Sam Worthington has a track record of being in big budget movies that for the most part are all flash and no substance. In his brief career, he has appeared in “Terminator Salvation” and both “Clash of the Titans” and “Wrath of the Titans”. He’s also starred in the #1 box office movie movie of all time, James Cameron’s “Aliens”. The thing about the guy is that while he has always been serviceable in the movies he’s been in, he hasn’t ever made them better, which is what a movie star needs to do.
In “Man on a Ledge”, Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, a former cop who has served prison time for a crime he claims he didn’t commit. Allegedly he stole an insanely valuable jewel, the Monarch diamond, from a super rich guy played by Ed Harris. After a nifty escape from confinement, Nick finds a ledge high outside a room at the Roosevelt Hotel, high above a New York street, threatening to jump if they NYPD doesn’t find a negotiator, Lydia Mercer, played by Elizabeth Banks. It doesn’t take long for Lydia to figure out that Nick is more than a jumper.
Directed by Asger Leth, making his feature film debut, the movie does a nice job of building the story but its filled with the usual suspects of cliches like cops who are haunted by mistakes, bad cops, bad guys pretending to be good guys and characters who aren’t quite what they say they are. The good news is there are enough good actors including Anthony Mackie, who was great in “The Hurt Locker”, Jamie Bell (Adventures of TinTin, Billy Elliot) and Ed Burns (Saving Private Ryan) that it helps to elevate it above mediocrity. Even the smoke monster himself, Titus Welliver, makes an appearance. Unfortunately, none of them are given enough screen time as the movie tries to keep a quick pace, which undermines the intentions of everyone involved.
“Man on a Ledge” is a decent thriller, full of cliches as it is, but there is enough going on to keep you guessing and interested while its on. After that, it’s probably easily forgettable. Worthington again is serviceable. He plays the everyman okay even though he struggles to cover up his English accent most of the time. A movie like this you don’t expect much going in and you don’t get much out of it. It does offer above average entertainment. Mostly.
Man on a Ledge trailer: