Man on a Ledge is a thriller film that tells a man’s attempt to prove his innocence and to arrest the true criminal’s identity. The main character, Nick Cassidy, is played by Sam Worthington, an ex-cop framed for the robbery of a diamond store owned by a corporate named David Englander, played by Ed Harris. This man, Nick Cassidy, plays the role of an escape convict attempting to commit suicide to distract all of the city and Englander while his brother Joey and Joey’s girlfriend, Angie, who are played by Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez respectfully, attempt to steal the diamond that Englander had used to frame Nick. Lydia Mercer, a psychologist-negotiator employed by the Police , played by Elizabeth Banks, attempts to help Nick during his time on the ledge, with his plan.
There’s not much I can say about this film. I was not impressed with January’s movies, and watching this one to see what the end of January had to offer me in new thrilling motion pictures was fairly disappointing to say the least.
The premise of the film was definitely interesting—It’s probably the first time I’ve ever heard or seen a movie that involved a heist plan with the distraction of being a “suicide victim candidate”. The name of the movie was fairly generic and boring, so I had my reservations about the film, and it was saddening to find my doubts confirmed.
Is the storyline any good? Again, like the premise of the film, the story could’ve been interesting. But watching the plot unfold was among the least interesting experiences I’ve seen in a thriller film. Was there any excitement in watching this film? Perhaps for the extremely bored who only wants to see something that’s interesting in synopsis-only, Man on a Ledge would be a movie that can be enjoyed.
Did it have its moments, jokes, or scenes that would redeem the movie’s reputation? Yes, it had its moments. But then, a bad horror flick also has its moments, and this thriller used the exact same filming technique to try and generate an imitation of thrills and adrenaline-rush that can be experienced in truth by watching truly exciting thrillers.
The name itself told me that the movie may not be too good, the action itself is not all that great, the twist of the story felt like watching a magician announce how his trick works before actually performing the trick. Even the acting was uninspiring. Rather than feel like I’m watching characters performing actions, it feels like Sam Worthington running in place of Nick Cassidy. Did I come here to watch Sam Worthington play Nick Cassidy in a movie? Yes. Did I want to see Sam Worthington being Sam Worthington, while calling himself Nick Cassidy? Not at all.
With that said, Man on a Ledge is a flop for those who wanted to watch a popcorn flick on their weekend night. For the insanely bored, go ahead and watch and possibly be entertained. I doubt people will truly say it’s a terrific movie. They will simply refer to the movie as good, just to be nice, but there’s no denying that the movie failed to live up to its label as entertainment.