"Man on Wire"

Let's face it, you really don't need to see this documentary to know what it's all about. You've seen the trailer and the photos, you know the magnitude of what Philippe Petit is attempting to do and the details surrounding his plan, and you've heard the praise on the Internet saying this is a documentary-turned-heist movie and it's awesome, but in the end, what you get is the singular event, the man on the wire.

But what I thought was most compelling about the film was the footage of the World Trade Center being built. The only footage we see of the Towers today is of them coming down in a pile of smoldering rubble, and it was refreshing, if not powerful, to see those magnificent structures being built by ordinary men, and then conquered in a way that didn't involve hijacked airplanes. In fact, I don't think the film was about Philippe Petit at all.