Review

Review Date: 29-January-12
Spoiler Rating: Medium
Juju Judgment: Juicy

Man on a Ledge (2012)

As the literal title describes, Man on a Ledge begins with a guy climbing out a window and perching on a thin shelf of building which is, it goes without saying, dangerously far from the ground. The location is a posh Manhattan hotel outside which a crowd quickly gathers. The man (Sam Worthington) is an ex-cop who has checked in under an alias and has left a note remarking on his innocence. Out on the ledge, he asks for a certain crisis negotiator by name, refusing to speak with anyone else on the scene. So far, his story is similar to the one told in the 1951 film Fourteen Hours. But this being 2012, it needs to be more macho, more action-packed, and more preposterous, and to have gratuitous shots of a hot chick's body. Man on a Ledge delivers in these respects; even so, it packs enough momentum and good nature for an enjoyable outing at the movies.

Elizabeth Banks plays the negotiator summoned to the hotel. She needs to bring about a positive resolution in order to overcome her recent failure at preventing a colleague's suicide. But the new job becomes complicated once she figures out who the desperate man is: not just an ex-cop, but an escaped convict who famously stole a huge diamond from a real estate mogul (a snarling Ed Harris). Should she try to help him, or welcome his demise like the viciously cheering masses on the street below? Should she trust his honest face and the tenuous connection they have forged?

While vertiginous dialogue and a few flashbacks fill in the hero's tale (and it's obvious from the start that he is a hero), a parallel story follows the hero's brother (Jamie Bell) as he infiltrates the mogul's offices with his girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez). The ledge-climbing, it turns out, is a diversion, part of a master plan to prove that the diamond theft was a nefarious hoax. The brother's role in the movie would be laughable even without his squeeze's perky boobs and hot pink underwear — would amateurs really be capable of such a major heist? But I must admit that a bickering young couple who dodges security systems and cracks a safe is something I haven't seen before. Besides, it's good to know that the title character has family on his side. The ledge-climbing offers a final form of freedom if his plan goes awry, and (unlike the cruel New Yorkers) the viewer must root for a happier kind of ending.

Copyright © 2012 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.