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Readers of my blogs understand that I am not a fan of heights. But that does not restrict me from watching climactic movie scenes where people fall from great heights. In “Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol,” I was fascinated when Tom Cruise was hanging onto the side of the building of the tallest skyscraper in the world. On the contrary, “Man on a Ledge” is a movie that I find very frustrating. I could not make sense of the back-and-forth plot twists in which the film alternated between two absurd story lines. The man on the ledge was simply used as a tool to increase the intensity of the film.
I have participated in more than one ridiculous narrative, so this is nothing new. But how do I respond to the man on the ledge acting like it is a joke? My guess would be, if you are on a ledge twenty-one stories up in a fair wind, then I absolutely should take it seriously. No doubt the man is attempting to commit suicide, so if he were to fall, that would actually work out for his plan. However, he is not serious, so what does this clown fantasize about?
The man goes by the name of Nick Cassidy (portrayed by Sam Worthingon). He is a former cop, now serving a jail sentence, but with a twist. He is permitted out for the day under heavy guard to attend his father’s funeral. When he attends, he escapes from his controllers, gets rid of his prisoner costume, makes his way to Manhattan, checks into a hotel, digs into a large breakfast, and then proceeds to go out on the ledge.
If we have seen several films by now, we have a pretty good sense that he is not going to be jumping anytime soon, because if he did the film would be over. You feel me? Not quite. Certainly, we will receive many “from above” shots during which we look straight down past the ends of his shoes. He is way up there. He draws in a large audience, which causes a snarl of congestion.
Simultaneously, the movie switches to David Englander (Ed Harris), a rich “master of the universe” with an office in a skyscraper directly across the street. He is a few moments away from revealing his plans to build a massive skyscraper. I forget its name, so let’s call it Englander Tower for the time being, in honor of The Donald.
Now we shift from Nick Cassidy, David Englander, and Joey (Jaimie Bell) to Angie (Genesis Rodriguez). For some reason, when I hear the name Joey or Angie, I suspect they’re from New York. I am sure they are plenty of them elsewhere too. Speaking of Angie, she epitomizes the new breed of female action hero by squeezing herself into a push-up latex costume with a bra that was engineered like the Sydney Opera House. After this, she pretty much starts crawling through air ducts.
Meanwhile, across the street, a police officer Jack Dougherty (Edward Burns) comes into the hotel room to actually try to negotiate with the jumper. Shortly after, he’s substituted by the NYPD psychologist Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks). Back up the crowd is chanting jump! jump! in hopes of watching someone die so they can capture it on their iPhones and later sell it to “Eyewitness News.” This is being reported live by TV news Suzie Morales (Kyra Sedgwick). And as if that wasn’t enough her station decided to send the NewsChopper so near the edge that the winds would practically blow Nick into a million YouTube videos.
I could detail the connection, if any, between the events on both sides of the street, but let’s just say that it’s all part of a complicated scheme to steal the world’s largest diamond. So, is Nick’s job to grab people’s focus and cause a traffic jam? Yes, and make a near fall at just the right instant so that an explosion can be ignored, and so forth. But wait. What we have here is a master plan that absolutely relies on Nick (1) being granted parole for the funeral, (2) getting past two guards with loaded rifles, (3) making it to Manhattan in one piece, (4) checking into a room that is on the correct floor and side of the hotel, and (5) waiting until he does not die from falling off a ledge which would not only kill him but completely ruin the entire plot. Joey and Angie, on the other hand, have the responsibility of locating the largest diamond in the world, which is certainly not located where it should be. Perhaps it is hidden in the form of a Ferrari plated with diamonds? No, that was “Tower Heist.” And there also needs to be time for the TV reporter to give a wrap up of all that has transpired and offer a conclusion to the story.
So, you think everything offered sounds feasible? Fine. But here is where I stand on the fence. Do you picture those large air bags that are used to catch falling people from tall heights? Do you picture Nick inhaling deeply before sprinting towards a ledge? Do you picture him jumping off the edge of 21 floors and greatly breaking his fall? I know for certain that vision is unreasonable.
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