The Twin Towers remain a symbol for Americans, especially for New Yorkers. Prior to their destruction on 9/11, they were the ultimate symbol of fearlessness, the ability to overcome the seemingly impossible and the power of the American Dream. Perhaps no story embodies all of those ideas more than the story of Philippe Petit, a French high-wire artist who dared to walk the distance between the twin towers.

The story was already told in an Academy Award winning documentary "Man on Wire" and, seemingly taking some inspiration from that film, director Robert Zemeckis has decided to position his new movie "The Walk" as an extended flashback with Petit (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) talking directly to the audience atop the Statue of Liberty.

His narrative is highly focused on his rise to prominence as a high-wire artist, the trials and tribulations he overcame on his path to success and the eventual "coup" of walking across the towers. In this respect the plot as conceived by Zemeckis and co-writer Christopher Browne is rather focused with any other extraneous bits of information about Petit's life left out. We have small snippets of information on his origins though we never really know what inspired him to get into the dangerous craft.

It makes for a rather focused plot-driven story at the expense of character. Still there is sufficient whimsy throughout with Petit's voiceover maintaining levity over the proceedings and making the overall narrative come off as a fairy tale of sorts.

After spending half of the movie establishing Petit's many relationships, particularly with his lover and muse Annie Allix (Charlotte Le Bon), the story moves to New York where we get to see every step of Petit's intricate and illegal plan to rig a wire across both towers that he can walk across.

The story hits into a new gear at this point, moving from the jovial tone of the first half into something that feels more like a thriller. Zemekis cracks tremendous amounts of suspense into every frame of this sequence until we finally get to the fateful moment of the coup.

And then the tone goes off the rails a bit with tension and border-like burlesque coming to the fore. On one hand you have constant closeups of the wires giving off the sense that they might snap and kill Petit. On the other you have his snide voiceover, counteracting the tension. There are also police officers making cliché responses to the situation that are played for laughs. It creates a bit of confusion for the audience as they endure this rather tense moment.

The film's conclusion might have some viewers straining for tears while upsetting others that find it manipulative.

On the technical side of things, the visual effects are quite wondrous, the green screen effects melding beautifully to make the viewer feel like he or she is gliding over New York with Petit. There are some effects that are quite noticeable CGI and leave the viewer wondering whether Zemeckis intended for the viewer to be momentarily pulled out of the "realism" of the narrative or to come to grips with the film's fairy tale aspects.

The 3D certainly works at times, particularly in the vertiginous imagery atop the twin towers, but it is crucial to note that as is usually the case with most 3D, the viewer stops noticing it after about 10 to 20 minutes into the movie.

The musical score by Alan Silverstri plays up the whismy factor, almost bordering on cheesiness with some passages used to "Mickey Mouse" emotion for the viewer. Sometimes this proves rather distracting.

This is nothing if not a showcase for Gordon-Levitt who not only transforms himself into the smooth talking Petit, but does so with impeccable French. It is a physical undertaking and the actor is able to really immerse the viewer in that experience. There is, however, no sense of a deeper personality beneath the charming Petit with only his obsessive nature counteracting his overall good nature.

Ben Kingsley is the other standout performance in the film as Papa Rudy, Petit's mentor. He is a reserved man, yet full of warmth and kindness toward his greatest pupil. The remaining cast members all give solid turns, though none of them gets enough screen time to really shine.

All in all, "The Walk" is entertaining though hardly revelatory. The shift in tone could be disconcerting for some viewers, though those willing to take the film as a modern-day fairytale will find a lot of enjoyment to take away.