2012 Man on a Ledge Blu-Ray Movie Review

2012 Man on a Ledge Blu-Ray Movie Review: Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is an escaped, convicted diamond thief with an elaborate plan to clear his name. After checking into an upper-floor room at Manhattan's Roosevelt Hotel, he orders a hefty meal, then exits the window and positions himself on a ledge. People below notice him and soon the police are called in. When a cop attempts to talk him in, Nick asks to speak with a different negotiator, Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks).

Mercer has been ostracized by her peers recently because she lost a previous jumper. Her self-assurance has been tarnished, and she is perplexed as to why this potential suicide has requested her. The cops dust for fingerprints to identify the would-be jumper, but the room is clean. So Nick's identity remains unknown to them for quite some time....

As a thriller, "Man on a Ledge " works reasonably well. A large part of the movie involves an intricate caper that occurs as Nick teeters 25 floors above the street. The mystery unfolds as the police, Nick's family, a wealthy businessman (Ed Harris), dirty cops, and Nick himself converge in the film's denouement.

Actors: Sam Worthington, Ed Harris, Elizabeth Banks, Jamie Bell, Anthony Mackie
Rated: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Summit Entertainment
DVD Release Date: May 29, 2012

Safe House 2012 Movie Review

The action/drama/mystery film opens with a quick character build up of the multifaceted CIA agent Matt Weston (Ryan Reynolds). He operates a safe house with nobody in it. He wants a European field assignment, but lacks department seniority.

The movie switches to Tobin Frost (Denzel Washington) obtaining an embarrassing electronic file from the MI6 in South Africa. "Frost", because he is cold. Denzel uses his expected savvy to escape. He is a rouge super agent who free lances, buying and selling information. In order to escape the bad guys, Tobin surrenders to the CIA. Now the questions are: Was this his original plan? What is on the file?

Tobin is taken to our aforesaid safe house for intense interrogation. Frost is too important of a person and the top secret safe house comes under attack. The young low level highly trained Matt Weston is now on the run with a man who is a master manipulator of people. To our list of unanswered questions we now add, "Who is the mole?"

Ryan and Washington give us excellent performances. It had elements of the Bourne series that made this story interesting, but it doesn't quite measure up to that film. Cliche ending. I would say if you are a fan of the trilogy, check this one out.

Multiple chase scenes, torture, killings, shoot outs, minor "roof top" jumping, car wreaks without explosions

Overall, one of the best thriller action movies in the past year.

Safe House 2012 Moview Review

• Starring: Denzel Washington, Ryan Reynolds
• Supporting actors: Vera Farmiga, Brendan Gleeson, Sam Shepard, Rubén Blades, Nora Arnezeder, Robert Patrick
• Directed by: Daniel Espinosa
• Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller
• Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
• Release year: 2012
• US Theatrical Release Date: Feburary 10, 2012
• Studio: Universal Pictures

The Woman in Black 2012 Movie Review

The Woman in Black is a pretty traditional haunted house story that focuses on atmosphere and the lingering feeling of dread instead of CGI gore and horror. If you've read the book, you'll be familiar with the unsettling nature of the story - a general sense that translated well to the stage play and here to the film. The filming locations capture the remoteness of a house cut off by tide and tragedy and the general production design makes great use of a set to spring some fairly major jumps.

Daniel Radcliffe is well cast in bringing an innocence to a pretty dire situation where children keep dying every time the woman in black shows up, and he's clearly going to keep going beyond Harry Potter. The rest of the cast do well to portray the town that doesn't want Radcliffe there too. All of the tension and surprises rise from the situation and some clever camera shots and even the most hardened horror fan should get quite a few scares.

It's all a fairly solid production until the ending. Susan Hill's book transcended the genre with the end of her story (which has since been copied many times) but this movie doesn't stay faithful to the original material in an attempt to spare the audience the downer.

The Woman in Black 2012 Movie Review

• Starring: Daniel Radcliffe, Ciaran Hinds
• Directed by: James Watkins
• Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
• Runtime: 1 hour 36 minutes
• Studio: CBS Films