Review of The Ledge (2011) by Maksim B — 23 Jan 2012

A strange and controversial mixture of mystery, suspense and drama, The Ledge is a movie in which solid acting is wasted by an unclear concept with strong beginning but disappointing ending. Exploring the clash between the extreme Christianity and modern atheism, this delivery is more a drama than an entertaining and gripping thriller.

Some similarities between Phone Booth and The Ledge are immediately found out by those who remember Joel Schumacher's short thriller from 2003. Unlike the more fast-paced and thrills-packed Phone Booth, Mathew Chapman's movie explores the 100 minutes of screen time in order to tell a complete story and to blend in the family problems of Terrence Howard,too. Very quickly the audience is able to see the whole idea of the movie and the direction to where it is being led.

As a positive note director Chapman succeeds to evoke quite strong feelings towards the extreme Patrick Wilson, who should be fully credited for being so credible as the appalling Joe. Many would be appalled by the extreme and aggressive Christian values shown in the character of Wilson; many would probably recognize very similar reality around them and the would be outraged by Wilson's character as an embodiment of the Christian radicals. However this is the only positive achievement of Chapman. For almost an hour the audience expects the last five minutes of the movie and instead of bringing in some thrilling moments the suspense part of the movie is totally lost of focus. And even when the climax is expected to at least reward the 90 minutes of unnecessary drama, the movie finishes in a even more dramatic and unsatisfactory manner.

Still, the cast of this movie should receive the credit for doing its best to save the movie. Wilson is strikingly convincing, Charlie Hunnam is an excellent match for the atheist Gavin and Terrence Howard is at his usual level for a drama. The only slight disappointment is Liv Tyler who never really finds her real place in this movie as Shana, but her innocent face somehow compensates for this.

The Ledge is a very good example how a story developed in the wrong direction could destroy the potential of a movie and turn it from a possible gripping and provoking thriller, into a slow and unsatisfactory drama.