Let me preface what I'm about to write with this, when you're in the theater to see an action flick you have to be willing to suspend reality for the duration. You wouldn't go into a Jason Statham movie expecting it to be perfectly realistic would you? So don't go into a movie like Man on a Ledge expecting the plot to be airtight.
Having said that, it was a decent movie. The action sequences were filmed well, and you have all the predictable tension when a character just barely escapes time and time again. If you're a dude you have a pretty Latina girl both half naked in one scene and in a skintight jumpsuit for another. There is a surprising amount of comic relief from Jamie Bell who manages "charming" without losing a beat and yet a surprising lack of it from funny girl Elizabeth Banks. She seems to pull off a more serious role fairly well, however, even though her back story is more than cliché and bordering on cheesy. Sam Worthington is what he is; eye candy. Though, sadly, somehow I found him more appealing as a blue American in Avatar. He plays the role well enough, though there isn't a whole lot to work with; stand on a ledge and have a devilish grin every so often. Ed Harris is believable as a two dimensional villain character (what action movie would be complete without one?)
All in all Man on a Ledge plays more like a comic book than a thriller. There are plot holes galore and my suggestion (if you can't simply overlook them) is to laugh at them afterwords. Here are a few to get you started 1) Australian brother + English brother=American Dad? 2) 3 prison guards + 1 felon= 1 gun? 3) small British guy and the hot Hispanic chick just happen to have recently graduated from MIT or the James Bond Academy of Science and Infiltration. There are a myriad of others I will let you find for yourself.
Moral of the story; its worth a watch and a laugh or two if you feel like dissecting the plot for the massive craters that lie within
Having said that, it was a decent movie. The action sequences were filmed well, and you have all the predictable tension when a character just barely escapes time and time again. If you're a dude you have a pretty Latina girl both half naked in one scene and in a skintight jumpsuit for another. There is a surprising amount of comic relief from Jamie Bell who manages "charming" without losing a beat and yet a surprising lack of it from funny girl Elizabeth Banks. She seems to pull off a more serious role fairly well, however, even though her back story is more than cliché and bordering on cheesy. Sam Worthington is what he is; eye candy. Though, sadly, somehow I found him more appealing as a blue American in Avatar. He plays the role well enough, though there isn't a whole lot to work with; stand on a ledge and have a devilish grin every so often. Ed Harris is believable as a two dimensional villain character (what action movie would be complete without one?)
All in all Man on a Ledge plays more like a comic book than a thriller. There are plot holes galore and my suggestion (if you can't simply overlook them) is to laugh at them afterwords. Here are a few to get you started 1) Australian brother + English brother=American Dad? 2) 3 prison guards + 1 felon= 1 gun? 3) small British guy and the hot Hispanic chick just happen to have recently graduated from MIT or the James Bond Academy of Science and Infiltration. There are a myriad of others I will let you find for yourself.
Moral of the story; its worth a watch and a laugh or two if you feel like dissecting the plot for the massive craters that lie within