THE LEDGE DVD (2011)

SYNOPSIS: One step can change a life forever in The Ledge, a sexy and suspenseful thriller, starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard. After embarking on a passionate affair with his evangelical neighbor's wife (Tyler), Gavin (Sons of Anarchy's Hunnam) soon finds himself in a battle of wills that will have life or death consequences. As a nonbeliever, Gavin is lured by her lover's husband (Insidious's Wilson) to the ledge of a high rise and told he has one hour to make a choice between his life or the one he loves. Without faith in an afterlife, will he be able to make a decision? It's up to police officer Hollis (Howard) to save both their lives, but the clock is ticking in this edge-of-your-seat film that will leave you gasping until the final frame.

MOVIE REVIEW:

Not to be confused with ‘Man on a Ledge’ – though both movies share the same basic premise of a jumper on a high-rise roof – ‘The Ledge’ boasts a much more intriguing story centred around faith and reason. Gavin Nichols (‘Sons of Anarchy’s’ Charlie Hunnam) is that jumper, forced to mount the precipice one late morning by Joe Harris (Patrick Wilson) in order to save his lover Shana (Liv Tyler).

The twist? Shana is Joe’s wife, and besides the fact that this is Joe’s way of achieving comeuppance, it is also his method of exacting righteous justice. How does God come into the picture? Writer/ director Matthew Chapman sets Gavin up as an atheist, whose collision course with the righteous born-again Christian Joe begins one evening when the latter reveals his contempt for homosexuals while the former and his gay roommate Chris (Chris Gorham) are over for dinner.

Whether out of spite or just pure coincidence, Gavin becomes drawn to Shana, who happens to work as a housekeeper at the hotel where he is manager. Of course, Shana is more than just your typical dutiful Christian wife – before meeting Joe, she confesses to Gavin that she had a history of drug abuse and prostitution. As played by Liv Tyler, Shana is a fragile beauty with a soft sad voice – so you can forgive Gavin for falling for her despite being well aware of her marital status and for that matter who her husband is.

Of course, Joe takes none too kindly when he discovers his wife’s indiscretion – hence the predicament that Gavin finds himself in. This he relates to Detective Hollis Lucetti (Terrence Howard) as he bides his time with the clock slowly ticking towards noon, and Chapman juxtaposes Gavin’s story with Hollis’ own marriage woes – the latter of whom discovers through a medical test that he has been born infertile, which means the two young children he has with wife (Jacqueline Fleming) could not have been his.

Chapman builds his movie on the question of faith, albeit in different forms. Detective Hollis’ is a crisis of faith in marriage, as he is forced to question why his wife would lie to him for so many years. Ditto for Joe, who is suddenly faced with Shana’s adulterous ways. And then there is Gavin, whom Joe has several heated conversations with about God – his crisis is one of a higher order, of the presence of God, after it is revealed much later on what led him to have an utter disbelief in the power of a greater being.

There is certainly promise in the material, even as it is handled with a less than deft approach by Chapman himself. Better known for his screenplays (e.g. ‘Runaway Jury’) and non-fiction books about creation and evolution, Chapman often exerts a heavy hand in his directing, especially in getting his actors to voice out loud their inner dilemmas rather than portray them more subtly. At least he maintains a sufficient amount of intrigue to keep you engaged, even if you’d appreciate a lot more finesse.

The fact that the likes of Hunnam (next to be seen in Guillermo del Toro’s ‘Pacific Rim’), Tyler, Wilson and Howard (who is also co-executive producer) are in this film is probably a testament to the potential they saw in it. Performances are all-round competent, but particularly well played is the tension between Hunnam and Wilson, one the smooth easygoing man of reason and the other the hard-nosed firm man of faith.

These opposites are at the centre of the film itself, which despite some ham-fisted direction, still remains an interesting watch. In the hands of a better director, the message that faith is an integral part of our life that will be tested one way or another is likely to come through more strongly – but as it is, the histrionics threaten to drown out the significance of the story. Still, if you’re looking for a more thought-provoking thriller, this flawed but absorbing piece ought to do. 

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The Dolby Digital 2.0 delivers the dialogue clearly and crisply. Visuals are sharp and clear as well.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Gabriel Chong