test would’ve continued to run unbeknownst to the inhabitants of Vault 33 if it weren’t for a raider leader named Moldaver (Sarita Choudhury) – later revealed to be the head of the scrappy remains of the New California Republic – who invades the Vaults and kidnaps Hank.

It’s a Faction vs. Faction World

True to Fallout, various factions exist within the Wasteland and the show creates a mcguffin that pits these vying parties together. Along with the aforementioned Vault-Dwellers and Moldaver’s NCR raiders, the show spends a lot of time focusing on the Brotherhood of Steel as well as the other inhabitants of the Wasteland.

It all begins when Siggi Wilzig (Michael Emerson), a scientist of the Enclave, escapes the compound with a mysterious blue pill injected into his neck. This pill, it turns out, is a cold fusion reactor designed to produce unlimited energy. It was originally developed in the year 2077 by Moldaver before Vault-Tec acquired the technology, only to shelve it as it threatened bringing peace to a world fighting over finite resources. And as we know, peace is bad for Vault-Tec’s business. The reactor kicks off a race between Lucy, the Brotherhood of Steel, and a bounty hunter Ghoul named Cooper Howard (Walton Goggins) to acquire the reactor for their own personal reasons.

Prime Video's Fallout: The Brotherhood of Steel

The Brotherhood’s motives for acquiring the cold fusion reactor aren’t wholly clear other than they believe that with its unlimited power the Brotherhood will be able to conquer the Wasteland for themselves, and they send an ambitious squire named Maximus (Aaron Clifton Moten) to help the Knight Titus (Michael Rappaport) acquire the reactor.

While Lucy only wants the cold fusion reactor to use it as a bartering chip to free her dad from Moldaver’s raiders, Cooper initially sets out to collect the bounty on Wilzig’s head before finding out this bounty mission is tied to his own past.

A Showdown With Vault-Tec

Just as in the Fallout video games, Lucy starts off as a doe-eyed vault-dweller only to learn over her arduous journey that Vault-Tec is in fact not the altruistic corporation its image purported it to be. Instead, it’s revealed from various flashbacks to Cooper’s life in 2077 (where he is a famous Hollywood actor) that when Vault-Tec’s fortunes were threatened with a potential peace treaty that would make its hundreds of nuclear fallout shelters obsolete, Vault-Tec went ahead and launched its own nuclear weapons, thereby kickstarting the war themselves. They did so to ensure the company’s marquee product, the vaults, wouldn’t end up being defunct, unused relics.

It’s in these flashbacks that we get a glimpse of Vault-Tec’s true, sinister nature. Not only does Cooper’s wife and Vault-Tec executive, Barb Howard, reveal the company’s plans to drop nuclear bombs on America itself, but Vault-Tec makes a secret pact with America’s other successful companies like Westec to give them free reign of various Vaults throughout America for them to run their own twisted experiments. According to Vault-Tec, this would allow the companies to determine which one of them was best positioned to lead the post-war United States. In other words, a capitalist fight over the future.

However, what Vault-Tec and the other corporations didn’t take into account was the human tenacity for survival. While Vaults were reserved mostly for the wealthy, those who were unable to afford a place in the Vaults didn’t all just die off in the Wasteland once the bombs landed. At some point, 200 or so years after the first nuclear weapons were dropped on America, societies like the New California Republic rose up from the ashes with vibrant cities like Shady Sands as its capital.

While it's still a mystery how Moldaver survived for so long, it’s implied that she established Shady Sands which briefly served as a technologically advanced safe haven in the Wasteland. At some point, Lucy’s mother took her two children and briefly escaped Vault 33 and ended up staying in Shady Sands, at least until her husband found them.

As previously mentioned, Lucy’s father Hank is a dyed-in-the-wool Vault-Tec employee, meaning any threat to Vault-Tec’s supremacy needs to be squashed, including the New California Republic. In the final episode, Moldaver reveals that after Hank took the children back into the Vault, he not only dropped a nuclear bomb on Shady Sands, but did so knowing his wife was still there, turning her into a Ghoul.

What Happens in New Vegas

As the Brotherhood of Steel and Cooper arrive at Moldaver’s new base of operations where she is holding Hank hostage, Lucy learns the truth about her Vault and Hank, driving a wedge between father and daughter. As a fight between Moldaver’s forces, the Brotherhood, and Cooper breaks out, Lucy finds it hard to forgive her father. But that doesn’t matter in the end as Maximus — whom Lucy develops a romantic relationship with over the course of the series — ends up freeing Hank before Lucy could decide whether to even rescue him.

Hank proceeds to steal a Power Armor and attempts to leave Moldaver’s compound with Lucy before getting interrupted by Cooper who, remember, is also from the year 2077 just like Hank. More than that, Hank was a personal assistant to Cooper’s wife at Vault-Tec, having even picked up Barbara’s laundry on several occasions. Without support from her daughter and unable to return to Vault 33 — which has been taken over by another unfrozen Vault-Tec employee — Hank flees to presumably a safe haven for Vault-Tec employees, which is none other than New Vegas.

The glowing familiar sign of the Wasteland’s sinful capital is the final shot of the Fallout series, teasing a new adventure in the New Vegas strip for season 2 .

Is There Any Connection to the Games?

It was revealed that Todd Howard specifically requested Prime Video's Fallout creative team avoid any storylines that could potentially be used for Fallout 5. But that doesn’t mean the writers completely avoided dipping into Bethesda’s games at all.

While Prime Video's TV show tells an original story set in the Fallout universe there are threads that connect the show to the games. The cryogenic plot device, for example, is something the show borrowed from Fallout 4, where the game’s protagonist and other residents of Vault 111 were cryogenically frozen as part of the experiment run on the vault’s citizens.

Lucy’s journey begins with her setting off to find her kidnapped father, which echoes the start of Fallout 3. Meanwhile, the show sets up a second season set in New Vegas, which is of course the setting to one of the most beloved games in the series.

And those are just the big picture connections. The Fallout TV series does an amazing job weaving in references, big and small, throughout the first season which eagle-eyed viewers, as well us at IGN, have found littered around the Wasteland. The writing also functions on a meta level with Cooper at one point complaining about how the Wasteland somehow finds a way to send its inhabitants on time-consuming side adventures, just like how Fallout’s open world is filled with optional quests players can partake in.

Ultimately, the Fallout TV series once again raises the bar for video game adaptations following the successful Last of Us adaptation. And we can’t wait to see what’s in store next for season two.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's Senior Features Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd .

IGN Recommends

Advertisement

Supported by

‘The Stranger’ Review: Somewhere Over the Freeway

In this tense thriller on Hulu, Maika Monroe plays Clare, a Kansas transplant in Los Angeles who parallels Dorothy in Oz.

• Share full article

By Natalia Winkelman

“The Stranger” is a tense if tidy thriller that chronicles a ride-hail driver’s journey to surveillance hell and back. Her survival against all odds mirrors that of the movie itself: The film’s footage originally premiered in 13 short-form episodes in 2020 on the streaming service Quibi, several months before it shut down .

The recut version (on Hulu) bears little trace of its earlier form, although its life span across algorithm-driven streaming companies does cast the villain’s tech preoccupations — “whoever figures out the mathematical formula determining the losers and the winners in life will rule” the world, he declares — in a new, meta light.

Written and directed by Veena Sud (“The Killing”), the film follows Clare (Maika Monroe), a recent transplant to Los Angeles who falls into a freeway nightmare after her ride-hail passenger, Carl (Dane DeHaan), identifies himself as a serial killer. He claims he will murder her unless she tells him a good story.

If this opening sounds cliché, the film at least seems aware of the pitfalls. Sud creates parallels between Clare in Hollywood and Dorothy in Oz, assigning Clare a Kansan back story, a yapping terrier and a guileless attitude. And DeHaan embodies the tech-savvy Carl as a pasty, smirking male chauvinist who is sillier than he is scary.

It follows as something of a surprise, when, over the course of the second act, the film builds to a deeply agitated mood. Sud pulls off the tonal shift by keeping Carl largely offscreen; his looming absence, alongside Monroe’s knack for portraying paranoia, simmers with menace.

The Stranger Not Rated. Running time: 1 hour 37 minutes. Watch on Hulu.

Explore More in TV and Movies

Not sure what to watch next we can help..

Even before his new film “Civil War” was released, the writer-director Alex Garland faced controversy over his vision of a divided America  with Texas and California as allies.

Theda Hammel’s directorial debut, “Stress Positions,” a comedy about millennials weathering the early days of the pandemic , will ask audiences to return to a time that many people would rather forget.

“Fallout,” TV’s latest big-ticket video game adaptation, takes a satirical, self-aware approach to the End Times .

“Sasquatch Sunset” follows the creatures as they go about their lives. We had so many questions. The film’s cast and crew had answers .

If you are overwhelmed by the endless options, don’t despair — we put together the best offerings   on Netflix , Max , Disney+ , Amazon Prime  and Hulu  to make choosing your next binge a little easier.

Sign up for our Watching newsletter  to get recommendations on the best films and TV shows to stream and watch, delivered to your inbox.

Where Christian Service Begins - Weekend Edition

• Podcast Episode

Add a plot in your language

User reviews

• April 13, 2024 (United Kingdom)
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 27 minutes

Related news

Contribute to this page.

• IMDb Answers: Help fill gaps in our data
• Learn more about contributing

More to explore

Recently viewed

Best Romance Movies You Can Watch for Free on YouTube

• Free romance movies on YouTube offer classic screwball plots and feel-good rom-coms for cozy nights in.
• From The Accidental Husband to Ball of Fire, there's a range of romances available with a simple click on YouTube.
• Keep up with YouTube's latest free offerings for rom-com fans like What Women Want and The Back-Up Plan for a heartfelt movie night.

Nothing screams a cozy night in quite like a good Romance movie. With so many streaming platforms at our disposal, each with their own select user fee, it's hard not to spend an arm and a leg to tame that love story fix. Viewers who know where to look, however, can find some of their favorites go tos free of charge if they know where to look. Fortunately, the number of no-charge streaming options has soared in recent years. Those willing to sit through an ad or five will find their options ripe for watching.

Oldie but goodie YouTube just so happens to be one of these options.YouTube has a plethora of movies to choose from that are free (with ads). While obvious favorites like The Twilight Saga and forgotten cult classics like Cry, Baby abound, there are far more options for those looking for a classic screwball or drama. From Ball of Fire to A Walk to Remember , to What Women Want , here are some of the best romance movies you can watch for free on YouTube.

Updated March 9th, 2024 by Amanda Minchin : Rom-com fanatics and the like will be glad to know this article was just updated to include YouTube's most up-to-date listings!

The Accidental Husband (2008)

The accidental husband.

Release Date February 29, 2008

Director Griffin Dunne

Cast Uma Thurman, Colin Firth, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Lindsay Sloane, Sam Shepard, Justina Machado

Rating PG-13

Genres Romance, Comedy

The Accidental Husband is a romantic comedy from 2008 that starred Uma Turman as Emma and The Walking Dead 's own Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Patrick. In this film, radio host and relationship advice guru Emma's world is turned upside down when her upcoming marriage to Richard (Colin Firth) is delayed because she is still technically married to a man named Patrick. Patrick is a firefighter and the cunning mastermind behind Emma's troubles. He fabricates an elaborate plan for revenge that eventually leads to an unintentional and unexpected love story.

A Classic 2000s Delight

The title alone practically guarantees a formulaic, feel-good time. Uma Thurman provides a knock-out performance worthy of screwball originals, and her co-stars aren't too shabby either. Colin Firth is notorious for his leading male roles in romcoms like Bridget Jones' Diary , so his casting is perfect. Jeffrey Dean Morgan shows a familiarly scheming, but far more wholesome side to his acting repertoire. The film is chock-full of the typical screwball plot devices, from overly complicated problem-solving to impractically dramatic stakes, and has all the makings of a comfortable rom-com binge.

Stream on YouTube

The Back-Up Plan (2010)

The back-up plan.

Release Date April 23, 2010

Director Alan Poul

Cast Noureen DeWulf, Michaela Watkins, Jennifer Lopez, Alex O'Loughlin, Eric Christian Olsen, Anthony Anderson

Runtime 106

Continuing on the romantic comedy train, 2010's The Back-Up Plan , starring Jennifer Lopez and Alex O'Loughlin, is a solid choice for a free movie on YouTube. This rollercoaster of a plot starts with a desperate Zoe (Lopez), whose internal clock is ticking into overtime. Tired of waiting for the perfect relationship, she decides to get artificially inseminated in order to start a family. She then meets Stan (O'Loughlin) and the two completely hit it off. Zoe might have found her one and only, but is that one and only ready for fatherhood?

A Surprisingly Poignant Rom-Com

Kudos are in order for an early 2010s film about artificial insemination and its surrounding cultural questions. Jennifer Lopez is an icon in more ways than one, including her romcom lead prowess . While Alex O'Loughlin may perhaps be better known for his stint as Lieutenant Commander Steve McGarrett on Hawaii Five-0 , he manages to bring his comedic genre-mashing chops to the role. While the premise is fresh, the momentum of this film can be a bit still at times, its ending is far worth the wait.

What Women Want (2000)

What Women Want is a classic pairing of rivals to relations. In it, Mel Gibson plays chauvinist advertising exec Nick Marshall who, after a freak accident with a blow dryer, is suddenly able to eavesdrop on women's thoughts. Having recently lost a promotion and with his company looking to conquer the more feminine market, he uses this newfound skill to his advantage to listen in on his new boss, Darcy Maguire (Helen Hunt). Of course, this causes him to fall hard for her in the process. Between repairing his relationships with his female co-workers (and his young daughter) and coming up with the perfect ad campaign to impress his bosses, he takes full advantage of this newfound gift for as long as it lasts.

A Formula that Works

Acclaimed filmmaker Nancy Meyers is at her best in this film, as are Hunt and Gibson. Both actors were at the top of their game at the time, and their onscreen chemistry is absolutely electric. The message of empathy for one's fellow man (or woman, in this case), is hard to deny. Marshall's behavior is shown to stem from his upbringing in a casino, an insight that might otherwise have been lost in less adept hands. There's a formulaic nature to this film, yes, but it only serves to punctuate the story and its message all the more.

The 10 Most Underrated Performances In Romance Movies Of All Time

Penelope (2006).

Release Date March 1, 2006

Director Mark Palansky

Cast Ronni Ancona, Nick Prideaux, Michael Feast, Richard E. Grant, Christina Ricci, Catherine O'Hara

Runtime 101

Genres Romance, Comedy, Fantasy

Penelope tells the story of a family cursed by the decisions of their ancestors to not accept a pair of young lovers. In the present day, Penelope (Christina Ricci), an aristocratic heiress, is born with a pig snout as a result. The only way to break the curse is to find her true love, someone who will wholeheartedly accept her, snout and all. Her well-meaning, but utterly misguided parents hide her from the world for years... that is until, sometime after her 18th birthday, when they decide to take her love life into their own hands. Their attempts to set her up with a fellow blueblood, however, go horribly awry, leading Penelope to strike off on her own in search of acceptance.

Elevated by a Brilliant Ensemble Cast

Released during the height of fable fantasy fervor, this modern take on classic fairy tale tropes is nothing short of delightful. There is a message of acceptance hidden deep beneath the overtures of classism. Plus, this cast reads like an understated who's who, from Catherine O'Hara as Penelope's mother, to James McAvoy as a kind, but subterfuging suitor, to Peter Dinklage and Reese Witherspoon as newfound friends Penelope finds along the way. And, with a PG rating, the film is wholesome enough to binge with some younger loved ones in tow.

Ball of Fire (1941)

Ball of Fire is a classic screwball comedy featuring Barbara Stanwyck and Gary Cooper. The story centers around a group of bachelors (and one widower) who live and work together in a prim and proper pad. Desperate to understand and learn some more modern colloquialisms to add to the work, the youngest of them, Professor Potts, a grammarian in American slang, turns to Katherine "Sugarpuss" O'Shea for advice. A nightclub performer by trade, she only agrees to stay after finding herself on the run from police as a result of her mob boyfriend's shenanigans. The pair, of course, take a liking to each other, but are forced to put their feelings aside momentarily for the sake of the book and their lives after Sugarpuss' angry boyfriend comes a'calling.

A Screwball Comedy that Stands the Test of Time

This title perfectly encapsulates Stanwyck's character, a firecracker with a silver tongue for 'modern' American colloquialisms. Obvious references to the fable of Snow White aside, this juxtaposition of stuffiness and flamboyance makes for some incredible screwball shenanigans. The chemistry between the two leads is rife, though they are at times outmatched by those of their academic companions. A common matter in romantic comedies, the couple's attempts to save each other are of course what ultimately keep them apart for so long. Viewers will have to refrain from yelling at the screen for some more open and honest communication, which really would have solved just about all the woes of these two lovebirds to begin with.

Best Classic Screwball Comedies, Ranked

The wedding singer (1988), the wedding singer.

Release Date February 13, 1998

Director Frank Coraci

Cast Ellen Albertini Dow, Allen Covert, Drew Barrymore, Matthew Glave, Christine Taylor, Adam Sandler

The Wedding Singer features Adam Sandler as Robbie and Drew Barrymore as Julia, two features of the wedding circuit who are just perfect for each other. The only problem? Both of them are already engaged... to other people. That is until Robbie is dumped at the altar by his fiancé, who fell in love with his rock star persona and just can't stomach his new career as a wedding singer. This puts an obvious damper on both his personal and professional life as his gigs turn more and more sour. What follows is the ultimate will-they-won't-they as the newfound work pair finds their feelings for each other growing in spite of or because of their current and ex-spouses to be.

Irresistible Chemistry Between Sandler and Barrymore

This one is a classic on must-watch weekend re-runs for a reason. An early pairing between Sandler and Barrymore, it's no wonder after watching this film why they would go on to star alongside each other in so many more films. This film is easily one of Sandler's all-time best comedies, with just the right mix of oddball to offset the otherwise romantic tropes. Set in the '80s with the costumes and soundtrack to match, this film has an understated realness of work relationships amid the ridiculousness of wedding day jams. Plus, it's a chance to check out the comedic stylings of the always hilarious Ellen Albertini Dow as Rosie.

Every Day (2018)

Based on the novel by David Levithan, Every Day follows the love story between 16-year-old Rhiannon (Angourie Rice), who falls in love with the mysterious 'A' (who is played by far too many actors to list here). 'A', you see, is a traveling spirit, an entity that wakes up in a different living teenage body, regardless of gender, every day. Rhiannon first meets 'A' when they wake up in the body of Justin, her otherwise neglectful boyfriend. A day spent alongside her, of course, causes 'A' to fall madly in love with her, which leads them to seek her out long after he leaves her boyfriend behind. Upon learning his secret, Rhiannon is challenged to fall and stay in love with someone whose gender-fluid, outward-facing form is forever in flux.

A Romance with Philosophical Undertones

This film does a stellar job of creating purpose for the characters in a cohesive narrative, it also manages to sneak in a handful of ethical conundrums, mostly centering around the agency of 'A' as they take over the lives of others. The bodies 'A' possess do not usually remember their previous day(s) spent taken over by 'A'. This begs the question of whether it is fair for 'A' to exist in others, especially when they take over bodies for an extended period of time, living their lives for them. The answer is, in a word no, a sad fact that both Rhiannon and 'A' both come to accept after time. Thankfully, 'A' manages to use their powers for good, for the most part, and still manages to leave an indelible impact on the lives they briefly possess.

The Time Traveler’s Wife (2009)

The time traveler's wife.

Release Date August 14, 2009

Director Robert Schwentke

Cast Bart Bedford, Katherine Trowell, Alex Ferris, Eric Bana, Arliss Howard, Michelle Nolden

Runtime 107

Genres Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi, Documentary, Fantasy

There's nothing like a bit of time travel to up the stakes for romance. The Time Traveler's Wife stars Eric Bana as the traveler in question, Henry DeTamble, and Rachel McAdams as Clare Abshire, his wife. Based on Audrey Niffenegger's 2003 novel, the film follows DeTamble's entrances and exits into Clare's life, which is the result of an uncontrollable para-genetic disorder. As a result, he travels back and forth between different important moments of his life without notice. Unable to change much about them, he struggles to develop a relationship with the love of his life, for whom his sudden appearances and reappearances throughout the course of her life eventually take their toll.

Another Sci-Fi-Tinged Romance

There is a graceful fluidity to this romance in what might otherwise have been marred with overwrought science-fiction explanations. While it is at first unsettling to watch DeTamble meet up with his wife in her pre-pubescent years and beyond, their involvement over time serves to both bond them together and tear them apart. There is an uneasy feeling of knowing what will pass, reliving old memories in real-time, and not being able to spend moments in said real-time with the ones you love. The mystery of not knowing when and where the main character will appear and reappear makes for some brilliant dramatic moments, which are only punctuated further by the unknown of just when they might happen.

20 Timeless Romance Movies That Never Get Old

Overboard (1987).

Overboard is an '80s comedy classic. Starring real-life partners Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn, this film follows a bratty socialite (Hawn) who loses her memory after falling overboard her yacht. The repair person she recently fired, Russell, comes to her aid but decides to use her loss to his advantage. Claiming to be her husband, he brings her home from the hospital to take care of his brood of rambunctious boys in their stuffed to the seams house. What will happen when she falls wise to his ploy? Will she stay 'married' and give up her former lifestyle? Or abandon this strange man and his family altogether. This film, which was remade in 2018 , is available on YouTube alongside the remake.

A Strange Premise that Has Aged Surprisingly Well

While the concept in this film is undoubtedly alarming, there is a deftness to the handling of this gaslighting plot. This is due, in part, to the skill of screenwriter Leslie Dixon, who would go on to create even more cult favorites like Mrs. Doubtfire just a few years later. The chemistry between Russell and Hawn, as well as their ability to play so well off of each other comedically, is why this film stands out as so crazily re-watchable years later, Stockholm syndrome and all. By some magic of filmmaking, both Russell's character and that of his rambunctious brood, seem to somehow, inexplicably, grow on the viewer with each watch.

A Walk to Remember (2002)

The iconic teen drama A Walk to Remember is based on an early Nicholas Sparks novel of the same name. The film stars Shane West as Landon and Mandy Moore as Jamie. What starts out as a classic '50s Romeo and Juliet story meets 10 Things I Hate About You takes a hard turn into reality as forces beyond their control serve to push them apart. Will Jamie's illness push them apart? Love, understanding, and passion are constants as they navigate their youth with what time they have left.

A Timeless Tearjerker

There's nothing like young love and a coming-of-age romance, particularly when that film is as highly rewatchable as this one is. Melodramatic to its core, A Walk to Remember features iconic performances by both Shane West and Mandy Moore in one of her earliest roles. Moore's musical performance is expected, but stellar. Perhaps more poignant for fans of tearjerkers are their matrimonial scenes. Be prepared to break out the tissues for this one.

Want More Romance Like A Walk to Remember ?

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Entertainment

Angelina Jolie and Daughter Vivienne, 15, Walk Red Carpet Together at The Outsiders Broadway Premiere

'The Outsiders' musical, produced by Jolie, had its Broadway opening on Thursday

Charlotte Phillipp is a Weekend Writer-Reporter at PEOPLE. She has been working at PEOPLE since 2024, and was previously an entertainment reporter at The Messenger.

Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

Angelina Jolie celebrated the Broadway premiere of her show The Outsiders with daughter Vivienne .

On Thursday, April 11, the actress and philanthropist, 48, made an appearance at the premiere of the The Outsiders , the new stage adaptation of S. E. Hinton 's beloved 1967 coming-of-age novel.

She posed with 15-year-old Vivienne as well as the show's score creator and book co-creator Justin Levine, plus the cast, on the red carpet at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre.

The Girl, Interrupted star dressed and styled members of the cast, as well as her daughter, in Atelier Jolie . The actress wore a Chloe x Atelier Jolie dress, along with a vintage cape.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human-interest stories. 

The Outsiders  takes   place in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in the 1960s and follows brothers Ponyboy Curtis (played by Brody Grant in this musical), Darrel Curtis (Brent Comer), Sodapop "Soda" Curtis (Jason Schmidt) and their group of friends some time after the death of the brothers' parents.

The musical's plot revolves around conflicts between the group of greasers and more affluent teenagers in the city, known as Socs. Rounding out the cast of the show are Sky Lakota-Lynch as Johnny Cade, Daryl Tofa as Keith "Two-Bit Mathews," and Joshua Boone as Dallas "Dally" Winston.

PEOPLE previously previewed one of the musical's brand-new songs, titled "Stay Gold" — a title familiar to fans of the original novel or 1983 film. Inspired by  Robert Frost ’s poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay," it's a line told to protagonist Ponyboy by close friend Johnny during one of the story's most pivotal moments.

Jolie first announced in August 2023 that she was working as a lead producer on the new musical. She also revealed at the that time that Vivienne would be joining the production as a volunteer assistant , and opened up about how the pair were inspired to get involved in the musical when they saw the pre-Broadway production at La Jolla Playhouse in San Diego.

Jolie recently told PEOPLE she was inspired to contribute to the new musical because "I feel so strongly about this material and this creative team." "It’s been a privilege to be a part of the process," she said. "I have so much respect for Broadway and all who work within."

The show has been playing in previews since March 16, and Jolie said she was "excited for audiences to see" the production.

"I've been in the theater watching as the first reactions came in, including the often very emotional reaction from young people. It’s very moving," said Jolie.

Tickets for  The Outsiders  are on sale now at  outsidersmusical.com .

Related Articles

Sasquatch Sunset review: A nature walk with Bigfoot

Among the most naturalistic cryptozoological studies in modern film, sasquatch sunset still feels like a full movie.

Sasquatch Sunset has more in common with a nature documentary than a narrative film: 89 minutes of wordless, but not silent, footage of a bigfoot family, which, at first, is only discernable by height. Even Sunset’s most recognizable star, Jesse Eisenberg, is lost under the layers of hair and prosthetics. The film’s other name star, Daisy Jones & The Six ’s Riley Keough, the only woman in the cast, is indistinguishable from her screen partners but for her lactating breasts that nurse the youngest bigfoot (Christophe Zajac-Denek) throughout. By the end of the film, the sasquatch has been so thoroughly demystified that the missing link is reduced to another confused, scared, and horny Earthling.

Related Content

Written and directed by brothers David and Nathan Zellner, the offbeat filmmakers behind the meta-western Damsel and Fargo -based wild-goose chase, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter , Sasquatch Sunset observes this foursome in their natural habitat: eating, drinking, breeding, and, of course, walking. What would Bigfoot be without walking? Bigfoot has been getting his steps in since 1967, when the infamous Patterson-Gimlin film launched a generation of conspiracists. Their groundbreaking footage of Bigfoot strolling into the frame, hands swaying at his sides, clearly influenced the Zellners. However, neither Roger Patterson nor Bob Gimlin, the “documentarians,” ever conceded their film was a con. Their commitment to the bit is one the brothers Zellner nearly match. If they weren’t so concerned with making Sasquatch Sunset funny.

Structured as a year-spanning road movie, with demarcations breaking the film into bite-sized quarters, the plot sees our creatures wandering the untouched wilds of Northern California. These seasonal markers will be a welcome respite for squeamish audience members squirming at the sight of yet another spikey bigfoot penis, providing them with a sense of place in the film and also how much time remains.

For the midnight movie crowd, who will likely spend the most time with Sasquatch Sunset , vibes are paramount, and they deliver. Observing the actors as they explore the untouched serenity of nature in remarkably lifelike prosthetics qualifies as a form of green therapy. Set to the lyrical guitars of Octopus Project’s score, the movie maintains a tranquil and leisurely atmosphere for large swaths of its brief runtime. Easy jokes could be made comparing the film to Harry And The Hendersons or the Geico Cavemen . But the tactility of the make-up and performance is closer to the opening section of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Sunset’s performances engage through a sense of discovery drawn out by the Zellners’ script that carefully decodes the characters’ non-verbal cues. Some are self-evident—when the largest, angriest sasquatch (played by co-director Nathan Zellner) wants sex, he smacks the sides of his fists together to get it. Other actions take time to register—a mid-film scratch-and-sniff of the crotch reveals itself to be a pregnancy test.

The Zellner brothers’ interest in the sasquatch goes back to their 2010 Sundance short, Sasquatch Birth Journal 2 . Those four minutes offer a more honest version of Sunset ’s conceit. Aping the VHS grain and lo-fi buzz of amateur footage, Birth Journal is told over three shots, with the first lasting nearly four minutes as the camera patiently waits for the beast to give birth. The delivery scene in Sasquatch Sunset , by contrast, is much more audience-minded, drawing influence from Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls ’ rhino birth, complete with shots of a bigfoot baby starting to crown, Bravo-esque reaction shots from other animals, and a nearby mountain lion feasting on bigfoot placenta. At best, it’s a little too eager to entertain. At worst, the directors seem self-consciously worried you’ll find the whole thing boring.

But Sunset is rarely dull, especially considering how radically different it is from other multiplex offerings. The Zellners’ script provides enough tonal variety to make this feel like a complete movie. As the film moves from summer to fall, the sasquatches begin running up against evidence of human life, the most terrifying being an empty stretch of road, perhaps the first the creatures have ever encountered. The humanoid apes look back and forth at the asphalt in horror, yelping and shrieking and peeing and pooping and lactating to show their disgust and fear. But the most fulfilling scene is an incident with a log that unearths unexpected emotions between Eisenberg and Keough. Everything works best when it’s coming through the performance, not the edit. Often, the directors’ touch isn’t light enough, and their forced attempts at humor upset the film’s natural balance.

Sasquatch Sunset will no doubt turn some people off. Others will lock into its rhythms, idyllic photography of the Californian wilderness, and unpredictable humor. The Zellners are too quick to put their thumbs on the scales, habitually unable to trust their actors to draw comedy out of their premise. Still, they make a remarkably compelling bigfoot drama. Sasquatch has never seemed more real.