Man on a Ledge
3/4
Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Edward Burns, Titus Welliver, Genesis Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Brief Strong Language
Excepting the Katherine Heigl stinker "One for the Money," 2012 has gotten off to a great start for Hollywood. Only one movie out of the five that I've seen has been less than 2.5, which for the dumping month of January, is something of an accomplishment. True, none of these have been great movies, but they're just as good as, if not better than, movies with budgets twice all of theirs combined.
A man has checked into the Roosevelt hotel and walked out onto the window ledge (what hotel has high story windows that open up that easily, I don't know, but never mind). Naturally, the police are called, and he'll only talk to one woman: Lydia Mercer (Banks), a negotiator who made national news after she failed to talk down a rookie cop from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. It doesn't take her long to realize that this is anything but a typical suicide situation.
The man, an ex-cop named Nick Cassidy, has just broken out of prison to try and prove his innocence in the public's opinion. But this is just a smokescreen. While he is attracting people's attention by standing on a windowsill 20 stories off the street below, his brother Joey (Bell) and Joey's girlfriend Angie (Rodriguez) are breaking into the next building over, trying to prove that real estate mogul David Englander (Harris) set Nick up for stealing his $40 million dollar diamond.
People have likened this to "Inside Man," and it's an apt comparison. Although inferior, "Man on a Ledge" shares many similarities with the Spike Lee feature, predominantly a tense situation that's not at all what it seems. A film that this one shares a great deal with is F. Gary Gray's "The Negotiator." The set-up is almost identical, and in a general way, shares a few (although not all) similarities in terms of plot.
The acting is effective, although no one stands out. Sam Worthington is effective, although I doubt we'll be seeing him on a list of Oscar nominees any time soon. Jamie Bell is terrific as the kid brother, and it'll make one wonder why no one gives him any leading roles these days. He was able to carry "Billy Elliot" on his shoulders at the age of 14, so there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it now. Elizabeth Banks makes a nice turn in what is purely a dramatic role. The rest of the cast do their jobs, although it should be mentioned that Ed Harris has never looked more gaunt. Is he gearing up to play a cancer patient?
The film has it's share of flaws. It kept me engaged, but I was wondering how they could pull this off (believe it or not, that added to my enjoyment of the film). There are some plotholes, a few of which are fairly obvious. All in all, I liked this movie. It's a good time at the theaters, and it reminded me of when they used to make summer movies, not visual marketing ploys.
Starring: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Edward Burns, Titus Welliver, Genesis Rodriguez, Anthony Mackie, Ed Harris
Rated PG-13 for Violence and Brief Strong Language
Excepting the Katherine Heigl stinker "One for the Money," 2012 has gotten off to a great start for Hollywood. Only one movie out of the five that I've seen has been less than 2.5, which for the dumping month of January, is something of an accomplishment. True, none of these have been great movies, but they're just as good as, if not better than, movies with budgets twice all of theirs combined.
A man has checked into the Roosevelt hotel and walked out onto the window ledge (what hotel has high story windows that open up that easily, I don't know, but never mind). Naturally, the police are called, and he'll only talk to one woman: Lydia Mercer (Banks), a negotiator who made national news after she failed to talk down a rookie cop from jumping off the Brooklyn Bridge. It doesn't take her long to realize that this is anything but a typical suicide situation.
The man, an ex-cop named Nick Cassidy, has just broken out of prison to try and prove his innocence in the public's opinion. But this is just a smokescreen. While he is attracting people's attention by standing on a windowsill 20 stories off the street below, his brother Joey (Bell) and Joey's girlfriend Angie (Rodriguez) are breaking into the next building over, trying to prove that real estate mogul David Englander (Harris) set Nick up for stealing his $40 million dollar diamond.
People have likened this to "Inside Man," and it's an apt comparison. Although inferior, "Man on a Ledge" shares many similarities with the Spike Lee feature, predominantly a tense situation that's not at all what it seems. A film that this one shares a great deal with is F. Gary Gray's "The Negotiator." The set-up is almost identical, and in a general way, shares a few (although not all) similarities in terms of plot.
The acting is effective, although no one stands out. Sam Worthington is effective, although I doubt we'll be seeing him on a list of Oscar nominees any time soon. Jamie Bell is terrific as the kid brother, and it'll make one wonder why no one gives him any leading roles these days. He was able to carry "Billy Elliot" on his shoulders at the age of 14, so there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to do it now. Elizabeth Banks makes a nice turn in what is purely a dramatic role. The rest of the cast do their jobs, although it should be mentioned that Ed Harris has never looked more gaunt. Is he gearing up to play a cancer patient?
The film has it's share of flaws. It kept me engaged, but I was wondering how they could pull this off (believe it or not, that added to my enjoyment of the film). There are some plotholes, a few of which are fairly obvious. All in all, I liked this movie. It's a good time at the theaters, and it reminded me of when they used to make summer movies, not visual marketing ploys.
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