The Ledge (2011)

Director:

Matthew Chapman

Writer (WGA):

Matthew Chapman (written by)

Release Date:

26 May 2011 (Belarus)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

One life. One chance. One step.

Plot:

A police officer looks to talk down a young man lured by his lover's husband to the ledge of a high rise, where he has one hour to contemplate a fateful decision.

Plot Keywords:

Ledge | Christian | Atheist | Police | Guitar

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Charlie Hunnam	...	Gavin Nichols
Terrence Howard	...	Det. Hollis Lucetti
Liv Tyler	...	Shana Harris
Patrick Wilson	...	Joe Harris
Jaqueline Fleming	...	Angela Lucetti
Christopher Gorham	...	Chris (as Chris Gorham)
Maxine Greco	...	Consuela
Geraldine Singer	...	Doctor
Dean J. West	...	Frank (as Dean West)
Jillian Batherson	...	Harper
Tyler Humphrey	...	Jimmy
Mike Pniewski	...	Lt. Markowitz
Katia Gomez	...	Selena
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Monica Acosta	...	Housekeeper (uncredited)
Maverick Boudreaux	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Ashley Braud	...	News Anchor Patricia Wilson (uncredited)
Sean Paul Braud	...	Cop (uncredited)
Thomas C. Daniel	...	Cop (uncredited)
Amber L DeVos	...	Woman Walking in Street (uncredited)
Brianna Dufrene	...	Gail (uncredited)
Amber Gaiennie	...	News Anchor (uncredited)
Jason Lumberjack Johnson	...	Police Officer (uncredited)
Don Lincoln	...	Man on Street (uncredited)
Melody Noel	...	Girl with Dog (uncredited)
Mark Rayner	...	Bus rider (uncredited)
Alyssa Tate	...	Young Girl (uncredited)
Nathan Alan Thomas	...	Cameraman (uncredited)
Cindy Williamson	...	Downtown Bystander (uncredited)
John T. Wilson Jr.	...	Police Officer (uncredited)

Directed by
Matthew Chapman

Writing credits (WGA)
Matthew Chapman		(written by)

Produced by
Faisal S. Al-Saud	....	executive producer (as Prince Faisal S. Al-Saud)
Christian Arnold-Beutel	....	executive producer
Taylor Clyne	....	co-executive producer
Mark Damon	....	producer
Moshe Diamant	....	producer
Ortwin Freyermuth	....	executive producer
Terrence Howard	....	co-executive producer
Katherine MacLean	....	assistant producer
Michael Mailer	....	producer
Katherine Owens	....	co-producer
James Portolese	....	associate producer
Bobby Ranghelov	....	executive producer
Steven Saxton	....	executive producer
Marcus Schöfer	....	executive producer
Tilo Seiffert	....	executive producer
Matt Sinnreich	....	associate producer
Katerina Slantcheva	....	associate producer
Tamara Stuparich de la Barra	....	executive producer
Nick Thurlow	....	executive producer
Olga Tymshan	....	associate producer
Franklin A. Vallette	....	line producer
Matthias Visser	....	co-producer
Gregory M. Walker	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Nathan Barr

Cinematography by
Bobby Bukowski

Film Editing by
Alex Hall
Anne McCabe

Production Design by
James A. Gelarden

Art Direction by
Jason Baldwin Stewart		(as Jason E. Baldwin)

Set Decoration by
Andrew W. Bofinger

Costume Design by
Jillian Kreiner

Makeup Department
Kimberly Amacker	....	makeup department head
Danielle Barkat	....	key makeup artist
Marcos Gonzales	....	department head hair

Production Management
Charles Rapp	....	production supervisor
Franklin A. Vallette	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Ben Ledoux	....	second assistant director
Tom Martin	....	first assistant director
Sherman Shelton Jr.	....	second second assistant director

Art Department
Brandon Briscoe	....	scenic
Jonathan Cappel	....	set dresser
Matthew Gatlin	....	property master
Sam Jacobs	....	on-set dresser
Jodie Jones	....	carpenter
Michael F. LeBlanc Jr.	....	set dresser
Dallas Montgomery	....	construction coordinator
Scotty Morris	....	leadman
Jason Oertling	....	lead scenic
Danielle Poret	....	art department coordinator
Perry James Trentacosta	....	carpenter
Greg White	....	carpenter

Sound Department
Clay Achee	....	foley artist
Michael Baird	....	supervising sound editor
Sean Byrne	....	sound
Roberto Cappannelli	....	sound re-recording mixer
Cameron O. Galloway	....	adr editor
Cameron O. Galloway	....	dialogue editor
Hana L. Hart	....	foley engineer
Steven Iba	....	adr mixer
Paul Knox	....	boom operator
Paul Knox	....	foley mixer
Ryan Chase Lee	....	foley artist
Jordan Lewis	....	sound utility
Andrew McPeters	....	sound
Michael Russo	....	sound mixer
Chris Terhune	....	assistant sound editor

Visual Effects by
Chevy Chen	....	visual effects coordinator
Chris Faczek	....	visual effects artist
Nick Guth	....	digital compositor
Matt McElroy	....	visual effects artist

Stunts
Danny Cosmo	....	stunt coordinator
Chris J. Fanguy	....	stunt rigger
Jeff Galpin	....	stunt rigger
Durk Tyndall	....	utility stunts
John Zimmerman	....	stunt rigger

Camera and Electrical Department
Cook Allender	....	still photographer
Adam Beard	....	grip
Maxwell Beard	....	grip
Phil Beard	....	grip
Lawles Bourque	....	first assistant camera: "b" camera
Guy Broussard	....	electrician
Traci Chappell	....	second assistant camera
Neil Chartier	....	first assistant camera
Jarrid Clinkinbeard	....	lighting technician
Joe Datri	....	remote head technician
Gonzalo Gonzalez	....	best boy electric
Josh Harrison	....	steadicam operator
Richard Landry	....	grip
Drew Langhart	....	epk camera operator
Yaron Levy	....	cinematographer: second unit
David J. Lukinovich Jr.	....	electrician
Ronald 'Ronnie' Martin	....	electrician
Hilda Mercado	....	additional photography
Allen Parks	....	gaffer
Kennith G. Smith	....	"a" dolly grip
Wells A. Smith	....	key grip
Stephen Vicari	....	camera loader

Casting Department
Brent Caballero	....	casting director: louisiana
Hank Langlois	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Kasey C. Bazil	....	costumer: Terrance Howard
Hannah Gates	....	seamstress
Shonta T. McCray	....	set costumer
Nori Musarra	....	costume supervisor
Michelle Toledo	....	key costumer

Editorial Department
Tricia Chiarenza	....	color timer
Andrew Drazek	....	assistant editor
Stacey England	....	dailies
Sue Gates	....	digital intermediate colorist
Samantha Housman	....	post-production coordinator
Zara Park	....	digital intermediate producer (as Zara Roberts)
Erin Nicole Wyatt	....	second assistant editor

Music Department
Joel J. Richard	....	music scoring mixer
Andy Ross	....	music supervisor
Lisbeth Scott	....	co-songwriter
Mark Skillingberg	....	music editor

Transportation Department
Morris Aroesti	....	picture car coordinator
Morris Aroesti	....	transportation coordinator
Reggie Louque	....	driver
Chris Pedersen	....	driver
Christopher Weippert	....	driver generator operator

Other crew
Heather Babineaux	....	key craft service
Liz Barker	....	production assistant
Frank Barnett	....	set production assistant
Lamonte Bell	....	payroll accountant
Josef Brandmaier	....	structured finance by
Katie Calhoon	....	location manager
Jarred Coates	....	electronic press kit
Scott Collette	....	development manager: Foresight
Alan Crawford	....	assistant location manager
Hope Demling	....	production secretary
Chelsea Donison	....	basecamp p.a.
Joy Ellison	....	dialect coach
Tal Fiala	....	account executive
Hazen S. Finnerty Jr.	....	set medic
Kayla Gueho	....	location assistant
Drew Guillory	....	epk cameraman
Joe M. Hagg	....	production secretary
Ashley Elizabeth Hebert	....	stand-in (as Ashley Hebert)
Vanessa Hickey	....	location scout
William Maursky	....	location scout
Kelly Migdon	....	assistant to Mr. Wilson
Emily Morrow	....	production coordinator
Jennifer Nguyen	....	assistant: Mark Damon
Willard Pennington	....	location assistant
Tyler Russell	....	stand-in
Saree Schaefer	....	assistant: Ms. Tyler
Ken Smith	....	second assistant accountant
Garin Sparks	....	additional production assistant
Joe Statham	....	assistant to mr. chapman
Nicole Staudenmaier	....	script supervisor
Anthony Yuse	....	set production assistant

Thanks
Dick Chapman	....	dedicatee
Ben Duncan	....	dedicatee
Constantinos Isaias	....	special thanks
Tony Lipp	....	the producers wish to thank
Alexia Vassiliou	....	special thanks

Production Companies

• Foresight Unlimited (presents)
• VIP Media Group
• Michael Mailer Films (as Michael Mailer)
• Film & Entertainment VIP Medienfonds 4 GmbH & Co. KG (I) (as VIP Medienfonds 4)
• Rising Star (in association with)
• Ledge Productions

Distributors

• Blue Sky Media (2011) (Czech Republic) (all media)
• IFC Films (2011) (USA) (theatrical)
• Independent Films (2011) (Netherlands) (theatrical)
• Film1 (2012) (Netherlands) (TV) (limited)
• Joyncontents Group (2013) (South Korea) (all media)
• OMC (2011) (Taiwan) (all media)
• Universal Pictures (2012) (UK) (DVD)
• Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (2012) (Australia) (DVD)
• Universum Film (UFA) (2011) (Germany) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (2011) (Netherlands) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera cranes
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  camera dollies
• Chapman/Leonard Studio Equipment  remote camera systems
• Cutting Edge Group  music services
• Dolby Laboratories  sound mix
• Hollywood Trucks  entertainment transportation
• Louisiana Entertainment  state film office
• Louisiana Media Productions  camera equipment provided by
• Modern VideoFilm  post-production services
• OneZero Productions  post-production
• Post Matters  post-production facilities
• Silver Screen Supply  expendables
• Silver Screen Supply  production supplies
• Unicredit, HVB Media Group  film banking [de]

Also Known As:

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality, language and some violent content

Runtime:

USA:101 min

Country:

USA | Germany

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Certification:

USA:R | Netherlands:12 | Australia:MA15+ | Singapore:M18 | Germany:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA

Company:

Foresight Unlimited

Trivia:

The film's premise is somewhat similar of the Stephen King short story, also called "The Ledge".

Quotes:

Gavin Nichols:I guess it's always inexplicable why you fall in love, isn't it?

Movie Connections:

Featured in "Conan: An Atheist Named Faith (#1.113)" (2011)

Good, but not the "Atheist Brokeback Mountain."

I think the harsh criticisms of the film are outright ridiculous—along with the excessive accolades. From a basic film critique: The Ledge definitely delivers on maintaining tension/suspense. I think the subtleties here (e.g., Liv Tyler's anti-make-up "make-up") will cause people to feel uncomfortable, but without knowing that it's all intentional.

There is a massive delusion among Christians that fundamentalism and religiously inspired bigotry only manifest in a small percentage of extremists. This just isn't true. If it was, I'd feel dramatically safer and more comfortable in public discussing atheism with a stranger!

The atmosphere is very realistic, and the uncomfortable (at times) dialog is accurate to the reality of proselytism in the guise of philosophical discussion. The movie even captures how many atheists feel when observing prayer, and this is very rare to see in the spot light.

I really wasn't convinced by any of the characters' back-stories. They seemed unnecessarily extreme in a movie that is driven by its subtleties. They really contrasted with the rest of the writing, and broke the illusion of realism. I also didn't find the acting convincing on this level. In particular: Given Shauna's history, she seemed to be unrealistically open and trusting towards Gavin—their interactions felt a bit contrived and very rushed.

Unfortunately the film doesn't explore its topics at much depth, while presenting more rudimentary/common arguments. However, this only added realism to the dialog for me. I feel it has more intellectually to offer symbolically than literally.

The Ledge displays a psychological perspective of an atheist through its atmosphere, and that alone makes it unique and worth seeing.