Man on a Ledge marks the first film for me of 2012 and it wasn’t a bad one to kick off the year. The movie isn’t anywhere close to a masterpiece, but it’s fun entertainment and doesn’t waste much time getting to the meat of the story and watching everything unfold while the truth begins to reveal itself not only about the premise but the characters involved.
It has a nice cast lead by Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell and Elizabeth Banks, but the rest of the names like Ed Harris, Anthony Mackie (The Hurt Locker), and Kyra Sedgwick look attractive, but their talent is wasted by the end, which is a shame because they are capable of so much more and they have certainly proved it. However, this being director Asger Leth’s first feature film (only directed a documentary in 2006), he makes the movie a pretty fun ride and the word “boring” should never come up when it comes to describing Man on a Ledge.
The man on the ledge is Nick Cassidy (Worthington), an ex-cop who is now a wanted fugitive trying to prove his innocence in a very dramatic fashion. David Englander (Harris) is a very wealthy man who does business in real estate and when the market crashed, he was able to survive and stay alive through it all. And come to find out that may have had to do with a $40 million diamond which Cassidy was found guilty of stealing from Englander. The only problem is Cassidy says he never stole it and was set up and in reality, the diamond never left the sight of Englander.
So this leaves him with no choice but to cause a scene and try to bring some attention to his case and a shot at freedom. But that is not his only motive for what he is doing. Across the street in Englander’s hotel, Cassidy’s brother Joey (Bell) and his girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) are breaking in and hope to actually steal the diamond this time around to prove it was never stolen in the first place. I know it sounds crazy, but hey it could work….I guess.
With a movie like Man on a Ledge, there is the issue of corruption within the New York Police Department and also trying to make your ex-partner believe you are an innocent man. And with Cassidy’s set-up, we know there are some cops who are in on it. I mean Englander has a lot of cash so it only makes sense that some have been paid off. But who all is involved?
I must keep that a mystery. But there is a small yet nice relationship between Cassidy and Lydia Mercer (Banks), a NYPD negotiator. She is famous for negotiating with a rookie cop who she couldn’t save and perhaps Cassidy is her chance at redemption. He asks for her because she knows how it feels to be an outsider in the department and the only person he can actually trust. But she slowly catches on to his ulterior motive and she can’t decide how legitimate this whole thing is and whether or not she can or even wants to help him.
Worthington and Banks are the performances that stick out the most in the movie. Like I said before, everyone else offers just a little bit, but aren’t really given enough to begin with which makes it tough to hold them fully accountable. The only real problem I have with the movie is the last 20 minutes or so. It feels so rushed and is wrapped up so quickly that it’s very anti-climatic. It builds up to a certain point only to have it be settled within a few moments. Luckily, the ending didn’t ruin the experience completely, but this is your official warning about it.
But with all of that said, Man on a Ledge is a good movie because it delivers on providing entertainment that folks can enjoy and not leave you feeling miserable like I am sure moviegoers did when they saw Beastly, my #1 worst movie of 2011! So for my first movie of the year, it could have gone a lot worse. Man on a Ledge has 2012 headed in the right direction.
Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association and the Southeastern Film Critics Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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