Man on a Ledge

A man called Walter enters the Roosevelt Hotel, located in the center of the city of New York. After settling himself in the room, he decides to go out through the window and stand on the ledge of the building with the intention of committing suicide. As you can imagine, there is more behind this simple maneuver and somehow worth exploring for the rapid pace at which events are unmasked.

This is not a film full of action: suspense is the most prevalent thing, along with some comedy-like dialogues. It portraits interesting, well defined characters. There are several flashbacks which are correctly used so that the audience can get hooked by the play.

The film manages to display danger and realism and also brings the best out of those settings on the heights and the indoor ones as well. We are involved in the process of elaborating many theories and provided with an environment enriched by various points of view, built up by the cast.

Sam Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, a former police officer, who is on a mission. Like always, he is really good at acting, in the way that he transmits his nervousness of standing on a ledge in a really good way and offers a bit of its traditional action moves, but mostly his acting builds up a thriller mood.

Elizabeth Banks is a bit scruffy as negotiator Lydia Mercer, but everything has a reason of being and she definitely knows how to evidence this. Jamie Bell is effective in its operational role and shows a bright future in this and other genres: he has really improved since its bright role in Billy Elliot.

Genesis Rodriguez as Angie contributes to the comedy with her Spanish lines and as a big supporter of the infiltration sequences. Edward Burns will not be in many scenes but he represents a big support. Finally, Ed Harris brings to his character villainy and contempt.

The edition of the film is generally made of static and panoramic frames. In this sense it is visually detailed and comprehensive for the various facets of the locations. There are two epic but very realistically shot sequences that consist of a jump and fall.

Similarly, the script must be assessed for its original material. It will be not as outstanding as others, but it does very well thanks to humility and freshness. It's hard not to feel sympathy for the character and the courage he uses to face his problem. We might have an idea of what might be the next thing to happen, but it never falls into boring predictability. It might be judged as a generic film, but it is not because of unexpected revelations happening along the way and keeping us on the edge and because of the way this revelation are timed and because of the mash up of high tension moments and comic ones that makes it an entertaining movie.

We face a fast and entertaining thriller with some amazing action sequences. Since its start till the end, it won’t let you go. Whether you go see it on the big screen or you can wait to watch it home or somewhere else, this is a journey not to be missed.

Director: Asger Leth

Writer: Pablo F. Fenjves

Stars: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks and Jamie Bell