Man on a Ledge (2012)

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.

Director:

Asger Leth

Writer:

Pablo F. Fenjves

Stars:

Sam Worthington, Mandy Gonzalez, Jamie Bell

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Sam Worthington	...	Nick Cassidy
Mandy Gonzalez	...	Manager
William Sadler	...	Valet
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 (as Ed Burns)
Johnny Solo	...	Cop - Room (as John Solo)

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.

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Plot Keywords:

diamond | hotel | rooftop | new york city | heist | 

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Taglines:

If you do the time, you may as well do the crime.

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Genres:

Action | Crime | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language

Details

Official Sites:

Summit Entertainment [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

27 January 2012 (USA)

Also Known As:

Al borde del abismo

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$42,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$8,001,932 (USA) (27 January 2012)

Gross:

$18,600,911 (USA) (24 February 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Summit Entertainment, Di Bonaventura Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

102 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Det. Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) helps Nick (Sam Worthington), a wrongfully convicted man who escapes from prison to prove his innocence. In 'The Next Three Days', Banks played a character who is wrongfully convicted and escapes from prison.

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Goofs

When Joey stops the fan and bends the blade down so that he and Angie can get to the elevator shaft, the bent blade is pointing up at a 45 degree angle. As Joey and Angie are rigging their ropes to drop down the shaft, the bent blade changes from 45 degrees up to 45 degrees down, and back a few times.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Manager: Good morning, sir.
Nick Cassidy: Last name's Walker.
Manager: Yes. Mr. Walker. Room 2105, South Tower. Great view. We also have a larger unit available on the east side, I can offer you at the same price.
Nick Cassidy: No, I think I'll stick with the view.

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Crazy Credits

The Summit logo at the beginning has a background of New York skyscrapers on it.

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Connections

Featured in The Big Picture: February 2012 (2012)

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Soundtracks

"Police On My Back"
Written by Eddy Grant
Performed by The Clash
Courtesy of Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Limited
By arrangement with Sony Music Licensing

User Reviews

A decent thriller/heist movie. Full of the usual plot-holes though!

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.