Two Point Five Reviews

The power of a good movie is its rewatchability-every time you see it, something new pops off the screen. Now here’s the trick, mind you, it has nothing to do with the movie. It has everything to do with you in the audience. To admit that you’ve changed since the last twenty minutes since you’ve seen such a picture seems like a silly notion, but there is a truth to it. I used to work in a movie theatre. I remember having Batman on four different screens. However, even on days I saw it twice (we only had five screens, so my options during break were limited), I’d notice something different. Sometimes it was the choice of advertising by the filmmakers (“Is that a Camry she’s driving?”) or something deeper, like his house is like a bat’s cave—he hides in there even when he’s in there. But it happened.


I came to the documentary Man on Wire (a play on the words, ‘man of fire’) with a ton of baggage. My life is just starting to settle a few months into moving to Florida. I am starting to enjoy some of the simple pleasures a bit more of living among the palm trees and I can sit and watch a Netflix DVD without wondering about when my husOtter was going to move out or what I’d nuke for dinner this evening. Now, with a clearer head, I can see details that I didn’t see before.

In fact, I felt I probably liked this movie a bit more because of where I am standing and not so much for its actual content. The story surrounds a fascinating Frenchman named Phillip Petit. I call him fascinating, because if you were to bump into this gent in a 7-11, you’d go home with him. Not because he was hot or rich or even particularly good looking. He’s one of those men that has such an intensity that his personality brims with its own luminosity. I’m sure this is what happened to the filmmakers when they ran into him. He is unavoidable. Not only is he a man of powerful enthusaim, he was a circus performer. And, truly, he made it into a performance art-he walked tightropes.

I used to think of them as nothing much at the circuses I’ve experience. But think of your best friend talking about the hottie they just encountered. You never really cared for the person they are infatuated with. But your friend’s attitude is so high strung and involved, you can’t help but get sucked in. And that is what Phillip Petit did with this tiny art. His attitude caught me and brought me in. And, like a true artist, he had high hopes on what wires he’d like to walk on.

Really high hopes.

See, Phillip walked across the Twin Towers. Eight times.

And it was amazing.

Or was it.

Phillip saw the buildings as a challenge early in his career and made it his goal. All of his choices surrounded to making this a goal for himself. He prepared for it. He practiced. He even climbed other famous structures including the Sydney Bridge and the two towers of Notre Dame in Paris. Amazing stuff. His friends worked in tandem to help his dream come true. Truly amazing. And the film is structured like a documentary should be. We already know the outcome, as we tend to do in documentaries—so it is staggered between the actual moment of the act and meetings with his friends about the planning process.

So why did I like it so much?

Much like Rose in the musical Gypsy, I had a dream. I’ve always wanted to move to Florida. I really have, for quite some time. Even as a kid, vacationing here periodically, I saw the potential. I memorized the streets and drive times. I studied Disney World like Eisenhower planning the Omaha Beach invasion. I was a man with a purpose.

The purpose waned over time, an annoying gift brought on by the pangs of adulthood and the responsibilities of daily living. But when I met my husOtter and he confessed the same goal-it was back on the table. Now I’m thinking I’m publishing a blog entry on this move to Florida-but, in the meanwhile, let’s just say, well, I had much in common with Monsieur Petit.

So what I brought to the movie is what made this title even more potent. I enjoyed it—much like you might enjoy a Discovery Channel special on something you’ve never heard of. The novelty brought the audience in, the tenacity-about having a dream for your life—is what keeps you interested.

Now the holidays are over, but I get the time afforded to me to watch those good-but-boring movies you can’t just pop into the DVD player when running the dishwasher and dusting. The second title I watched also had volumes of baggage, my own personal baggage that is, attached to it.

I watched the Last Days, a brief segment of the entire “Shoah” library. Now, if you’re in the dark about the Shoah project, it’s an oral history captured on video of the Holocaust in Nazi Germany. The entire project seeks to make sure every aspect is documented by the survivors. Shoah is the Yiddish name for the Holocaust. It also is the name of a French picture that came out several years ago, that showed some of these segments.

This particular picture deals with five survivors during and their ordeal. Now this picture, though it isn’t truly answered, posits something very unique. Hitler, in the last days of World War Two, instead of diverting forces to the warfront, elected to accelerate his “final solution” against the Jewish populace.

Interesting choice. Instead of a final show of force, he chose to kill more and quickly those who had nothing against him other than existing. The question is never really answered. And the documentary does little towards showing new information-just more horror stories. Horror stories that were are somewhat, sadly familiar with.

Here’s the thing: remember what I said about what we get from a movie is what we bring to the table? Well, living in a nation that is so inherently angry with so much, I can see why something like the Nazis were formed. Here? We have the Tea Party, obviously a knee jerk organization that flits between out and out racism and fanaticism. Heck, they’re led by a yahoo who has no platform but is charismatic enough to rally everyone into a lather.

Take for example, The King’s Speech, which I also saw this weekend. I’ll write up something more formal later, but when King George the Sixth saw Hitler completing public speaking, his daughter asks what the Feurer is saying. The King responds, “I don’t know. But he seems to be saying it well.”

The fact is, America is angry (and, believe it or not, for no good reason, IMHO), and they will follow anyone who can rally them. This is what happened in Germany. This is how bad things happen.

It’s no secret I’m a minority. And my parents are Jewish. Such films rip into me like blades covered in iodine. But the fact is, I’m a teacher moreso. Kids today know of the Holocaust, but are still learning it. And we cannot forget. We never shall if I’m alive. But also, I’m one of those zingy happy people. I cannot dwell on the horrors.

But I will acknowledge them. Like by watching this movie. And making sure the good in the world grows just a bit more. And that we see the good everyone has to offer.

Two, (three if you count the King’s Speech) excellent pictures.