GRADE: B-

The premise of this film is self explanatory considering the title. Man on a Ledge is the latest Sam Worthington flick, which also stars Jamie Bell, Edward Burns, Elizabeth Banks, Anthony Mackie, and Ed Harris. Worthington plays Nick Cassidy, a man, who is essentially on a ledge for the majority of the film. This is the quintessential example of a popcorn flick, a film that is purely entertaining, full of cheap thrills, and devoid of real emotion. It isn’t a narrative that progresses rationally, and some of the characters and many of the situations are over the top. But like I said, it’s a mindless popcorn flick akin to many Summer blockbusters.

Nick Cassidy resides on a ledge because he is trying to prove he did not steal a gigantic diamond from Ed Harris’ character David Englander. The ledge is a ploy, a distraction from the real heist at hand — Nick’s brother Joey (Bell), and his girlfriend are hard at work trying to break into Englander’s vault to recover the diamond while Nick is on the ledge. As these films go, not all goes according to plan.

Man on a Ledge spends most of the time playing the ‘realism’ card, pretending that an event like this is not a far cry from reality. But early on I realized this film was diving head first into a fabricated fantasy full of stupid gimmicks. The fantasy aspect is most apparent from the inclusion of Genesis Rodriguez, the extremely attractive Latina woman playing the girlfriend and co-conspirator of Joey Cassidy. The relationship between this couple is not only laughable it’s so forced, but the two actually succumb to arguing while breaking into the highly secure vault — the consequences of getting caught, and what’s at stake (proving the innocence of Nick) are seemingly ignored by the couple as they waste time with trivial bickering.

Rodriguez’s purpose in the film isn’t to add dimension to the story (she isn’t fit to be a thief anyway), it’s to act as eye candy to fit into the Hollywood formula for success — sexy women stripping down to their bra and panties equals more dollars. The striptease happens in the guarded vault as she changes into a sleek stealth outfit, again wasting more precious time, instead of simply wearing the thief body suit underneath her street clothes. While every guy in the audience no doubt was drooling watching this would-be lingerie model showing off her goodies, this just showed me how forced some pieces of this film were. These aren’t the only pieces within that were a stretch, but those are the easiest to literate without spoiling too much. Because late in the film, Man on a Ledge really starts to push the capacity for unbelievability.

Overall, Man on a Ledge was fun to watch, but nothing I’d recommend anyone buy for their DVD/Blu-Ray collection. Worthington and the rest of the commendable cast do justice to the oftentimes hokie script, but even they couldn’t keep me from rolling my eyes every so often. The set up was enticing, the action was fast paced and exciting, and the payoff was not awful. Some of the shots staged by director Asger Leth were remarkable and brought the audience into the point of view of the man standing on the ledge — any filmmaker or film nut will appreciate most of Leth’s work. Man on a Ledge felt like an unpolished product — in more capable hands, this film could have been great.

What Should You Do? It’s worth the price of a matinee admission, but Man on a Ledge fits the January release profile — it isn’t a must see.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @matthewdeery