Movie Review: 'Man on a Ledge' a well-done thriller
Submitted by admin on Tue, 01/31/2012 - 8:54am
The thriller "Man on a Ledge," running in Carson City a the Fandango Galaxy movie house, is a neat little thriller with a solid cast headed by Sam Worthington as jailbird Nick Cassidy and Elisabeth Banks as cop Lydia Mercer.
Movie opens with Nick checking into a New York hotel, having a meal with champagne before he goes out the window and stands on a ledge.
Flashback to Nick in Sing Sing prison for the heist of a giant jewel (he was framed). He escapes in a nice car chase after the funeral of his supposed father. He makes some plans and we get back to the man on the ledge.
Cops spot Cassidy and call Mercer, an experienced negotiator for talking would-be jumpers off their perches. (She just lost a cop a two weeks earlier and was supposed to be on medical relief of some sort.)
She gets to the hotel and begins talking with Nick. Meanwhile, Nick's brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and his current squeeze Angie (the very sexy Genesis Rodriguez) and working to break into the vault across from the hotel with the ledge to see if they can find the diamond that David Englander (Ed Harris) claimed was stolen so that he could recover from financial disaster via insurance payoff.
The switching back and forth from the two lines of action is excellent, making everything that's happening clear but keeping tension high. Lots of scenes of New Yorkers urging Nick to jump. Lots of cops running around and nice complexities in the proceedings.
There are a few minor bobbles in the action. Joey and Angie lug big bags of gear around so they can break into the vault, but not big enough for all their gear. And some of their tricks are questionable.
But never mind. This is a nifty, exciting thriller with only one car chase and no explosions. The cast is solid, Sam is tough and Lix healthy and pretty.
No more plot details, easy to spoil the suspense. Not the best thriller, but it makes a lot of the earlier ones this season look like fumbles on the goal line. It's rated PG-13 and is a lot of fun The film editor deserves a plug; he cuts the scenes together so well that following the complex action is easy.
--- Sam Bauman
Cast
• Sam Worthington as Nick Cassidy
• Elizabeth Banks as Lydia Mercer
• Jamie Bell as Joey Cassidy
• Anthony Mackie as Mike Ackerman
• Génesis Rodríguez as Angie
• Ed Harris as David Englander.
• Kyra Sedgwick as Suzie Morales
• Edward Burns as Jack Dougherty
• Titus Welliver as Nathan Marcus
• Directed by Asger Leth
• Produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian
• Written by Pablo Fenjves
• Music by Henry Jackman
• Cinematography Paul Cameron
• Editing by Kevin Stitt
• Running time 102 minutes, rated PG-13
