The story spins back to his incarceration in Sing Sing prison, the denial of his final appeal, and a temporary release for a family funeral. He makes a violent break for it in the cemetery and finds his way to the Roosevelt Hotel near 45th Street and Madison Avenue.
When police show up, Nick threatens to jump unless NYPD negotiator Lydia Spencer (Elizabeth Banks) appears within 30 minutes. She arrives with a hangover and the sickening shadow of a previous case gone bad, but she (and we) have to figure out who Nick is, why he's 200 feet above the street and where others on both sides of the law factor into his apparent dance with death.
To fully enjoy Man on a Ledge, you should take your critical faculties and lock them in one of those little hotel safes. Otherwise, you may think just what Nick's brother (Jamie Bell) fears, "He's an escaped felon, they're gonna kill him."
But little is what it seems in this movie that also features Anthony Mackie as Nick's best friend on the force; Ed Burns as another hostage negotiator; Ed Harris as an arrogant businessman who is all muscle and menace; Genesis Rodriguez as the girlfriend of Bell's character; Titus Welliver as another NYPD cop; and Kyra Sedgwick as a TV reporter who will be front and center if the jumper goes splat.
The throng on the ground is oddly small, even if the cops did close the block. Still, there's a bit of a Dog Day Afternoon vibe as the allegiance shifts and the crowd plays an unwitting role in Nick's scheme.
Asger Leth, who won a Directors Guild of America award four years ago for his documentary Ghosts of Cite Soleil about two brothers who are gang leaders in a notorious Haitian slum, directs the screenplay by Pablo F. Fenjves, who largely has penned TV movies.
The production built three versions of the hotel room set, including one on the top of the hotel that gives the movie authenticity, if not acrophobia. Still, Man on a Ledge may be even more implausible than Contraband, particularly in the way the story wraps up faster than a speeding bullet.
With its threads about a cop wrongfully condemned to 25 years in prison, a breakneck escape, a negotiator in need of redemption, criminals who deserve a comeuppance, a heist, and a couple of surprises, Man tries to give moviegoers plenty of reasons to get off the fence, if not the ledge.
Man on a Ledge **1/2 (out of four stars)
Directed by Asger Leth. With Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, and Jamie Bell. Distributed by Summit Entertainment.
Running time: 1 hour, 42 mins.
Parent's guide: PG-13 (violence, brief strong profanity)
Playing at: area theaters
