Man on a Ledge is an odd kind of action blockbuster. Much like last year's Tower Heist, Man on a Ledge is a blue-collar heist revenge movie. Everyman Sam Worthington (three words I thought I would never say in the same sentence) is a good guy who works hard, and he gets screwed over by a greedy old white guy. Like Ben Stiller in Tower Heist, he hatches a crazy plot involving a prominent Manhattan building (Trump Tower, Roosevelt Hotel) and pulls it off by planning a massive distraction in Midtown (Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a suicide jumper). The problem with Man on a Ledge, especially when compared to Tower Heist, is that a premise this ridiculous needs to have fast pacing and a good sense of humor. The pacing picks up once Man on a Ledge gets into its third act, but even the harrowing final chase doesn't make up for the film's huge flaws.
Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) plays a blue-collar cop framed for a crime he didn't commit. He gets beat up by his in-mates, and when the prison shrink asks him if he thinks of hurting himself, he replies, “Hurting myself? No...killing myself? Every g—d--- day.” When his father dies, Nick is given a day's leave to attend his father's funeral. Predictably, he grabs a gun, steals a car, and escapes from the cops. Does he run for the border? Does he cross into Mexico? No. Instead, he checks into the Roosevelt Hotel, orders in champagne and a large breakfast, and then climbs out onto the ledge. A crowd of New Yorkers and 24-hour news reporters gather below to cheer and chant for him to jump, preferably before police psychologist Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) talks him down. As time drags on, though, and Nick acts out to keep the crowd's attention, Lydia and the other law enforcement start to wonder if Nick wants to jump or if he is trying to draw attention away from something else.
I will give this movie credit where credit is due. Jamie Bell is fun to watch as Nick's younger brother Joey, and I loved seeing Titus Welliver (best known as the Man in Black from Lost). I can only hope Welliver will get some better parts in the future, and he should considering how much he did with such a thin part. Ed Harris was also fine as always, though I preferred Alan Alda hamming it up in Tower Heist to Harris' angry growls and teeth grinding.
One of the biggest problem with Man on a Ledge is the movie's lead characters. Sam Worthington's character isn't much more than a pretty face, even when he is in prison. (On a side note, I can't be the only one who thought Nick in prison looked like Andy from Parks and Recreation.) Nick should have been a much more charismatic character. He came up with this absurd plan while he was in prison and somehow convinced his brother and his brother's girlfriend to carry out his plan. The reason why the characters in Ocean's Eleven go along with George Clooney's unrealistic plans is that he is so charming. He has charisma, and he inspires confidence and loyalty. Considering how much time Sam Worthington spends talking to Elizabeth Banks, he doesn't inspire much of anything.
Speaking of Elizabeth Banks, I am greatly comforted knowing that she will soon be playing Effie in The Hunger Games movies, a franchise that will give her plenty to work with, because Man on a Ledge didn't do her any favors. Her character never moves past “someone died on my watch” and yelling lines like, “This is my scene!” (I kept waiting for someone to reply, “This is my jurisdiction!”) Also, why did she go out for a drink with Nick at the end of the movie? There was very little chemistry between these characters, and I didn't see any good reason for them to spend time together after Nick's name was cleared.
I must stress that none of these problems are Banks' fault. She is doing the best she can as is the rest of the cast, but they can't escape Pablo Fenjves' script. Fenjves has done a handful of TV movies including The Devil's Child, a movie about a woman pregnant with Satan's child. It is painfully obvious that this is his first big-screen feature film. Some of the movie's more ridiculous lines include, “Women jump for love, men jump for money,” and “One of these days, you're going to stick your d—k in the wrong door, and someone's going to slam it.” (What does that even mean?) At one point, Ed Harris even calls Jamie Bell's Latino girlfriend a “chihuahua.” Oof, that's bad.
Man on a Ledge probably would have worked better for me if the film hadn't taken itself so seriously. The premise is already outrageous, and let's face it, there is no way Sam Worthington could jump off a roof, land on an inflatable target, roll right off it like a kid in a bouncy castle, and then chase Ed Harris down the street. As it is, Man on a Ledge fell flat for me (insert rimshot here), and I never thought I would leave a theater thinking to myself, “Man, I wish I had watched Tower Heist instead.”
"Man on a Ledge" opens January 27, 2012 and is rated PG13. Action, Crime. Directed by Asger Leth. Written by Pablo F. Fenjves.. Starring Ed Harris, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Sam Worthington.
