Walk This Way (1996)

User Rating:

9.1/10   

Director:

Kathy Vander

Genre:

Documentary | Short

Plot Keywords:

Wheelchair | Handicap | Independent Film

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Ron Bachman	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Steven Tyler	...	Himself

Runtime:

25 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Company:

Vander Films

I loved this Movie

As I started watching this movie, about a man who was born without working legs, I thought that it would be another one of those TV movie-of-the-week deals designed to make us feel sorry for the poor victim. I was wrong. This is a truly inspiring story about how one person, born with limitations, didn't spend a minute feeling sorry for himself but lived life to the fullest.

As the film begins, we see Ron Bachman as a ten-year old, in a black-and-white doctor's video. Although he has flabby, useless legs, he can use incredible upper body strength to move around the room with amazing dexterity, leaping over chairs and beds. When the doctors give him artificial legs, they are awkward and inhibit his movement. That sets the theme for the film, as it shows how Bachman lived with his disability, rather than trying to deny it.

I feel awkward saying "disablilty" because it is uncertain exactly what abilities Bachman doesn't have. He is a partier. He goes to concerts, and has become close friends with Aerosmith's Steve Tyler. He chased girls through high school and now has a wife and family. He rides around on a custom-made motor-bike, looking like Meatloaf from the waist up. He still has massive upper body strenght, and can move around his house at the same speed at which a normal person can walk.

I expected that I would feel sorry for Ron Bachman at the end of the film. Actually, I envied him. Here is a man with a lust for life that many people with fully functioning bodies lack. Instead of paying lip service to the power of the human spirit, this film demostrates it to show how it can overcome any obstacles.