Man on a Ledge

(M) Sony DVD/BD

Any Sam Worthington flick worth its salt contains the following ingredients:

1. Action.
2. A protagonist with attitude. Who is, of course, misunderstood and is actually a great guy at heart.
3. A poorly executed accent.

That being said, Man on a Ledge isn’t completely terrible and (bonus!) Worthington (an Aussie) even nearly manages to pull off an American accent for once. Fun fact: he actually helped to kick-start the production of this movie, apparently motivated by his fear of heights.

Nice that he wanted to challenge himself; pity the plot doesn’t challenge anything.

Nick Cassidy (Worthington) is a desperate man. Set up by David Englander (a real estate mogul who smokes one of the biggest cigars I have ever seen, played by Ed Harris), he should flee the country.

Instead, he stands on the ledge outside his hotel room, high above Manhattan. Why? To attract the city’s attention in an attempt to buy his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez, whose sole purpose in this seems to be a lingerie-clad moment) some time to steal the very diamond he was accused of stealing in the first place. All this to prove his innocence.

Pulled along for the ride is negotiator Lydia (Elizabeth Banks), who tries to talk him down from the ledge (and provides ample opportunities to flirt!).

I’m not even going to begin pointing out all the ways the plan could have gone wrong, because I would be here all day.

Yes, the film feels a little B-grade at times. And the ending is rushed, with some of the characters even conveniently disappearing. (I’m still wondering what happened to one guy.) But, in terms of a mindless, Saturday night DVD to watch, it’s not half-bad and not nearly as bad as I expected.

Jasmine Edwards