Faring best is Edward Burns (27 Dresses) as the cynical Jack Dougherty, trying and failing to supervise Lydia’s efforts to bring Nick in off the ledge. Anthony Mackie and William Sadler show up as familiar faces in smaller roles, but the movie never engages any deep emotions—no fear, no excitement and not much sympathy for anyone involved.

Ledge is helmed by a documentarian, Asger Leth (Ghosts of Cite Soleil), and written by Pablo Fenjves, whose previous credits are all TV movies. Say what you will about a flashy action director like Tony Scott (Unstoppable, Déjà Vu), but Man on a Ledge would have benefited from Scott’s overheated presentation of standard action material, giving some urgency to its storytelling and some heat to its visual presentation.

Leth’s TV-movie past is useful in writing about Man on a Ledge, if only to indicate where this film is best seen: At home, over the air, at no charge. And only if you don’t have chores to do, or a nap to take.

If you really need to get out to a movie this weekend, and if Haywire’s not your speed, I hear there are some good Oscar-nominated movies now playing.

CAUTIONS:

• Language/Profanity: “Jesus Christ”; “go-dam-”; “a-s”; “s-it”; “son of a b-tch”; the “f” word; “douche”; crude reference to male anatomy; sexual banter between a boyfriend and girlfriend.
• Alcohol/Smoking/Drugs: A woman grabs a champagne bottle and asks a man if he’s drunk during the day, and he says he isn’t; cigarette smoking; reference to cocaine; a disdainful reference to another man’s involvement with drugs.
• Sex/Nudity: Kiss on the cheek; Lydia shown in a tight-fitting night shirt; cleavage; woman shown in her underwear, with most of her backside exposed; some cursing in Spanish; a woman is shown in her bra.
• Violence/Crime: Prisoners fight; gun pointed at guards; gunfire; car chase; explosion; breaking and entering; men are shot; another fight scene.
• Religion/Morals: Nick says he’s had previous suicidal thoughts; a funeral message speaks of faith in God and faith in one’s self; Lydia wears a cross pendant on her necklace.
   

Questions? Comments? Contact the writer at crosswalkchristian@hotmail.com.