Review: Despite its Great Actors, This "Ledge" Might Make You Want to Jump

Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard

The Ledge, a new movie that opens in limited release today, has an amazing cast: Sons of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Terrence Howard, and Christopher Gorham.

It also has a pretty interesting premise: Hollis (Howard) a detective is called to talk to a man named Gavin (Hunnam) who is threatening to jump off a ledge. He says he has no choice, that he has to jump in an hour and a half, and if he doesn't, someone will die.

In the minutes that follow, Gavin explains why he must jump, and the reasons involve his fundamentalist Christian neighbor Joe (Wilson) and Joe's beautiful wife Shana (Tyler). Joe has a big problem with atheists and gay people, and Gavin is an atheist, and his roommate (Gorham) is gay.

Joe and Gavin soon develop an awkward, antagonistic relationship, even as Gavin finds himself attracted to Joe's wife (and vice-versa).

Meanwhile, as Howard's detective is listening to this story, we learn that he is dealing with some personal drama of his own.

Unfortunately, despite the great cast and premise, the movie is ultimately done in by a bad script. The dialogue is sometimes clunky, the pacing of the middle section is too drawn out, and the "reason" for Gavin being on that ledge is exactly what you'd expect. The same goes for why Joe and Shana are so religious.

Some last minute tension tries to up the stakes, but it feels too contrived: why didn't any of these reveals occur to anyone earlier?

Hunnam, Liv Tyler

To the movie's credit, it tries to take on some weighty issues that you don't often see in film — namely religious debates. But the dialogue is all stuff you've heard a hundred times before. And at least one of the characters ends up being a total cartoon, which makes it hard to argue that any of the debates we've been listening to are in any way "fair." (Part of the problem with portraying fundamentalism and/or extremism on-screen is that it's simply too obvious and boring to engage anyone with a brain.)

And while I hate to dump on any movie too harshly, I should point out that the production quality is poor here too — especially for such an A-list cast. The lighting is often off, and the music and cinematography both seem cheap.

The cast is attractive, and it's great to have Gorham playing gay (and HIV-positive). Plus, the movie does something slightly unexpected by having him be a religious believer.

But the movie's bad dialogue and obvious characters don't make for very effective drama, and there aren't enough thrills to make a good thriller (despite the fact that this is how the film is being billed).

Even if you're a fan of the cast, this one sadly isn't even worth Netflixing.