Man on a Ledge (2012)
Review by George Elcombe
“Ocean’s 21st floor”
Just the title alone made me
interested in watching this film and it has a simple yet brilliant poster of
Sam Worthington (Nick Cassidy) on a ledge looking down at a crowd of police and
onlookers.
Before watching this film I was
thinking high concept along the lines of Phone Booth (2002), where we see a man
in a tight situation with the story unfolding as the film went along. But then
I saw the trailer, which shows Nick, off the ledge, being chased by police and
then in a car crash.
So, I felt a little disappointed.
My hope of a well crafted film utilising great writing, suspense and character
development are destroyed by said trailer. Luckily for me this footage appeared
in a flashback and I am pleased to say that we see Nick on the ledge for the
majority of the film!
Plot: There’s a man on a ledge. At
first nobody knows who he is or what his motivation is. The city’s media,
public and police are focused on him and he requests ‘celebrity’ police
negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks)
to talk to. She recently failed a cop who jumped to his death so is haunted by
recent events and will not let it happen again. As the story unfolds it turns
out that Nick is a distraction for a robbery happening across the street.
Now this film, although
predictable, is probably best watched with little knowledge beside the title,
so I’m going to throw in a SPOILER ALERT.
It stars another Jumper (sorry,
couldn’t resist) as Nick’s brother Joey (Jamie Bell who is generally great in
everything I’ve seen him in but underused and two dimensional in this). it is revealed that Nick is an ex cop serving 25
years for supposed diamond theft, which is all explained in the flashback
and as the film progresses. It turns out Nick was set up by his police partner
and some dirty cops so a property tycoon could commit insurance fraud and stay
afloat during the recession. Joey and his extremely attractive girlfriend are
committing the heist in order to steal the diamond and prove Nick’s innocence.
END OF
SPOILERS.
So this film is a bit of a mixed
bag. It’s overall a suspense thriller but incorporates some action, family
drama and obvious themes our global economical state and how the rich will do
anything to remain rich. I liked this
focus on corporate corruption where it's always the little guys who take
the hit. But the corporate company being called ‘Englander’? I love how Hollywood has Brits as the bad guy in every second film
made and have subliminally incorporated it in this film too.
It also
shows how careless and cold the general public can be toward a man who wishes
to end his life, with many shouting ‘jump’ and disgruntled that he has stopped
traffic.
But
ultimately this is a heist film nicely handled by Joey and Angie (Genesis Rodriguez). Although she is obviously there for a bit of eye
candy with her cleavage constantly on display, and there’s a shot of her in her
underwear. Whether this is needed or not depends on the viewer. However this
heist isn’t completely believable with their seemingly Tardis like bag of
tools, but is a fun aspect none the less.
The DVD
menu is a montage of shots from the film and cast, with a few minor spoilers.
It uses minimal dramatic music and opens with my favourite shot of the movie: a
pan from the hotel room through the window, to the ledge as Nick steps out.
This DVD
has a few standard extras. ‘The Ledge’ is a short but good making of
documentary which interestingly shows us that they started filming with a
stage and green screen, but then decided to film the majority of the film off
an actual ledge. It turns out that Sam Worthington is afraid of heights so good
on him for spending so much time 200 feet above New York .
It also
includes the films trailer with commentary from Elizabeth Banks that you can't
turn off. I thought this to be annoying but it's entertaining and fun to hear
her break down the trailer and her desire to ‘tap’ Ed Harris. A few crew
interviews are also included.
Ultimately it’s another fun
thriller which juggles between a no-brainer (why with all the robber’s tools
don’t they wear gloves to hide their fingerprints) to an enjoyable and
engrossing thriller as the film progresses. Entertaining, but not so much
memorable.
6 out of 10
If you like this try:
Phone Booth (2002)
Man on a Wire (2008)
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