Man on a Ledge

Recently escaped from prison, former cop, and wrongly accused jewel thief, Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington), is on a mission to prove his innocence and bring down the man that put him behind bars, (Ed Harris). But, to pull off this impossible task will take the assistance from not only his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and Joey’s fiancé, Angie (Genesis Rodriguez), but also an unknowing foil, NYPD negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks). Now in action the big question looms, will justice be served before Nick is forced to jump from the ledge he’s perched on? Well, you see, what we’ve got here is your basic mindless bank heist type film. Again, as stated before, January isn’t exactly known for bringing us the shiniest gems in the cinema world, and this is a pretty opaque stone. But, that’s not to say the film is total garbage. I’m not entirely sold on Elizabeth Banks, as much as I want to like her here, I just can’t. Sam Worthington isn’t awful, and the antics between Bell and Rodriguez provide some low level comedic entertainment value. Ed Harris does over the top slime ball as good as anyone. And, the rest of the cast, well, they’re not offensive. I guess you could say the plot is mildly engaging, even though it’s about as predictable as they come. And oh, you know how much I love it when the title of a film gets worked into the characters’ dialogue, spoiler alert, yep it happens here, yawn. Maybe a matinee, but really fits into the rental category better. Man on a Ledge is rated PG-13.