Plot
As a police psychologist works to talk down an ex-con who is threatening to jump from a Manhattan hotel rooftop, the biggest diamond heist ever committed is in motion...
Release Year: 2012
Rating: 6.7/10 (6,289 voted)
Critic's Score: 40/100
Director:
Asger Leth
Stars: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell
Storyline An ex-cop turned con threatens to jump to his death from a Manhattan hotel rooftop. The nearest New York Police officer immediately responds to a screaming woman and calls dispatch. More Officers arrive with SWAT and tactical command along with fire-fighters. The police then dispatches a female police psychologist personally requested to talk him down from the ledge. However, things aren't as straightforward and clearcut as they appear to be.
Cast: Sam Worthington
-
Nick Cassidy
Mandy Gonzalez
-
Manager
Barbara Marineau
-
Screaming Woman
J. Smith-Cameron
-
Psychiatrist
Anthony Mackie
-
Mike Ackerman
Patrick Collins
-
Father Leo
Jamie Bell
-
Joey Cassidy
Genesis Rodriguez
-
Angie
Afton Williamson
-
Janice Ackerman
Robert Clohessy
-
Prison Guard
Joe Lisi
-
Desk Sergeant
Candice McKoy
-
Cop - Bullhorn
Edward Burns
-
Jack Dougherty
Johnny Solo
-
Cop - Room
(as John Solo)
Titus Welliver
-
Dante Marcus
Taglines:
You can only push an innocent man so far.
Opening Weekend: $8,001,932
(USA)
(29 January 2012)
(2998 Screens)
Gross: $18,451,155
(USA)
(19 February 2012)
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Did You Know?
Trivia: Amy Adams was considered for the role of Lydia.
Goofs:
Continuity:
The building used in the outside shots clearly was the Roosevelt Hotel, but the Roosevelt (and all outside shots of the building in the movie verify this) has only 18 floors, and the movie premise is a hotel of at least 24 floors.
Quotes: Nick Cassidy:
Today is the day when everything changes. One way or another.
User Review
A decent thriller/heist movie. Full of the usual plot-holes though!
Rating: 7/10
As you'd expect, "Man on a Ledge" is a Swiss-cheese plotted heist and
"prove his innocence" movie but taken as just that, it's quite an
enjoyable movie. I suppose after having seen enough of these kinds of
movies, I shouldn't expect perfection in how every plot thread is tied
up since very few movies manage it. However, what the movie does
excellently is setup the plot and build up the situation perfectly.
Just starting as a literal man on a ledge, we see subtle layers added
until we get this full on crescendo of diamond heists, negotiators,
cops, convicts, bad guys, good guys all happening on in a single block
in New York. So, given that you're willing to suppress your tingling
plot-hole sense, it can be an enjoyable movie.
The cast is quite good and the acting and tension is par for the
course. The leads Sam Worthington and Elizabeth Banks do a great job.
Seeing Worthington as an ex-NY cop, ex-convict and Banks as a
negotiator/psychologist with a past is surprising on paper but they
manage to pull it off very well. However, Jamie Bell is one of the
heist-team but his opposite who plays Angie make for some cringe-worthy
comedy, like some Sofia Vergara slapstick in the middle of a tense
situation. Ed Harris looks emaciated but equally sinister as the
villain and there are a host other minor NY characters.
I can hear the Hollywood pitch for the movie in my head, "it's like The
Negotiator combined with The Italian Job but happens in NY and instead
of a hostage situation we have a jumper." And, essentially it's just
that – a movie that heavily recalls other movies from the past except
perhaps for the man on ledge. On a side note, it seems that every NY
movie nowadays has a reference to the OWS movement and what a typical
OWS protester might look like.
The movie is at its best when it clamors for our hero who desperate and
is fighting all odds to clear his name as he shouts from his ledge, "I
am innocent and this is my retrial." The movie is at its worst when
it's ungainly roping in all the plot threads it cast out but can't seem
to put it together. Overall, it's a good enough movie for people who
like these kinds of movies. If you've caught yourself bitterly berating
the many plot holes in heist movies, maybe this isn't for you.
0