Man On A Ledge

No, this is not the story of Albert Brooks saying good-bye to the world after being snubbed for an Oscar nomination. However, it could be the story of Seal (dude, you are not going to do better than Heidi Klum, so apologize and beg her to take you back before she hooks up with some international billionaire who owns his own fleet of yachts).

Sam Worthington stars as Nick Cassidy - a former cop convicted of stealing a $40 million diamond from New York's largest real estate king, David Englander (Ed Harris, who looks shockingly thin in this movie, I wanted to pass my popcorn up to him on the screen to make sure the guy had something to eat). Despite exhausting the appeals process, Nick still claims he is innocent, and isn't willing to take this injustice sitting down.

So, the dude escapes from prison and makes his way to Manhattan. He checks into the Roosevelt Hotel, has one fine last meal, and steps out onto the ledge. Everyone is worried he wants to jump, but he requests police negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) with a much different plan in mind.

Will Nick be able to prove his innocence?

Man On A Ledge certainly defies logic, but does find a way to hook the audience into wondering how this whole massive scheme is going to end.

If you let yourself think too hard, you might wonder why none of the NYPD officers on the scene at the hotel recognize a former colleague, who was arrested for stealing a $40 million diamond, and escaped from prison (which would start a massive manhunt and APB bulletin, complete with his description and photo broadcast to every police station in the tri-state area). Yet, they all know about Lydia, and her stuff seems to have happened months earlier. You can find a few moments like this.

However, the rest of Man On A Ledge is a decent movie with some very predictable twists and turns. I wish Worthington would remember at all times he is playing a NY cop and not let the Aussie accent invade his speech, and Banks might be pushing the tired, jaded, troubled cop thing down our throats a bit too much.

Yet, Man On A Ledge has a decent caper movie feel to it as we see what is happening all around Nick. Jamie Bell and Genesis Rodriguez provide some comic relief in some roles I feel should be kept secret to help you enjoy the movie more (even though the studio, Summit Entertainment, has been revealing more and more of the plot in its marketing of the film).

I just wish the ending was much more inventive. The big resolution felt like it was tacked on without enough thought and consideration, as if writer Pablo Fenjves knew he painted himself into a corner and couldn't come up with a better way out.

Man On A Ledge is rated PG-13 for violence and brief strong language.