Man on a Ledge (2012) - Neutered stars in insipid thriller

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Star faces and a major still of the titular suicide scenario with fish-eye effect make up this poster for Asger Leth's Man on a Ledge

 

An escaped convict gets out on a ledge on a tall hotel building in Manhattan - but why?

 

Man on a Ledge is written by Pablo F. Fenjves (A Case for Murder (1993, TV movie)) and directed by Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006, documentary)).

It is hard to care about mullet-haired Sam Worthington's (Bootmen (2000)) protagonist's plans in this dull, unexciting thriller. A random cast of stars are seemingly present to cash easy paychecks, and unfortunately lead Worthington is especially uninteresting.

The film has only insufficient and small bouts of weak action. Man on a Ledge is deeply forgettable and pointless. Its story is hard to follow as it plays out, simply because it is so facade-focused and vacuous. A major turkey.

 

Related post:

 

Asger Leth: Ghosts of Cité Soleil (2006, documentary) - A. Leth debuts with formidable documentary

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 42 mil. $

Box office: 47.6 mil. $

= Big flop (returned 1.13 times its cost)

[Man on a Ledge was released 26 January (Germany and 6 other markets) and runs 102 minutes. Shooting took place in New York around October 2010. The film opened #5, behind fellow new release The Grey, holdover hit Underworld: Awakening, new release One for the Money and holdover hit Red Tails, to an 8 mil. $ first weekend in North America, where it left the top 5 in its 2nd weekend and grossed 18.6 mil. $ (39.1 % of the total gross. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 3.9 mil. $ (9 %) and South Korea with 3.8 mil. $ (8 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 2/4 star review, translating to a notch over this one. Leth returned with Hold On (2012). Worthington returned in Wrath of the Titans (2012). Man on a Ledge is rotten at 31 % with a 4.80/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

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