'Man on a Ledge' Leaps From Absurdity to Intrigue

Sam Worthington must be thinking about the sequel to his 2010 remake Clash of the Titans.

Whatever happened to Sam Worthington? The star of 2009’s box-office smash, Avatar, was supposed be the “next big thing” in Hollywood, but since his journey to Pandora, what was a potentially bright future stalled minus one exception, the remake of Clash of the Titans. But even combating lackluster mythological beasts simply wasn’t adequate enough for Worthington to make a name for himself. Enter director Asger Leth who takes his first crack at directing besides a 2006 documentary with Man on a Ledge. 

Man on a Ledge distances Worthington from the conventional action role we’ve been accustomed to for the past several years, depending on a more serious role where he is nothing more than a diversion to a much larger picture. After a daring prison escape, ex-cop Nick Cassidy (Worthington) checks in at a hotel deep in the heart of Manhattan, only to momentarily step out onto the building’s ledge and threaten to jump to his death unless persuaded otherwise by police. The situation is nothing more than a ruse to gain the undivided attention of the New Yorkers below, while his brother and his brother’s girlfriend attempt to seek revenge on a businessman who framed him for the theft of a multi-million dollar diamond.

Man on a Ledge is a standard popcorn thriller, not to be taken too seriously as events transpiring within downtown Manhattan force audiences to suspend their disbelief for a fast-paced, yet pleasurable 100 minutes. Within the first few minutes of Man on a Ledge, Leth gets down and dirty into the narrative, positioning Cassidy on the ledge without the audience having any inkling as to why such events are a happening. The mystery evokes the classic Hitchcock cold open, only to divulge an entire back story and eliminate the first threads of suspense. Cassidy’s motivation is then partially exposed, only to find the scene cluttered with cops, onlookers and Elizabeth Banks, who takes time to warm up to as the negotiator. Worthington is more than adept to tinker with all the cops’ focus, wavering between someone who’s at the end of his rope and someone concealing a much more crucial agenda. Banks handles the continuous persuasive struggle with Worthington quite well, though at initially it appeared as if she was miscast for the role.

Leth exceedingly tightens Man on a Ledge with juxtaposition between a tense dialogue on the ledge and the jewelry store heist across the street. The heist itself is remote from any shade of believability as both the brother and his girlfriend are no experts and yet still manage to infiltrate some fancy high-tech security. Simply leaving the front door unlocked and waltzing into the jewelry store would have raised the believability bar still absurdly higher. 

Whenever Ledge shifts to the action sequences, you immediately long for a return back to more dialogue driven moments. Pacing is fine, never letting up for any segment of the run time. The only difference is the preference of what part of the plan is being addressed. Leth concentrates on crafting beautiful aerial shots of the Big Apple, yet infusing danger where there remains a constant sense of insecurity being that high up. Worthington presses against the wall, almost intimately for lengthy periods of time, knowing that one simple mistake could make or break the entire diversion.

Worthington and Banks are the strongest components of the cast, working as much as the script allows them to. Worthington still show traces of a brooding Aussie, who mullet and all can still come off as a reasonable ex-cop with a dark side. As the heist duo, Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez are more there for the eye-candy, as looks are more impactful than the cheesy exchanges and dialogue that dumb down the action.  Adding to an established decent cast is Ed Harris as an underworked one-dimensional villain, who belts out even more cringe-worthy dialogue. 

Somehow even with some crucial threads missing, Man on a Ledge is an edgy diversion that manipulates interpersonal life or death situations. Additionally, Leth paints many individuals in a negative light, particularly New Yorkers as shallow, greedy imbeciles shouting “jump” at Worthington’s character then praising him as he showers them with money moments later. The media and police are portrayed as equally antagonistic, caring little for Cassidy, but rather exploiting him as just another headline and statistic.         

Man on a Ledge is an intriguing thriller, predominantly executed with an energized juxtaposition to prove how far a man is willing to go to prove his innocence. Considering the film is simply called Man on a Ledge, it satisfies the job of entertaining rather than being dragged down by efforts at manufacturing realism. 

GRADE: B (8/10)
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