Man on a Ledge starts off with a bang as we see cop turned framed convict Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) walk with a chilling calm into a New York City hotel and have a last meal of sorts. All this happens with well placed ‘thriller’ music playing amiss a barrage of aerial shots and Cassidy’s mysteriously calculated actions. It’s too bad that this genuine suspense only lasts 5 minutes into the film, as it is at this point that Cassidy is already on the damn ledge. On a Ledge reuses a number of famous ‘wrongly accused thriller’ plots, particularly The Fugitive (1993) and Phone booth (2003) in order to tell its story. The film is really all about Cassidy’s devotion to prove his innocence, while tying in a commentary about the Wall Street megalomaniacs who ruined our economy. Ed Harris is convincing as a corporate millionaire thug, but the truth remains that the only thing ‘on the edge’ about this film are those who made it.
Its also pretty funny that Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg features a whole segment hat parodies this ‘desperate man on the ledge’ concept. My Winnipeg’s ‘Ledge Man’ is a mock television show about a man who is driven onto the ledge of an apartment building because of what ever problem that has arisen during the episode.
I ask you, what is more funny: the idea of this crazy T.V show? Or that someone paid $42 million dollars to make it into a major motion picture?
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