Beginning with Nick’s escape from prison and believing that maybe he does genuinely want to commit suicide, it’s a while before we know the reason for his actions and the reasons for his brother’s. Whilst there is enough going on to avoid a man standing on a ledge for 90 minutes, Man on a Ledge is very much a film based on dialogue rather than one full of action that might overshadow its flaws, with the slam-bang here replaced with occasional comedy. (The rest of the cinema was laughing a lot more than I did, but there were a couple of scenes that provoked the corners of my mouth to rise a little. This did, however, take away from the seriousness of the film, with Rodríguez’s character, for the most part, damping things down.)
Unfortunately, and largely because of this, the film ends up being mediocre. Without any real action, it needs to be an intense thriller for it to impress. And it isn’t. Although the plot links together well, with the stories playing alongside each other without causing too much confusion, there isn’t enough emphasis on explanation, and it is easy to miss out on a lot of key information.
One aspect that works is the combination of decent actors in roles that really suit them. At first I found it hard to believe that the main character was played by Worthington - it'll take a while to realise that if you haven't read much about the film beforehand. His role is very different from that which we are used to, with no blue smurfs or mythological creatures in sight. But he pulls it off and is fitting in his role. For Banks, too, it’s not often that we see her in such a serious role (she is most recognisable for her character in the comedy series Scrubs) but her character is genuinely believable . And as for Bell, we are seeing a lot more of him in action films lately. His role is a good fit.
Unfortunately, this wasn't enough to keep me engaged and by the end of the film I had lost nearly all interest. If this is your kind of flick then it’s a very good take on the subject . It isn't necessarily a boring or badly made piece of work, but it was just too obvious where everything was going and not as exciting or thrilling as I had hoped.
