STV’s movie man Grant Lauchlan was joined by radio presenter Janice Forsyth and journalist Graeme Virtue for this week’s instalment of Moviejuice, and one of the films the trio reviewed this week was thriller Man on a Ledge.
Starring Sam Worthington, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris and Genesis Rodriguez, the movie tells the story of a former policeman Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) who has been jailed for stealing a hugely valuable diamond from a ruthless property tycoon.
After escaping from prison, he checks into a hotel then threatens to jump from the window, creating a diversion which allows his brother (Jamie Bell) and helpful sidekick (Genesis Rodriguez) to break into the tycoon’s office and find the diamond Nick was accused of snatching – proving his innocence.
It sounds like an exciting caper, but the film got mixed feedback from this week’s Moviejuice panel.
“It’s so my kind of movie – not,” Janice said. “I have to admit maybe for the first 20 minutes I was really annoyed with it because it is absolutely full of plot holes.
"Then I settled into it and I began to almost treat it like a very entertaining thriller/comedy because there are lots of laughs, the characters are caricatures.
“There are gaping plot holes, but I just let it wash over me, and actually by the end of it I quite enjoyed it.”
Graham was less impressed, commenting: “The problem I have with this film is they’ve assembled a great team of actors but they haven’t got any characters for them to play, they’re all just playing total archetypes.
Movie buff Grant was a little more complimentary. “I like it because it’s quite honest about what kind of film it is and where it stands in the big grand scheme of things," he said.
He added: “If I wanted to leave my brain at the door that’s the kind of film I’d go and see.”
So what did the critic rate Man on a Ledge as? Grant gave it a fairly respectable 2.5-3 out of 5, while Graeme awarded it just 2, commenting that it’s “clinging on by its fingernails”.
Janice meanwhile had given the film just 1 out of 5, before bumping her mark up to 3. Explaining the score, she said: “I would give it one because the plot would be thrown out of any screenwriting class because it’s so terrible, but somehow it builds momentum - so that goes up to a dizzying three stars.”
MOVIE MAGIC:
People who read this story also read
-
J Edgar: the extended review
Review: The Moviejuice reviewers had a look at the story of J Edgar Hoover – find out if they thought it sucked or not
-
Coriolanus: Does Shakespeare really work in a flak jacket?
