Vertigo sufferers and sticklers for plausibility will want to give Man on a Ledge a miss, but if you’ve a head for heights and a nonchalance about gimmicky plots then you’ll probably get a rush from this contrived action thriller. Sam Worthington’s Nick Cassidy is the eponymous hero, an ex-cop turned escaped convict, who is trying to clear his name of a $40million diamond theft. That’s why, having busted out of custody, he’s standing on a 21st floor window ledge of a Manhattan hotel, threatening to jump. As NYPD negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) tries to talk him down, it becomes clear that Nick’s plight is a ruse to divert attention while across the street his brother Joey (Jamie Bell) and Joey’s sassy girlfriend Angie (Genesis Rodriguez) are attempting a fiendishly complex Mission: Impossible-style heist. Worthington’s underwhelming screen presence leaves the film teetering on the brink, but the bickering by-play between livewires Bell and Rodriguez keeps us engaged as the convoluted story unfolds.
Released on Blu-ray & DVD on Monday 11th June by Entertainment One.
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