Saturday, 4 February 2012

Man On A Ledge - A Review




3 Stars - Good Solid Fun




Man On A Ledge, or how not to break into a high security building...


From the start of Man On A Ledge we are presented with a man set out to prove his innocence, a cop with emotional issues to work out from a case she botched recently, two inept thieves trying to steal a diamond and a slimy business man who smokes cigars and smiles evily. Fun right?


Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), the titular man, is an ex-cop who has been framed by the evil David Englander (Ed Harris) for the theft of a priceless diamond. He has escaped custody and is standing on the ledge of a hotel tower pretending to be a suicide attempt until his innocence is proved by his brother (Jamie Bell) and his girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) who are breaking into Englander's building to steal the diamond back. Cassidy asks for disgraced negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) to handle his case, she is determined to get him to come inside from the ledge, as she doesn't want to have a repeat of her last case where the man she tried to talk down jumped.

The plot is simple enough to follow and doesn't feel too forced, which was my big worry for the film based on the trailer. However it is hardly a gripping epic, the best way to describe it is 'fine'.

The characters are all very enjoyable, especially the brother and his girlfriend, who have plenty of good comic relief whilst breaking into the building without really being very good at it. Also Ed Harris is as enjoyable as always, though I wish there'd been more of him, because the scenery was barely even nibbled on.


To sum up, this is a fun film, and I'd say it is worth a watch, but you'd probably be best of waiting till it comes on the TV...

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