> REVIEW
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Man On A Ledge (2012)
The ultimate distraction…
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By Matt Arnoldi | February 2012
DIRECTOR: Asger Leth
WRITER: Pablo F. Fenjves
In recent times we’ve had, man in a phone box (Phone Booth), man in a bathtub (Saw), man in a coffin (Buried) and now thanks to director Asger Leth we have… Man On A Ledge.
His giddy thriller stars cool and steely-eyed ex-cop Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) on day release from prison to attend his father’s funeral, manages to escape his guards and make for the Big Apple. When we catch up with Cassidy in a Manhattan hotel, he climbs out of the window and onto the ledge, twenty-two floors up.
As the New York community predictably goes into frenzy mode, we cut to new characters; the embittered city detective Jack Dougherty (Ed Burns), police psychologist Det. Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) and Baddie real estate and jewellery megalomaniac millionaire David Englander (played with delightful wickedness by the wonderful Ed Harris).
It seems Englander has a problem with greed. He was once shafted by Lehman Brothers and is now he’s determined to get his own back by stealing a large diamond kept in a building just across the street. From where Cassidy is threatening to jump. Cassidy and he also had previous, so there’s a score to settle.
Then there’s Nick’s younger brother Joey (Jamie Bell), who also wants that diamond and is aggrieved about his brother’s trumped-up charges. He’s assisted by girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) who believes in wearing exotic push-up underwear even when she’s on a heist job.
As the plot twists and turns far too much for its own good and Cassidy’s intentions are made clear, you begin to wonder why he isn’t at all affected by any wind conditions. When the media send in a helicopter, resulting in a force 10 gale, he manages to hold on. Then there’s the inspired decoy moment, when a bit of a shoe-shuffle hooks the masses below to such an extent that they don’t take a blind bit of notice of an explosion across the way.
It’s this kind of creakiness in the plot that undermines director Leth’s efforts, although in fairness he does make a pretty good start (with nifty use of flashbacks) and keeps up a pace to paper over the narrative’s weaker points.
Of the cast, the two Eds (Harris and Burns) come out of it best, making the most of their lines. The interaction between Bell and Rodriguez is also vaguely interesting, while the rest play it forgettably straight. Kyra Sedgwick as a TV news hack, Banks as a flawed cop and Worthington as action man Cassidy all have their moments but fail to shine.
Like those before it, Man on a Ledge only has a certain amount of mileage. It’s enjoyable if utterly dispensable and those more particular about their plausibility stakes may prefer to keep their feet on the ground and steer clear.
Script…………………………………………………………………………………………….
Pablo F. Fenjves’ script is all concept and no substance. Standard, run of the mill
dialogue coupled with ridiculous, implausible plotting. 2
Direction………………………………………………………………………………………..
Despite his leading man being stuck on a ledge, Leth admirably keeps the action
coming but sadly his commitment to the barrage of plot twists means this is
nothing more than by the numbers fodder. 3
Verdict…………………………………………………………………………………………..
A reasonable, at times guiltily enjoyable, thriller-filler. 3
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