Review: Man on a Ledge

It’s practically impossible not to spoil at least some of the twists and turns in the plot synopsis alone here, so if you haven’t already seen it, I’d advise you to save this review for later, which is what I usually do. Just glance at the rating and come back later. ***** SPOILER WARNING***** from here on in.

 

Sam Worthington is a jailbird and ex-cop who loses an appeal against his sentence of 25 years for a diamond heist. He’s allowed out for his father’s funeral, and wastes no time in making his escape. He ends up in Manhattan, checks into a hotel, and goes out onto the ledge. Cops (Ed Burns and Titus Welliver) turn up on the scene, worried he’s a suicide jumper. I mean, why else would he be out there? Worthington says he’ll only talk to Elizabeth Banks, the police shrink, who is soon dragged out of bed with an obvious hangover. She also has a somewhat dubious past that sees her not especially popular with other cops. Obviously he’s not going to jump or else the movie would be over. So just what the hell is he doing? Apparently it’s a diversionary tactic, but in aid of what? Well, it seems to involve clearly nefarious rich guy Ed Harris, Worthington’s estranged brother (Jamie Bell) and the latter’s hot girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez). Anthony Mackie plays Worthington’s one loyal friend on the force, Kyra Sedgwick is an annoying TV news reporter on the scene from down below, and William Sadler plays a hotel bellboy.

 

Directed by Asger Leth (a feature debutant) and written by Pablo F. Fenjves, this 2011 flick is highly watchable in a junky kind of way, but is saddled with the most ridiculously contrived plot I’ve come across in a long time. You keep watching it because you want to see how everything connects, and because heists are usually fun, but by the end, there’s too many questions and contrivances to really recommend the film. I mean, what if Worthington wasn’t allowed out for the funeral? What if he didn’t manage to escape? And was it absolutely necessary for Worthington to be out on a ledge for everything to work? Surely something a little less overboard could’ve been thought of and still achieve the same goal. I get why it was used, but I still think there must have been a different way to achieve everything that was achieved from Worthington being out on the ledge. I guess it helps in making it different from other heist movies, and I kinda went with it for a while, since it’s not like I could actually think of a different way of doing it myself.

 

It does start out intriguingly and entertainingly, but takes a bit of a flying leap when Worthington decides to confess something to Banks, and it just keeps on flying and leaping from there. And unlike the issue with the ledge, I could no longer give the film the benefit of the doubt. Like “The Next Three Days”, here’s a film where the solution to righting a wrong is apparently to commit a crime. Yes, it’s to prove that an earlier crime wasn’t committed by Worthington, but still...a robbery was committed at the end of the day, right? Shouldn’t someone (not just Harris for the original crime) get in trouble for that? The way the film ends, it’s possible that some time was served, but we don’t really see it. Hell, even if they forget about the robbery, what about wasting police time, among other offences committed throughout the film? Escaping police custody? You’re not meant to think of these things, and in a really good film, you wouldn’t. That’s the problem here.

 

I also think it’s pretty easy to guess one of the film’s twists merely through using Ebert’s Law of Economy of Characters (or whatever the hell he calls it these days). Hell, anyone with half a brain could work it out anyway given the person in question is too familiar to appear in such a seemingly tiny role. Even more annoyingly, a trip to the IMDb will spoil the surprise in the cast list anyway. I shouldn’t have glanced at it beforehand, but there you go. Why do they do that?

 

Still, it’s a more enjoyable heist movie than “Tower Heist”, that much is true. The cast is interestingly eclectic, though a lot of them are left with nothing to do. Sam Worthington still hasn’t got a handle on an American accent, but if you like him, you’ll like him here. I don’t and didn’t. He just can’t act. Jamie Bell is well-cast, the fantastically named Genesis Rodriguez is incredibly hot as his girlfriend. They make for an amusingly combative team. Elizabeth Banks at first glance seems an odd casting choice, but she’s actually really charismatic and freakin’ hot here. Ed Harris is especially good as the chief heavy, if underused. I certainly wouldn’t want to piss this guy off. Kyra Sedgwick doesn’t look much like a Morales to me (it could be by marriage, but you actually need to explain these things in movies), and as a clichéd nosy reporter, she’s not only incredibly irritating, but entirely superfluous, and ultimately wasted.

 

As dopey and contrived as the film gets, the very basic idea of the film is pretty irresistible, and with some changes, could’ve made for a really great heist movie, especially if it went for a comic bent. I mean, surely you can’t take this seriously. Unfortunately, it’s just too implausible and contrived to quite make it over the line, even if it’s compellingly silly at times. It’s OK.

 

Rating: C+