Welcome back to Movie Recaps. Today I will show you an action thriller film from 2012,
titled Man on a Ledge. Spoilers ahead! Watch out and take care.
Nick Cassidy is an ex-cop and an escaped convict. We see him as he checks into The Roosevelt Hotel
under the name Joe Walker. The hotel valet leads him into his requested room. He has a nice meal
and, after, he cleans every trace of himself from the room, apart from a single note. Nick opens the
window and steps out on the ledge of the hotel, where he will spend a few of the most important
hours in his life. To find out why he's doing that, we have to go back a month earlier. At the
time, Nick was in prison and got his final appeal denied by the court. He will have to serve out the
entirety of his 25-year sentence. His ex-partner Mike Ackerman comes to visit him in prison to
tell him that his father is dying. He promises to get him a day outside so he can see him. However,
Nick only gets to go to his funeral. Mike and his fiancée express their condolences to both Nick
and his brother Joey. His brother's girlfriend Angie leaves them a moment to talk in private.
The brothers get into an argument and break into a fight that quickly gets split up by Nick's guards,
giving Nick ample opportunity to steal one of their guns. Once armed, he makes Joey unlock
his cuffs, impairs the prison guard's vehicle, and escapes in his brother's car. A chase through the
graveyard with the police ensues, which he manages easily while changing his clothes as well. The
chase leads them out to some train tracks where he rams his car into a moving train and manages
to slip away before the cops can get to him. Nick gets to a hideout, where he finds all the things
he might require, left there by his accomplice. Back at the Roosevelt, the authorities are already
aware of the situation with Nick and they're shutting down the block. Police and emergency
vehicles arrive at the site, along with Detective Jack Dougherty. He heads straight to the room and
introduces himself to Nick, saying he's there to help. In the meantime, Detective Dante Marcus
manages the situation at the base of the hotel where people have already gathered, invested in
the spectacle. Dougherty gives his best first attempt at convincing Nick to come back in, but
Nick threatens him to get another negotiator or he'll jump. The detective turns back in the room,
met by Marcus and they take a look at Nick's last note, saying: I will exit this world as
I entered - innocent. They still don't know who he is and Marcus wants to print the room
to find out more about him. Dougherty calls the negotiator Lydia Mercer and tells her that they
have a jumper who has requested her specifically. Marcus's team is already investigating Nick,
still thinking that he's Joe Walker. When Mercer gets to the hotel, Dougherty informs her of the
scene and tells her that he's about to jump in 2 minutes. Mercer gives the room a look around,
gets a little bit more info, and introduces herself to Nick in the last possible second.
He tells her that everything will change for him today, one way or another and he needs her
to understand that he's ready to die for that. Mercer is curious why he even brought her there
if that's the case, to which he replies that it's because she’s famous and he needs a crowd.
Dougherty doesn't trust her and gives her five minutes to get her head in the game.
Meanwhile, Mike is looking for Nick, completely unaware of what is actually happening.
He thinks there's something suspicious about Nick's escape, so he tells his colleague to
check for anything unusual in the communication between the Cassidy brothers. At this point,
we are introduced to another major player in Nick's life, David Englander, the owner of the
Roosevelt Hotel. He's a nasty rich guy with his hands on everything in the city and no interest in
the wellbeing of others. Dougherty informs Mercer that they didn't find any prints in the room.
She thinks she can trick Nick with a cigarette to get a print but fails the first attempt.
Mercer implies knowing that Nick isn't on the ledge just to end his life, but to make some
sort of statement. She tells him that, unlike the crowd on the street, she actually cares. Suddenly,
Joey calls Nick to tell him that they arrived. Nick tries to mess with Mercer's head to get her
away so he can talk to his brother without her realizing it. Joey and Angie are part of Nick's
rouse. The media gets in on the spectacle too and they report on Mercer's involvement in the case,
dragging up an incident from a month ago when she couldn't persuade an officer not to jump from
a bridge. She didn't take that incident lightly. Dougherty and Mercer are suspicious about the lack
of information they have on Nick, so Dougherty will try to find something and she can focus on
Nick. Simultaneously, he's talking to Joey while he and Angie are breaking into one of Englander's
many properties, just on the other side of the hotel where Nick is standing. As the security
system is being disarmed for the night shift, Joey and Angie drill holes on the roof of the place,
setting up an explosive device. They signal Nick and he makes a fuss to distract Mercer
and the crowd down below as they activate the explosive. Joey and Angie enter the property
while Nick continues to fool Mercer. He asks for a cigarette and she shares her last one with him.
Nick knows a lot about Mercer's carrier and tells her that it's because they have a lot in common.
She doesn't think that he wants to jump and he tells her not to give up on him. When she pulls
back into the room she hands the cigarette to an officer so they can get a print from it. Joey
informs Nick that they've entered the building. In the meantime, Mike gets back to the station
and learns about the jumper, but not who he is. Mercer gives another shot at persuading Nick to
come back inside, when a news helicopter flies dangerously close to them, almost pushing Nick
over the ledge. Mike finally sees it's him on the news feed. He gets a call about a storage
unit in Joey's name. Joey and Angie lower down the elevator shaft in Englander's building.
He takes care of the security cameras and they move toward Englander's vault room.
Angie notices a sensor inside and they back up so they don't activate it. Dougherty
and Mercer realize that Nick is waiting for something and she needs him to speed up his ID.
Mercer comes back out and asks Nick what's really going on. He gives her some kind of armchair
psychology answer. She tries another approach when Joey begins talking in his ear again. Since Nick
can't answer him directly, he uses his answers to Mercer as clues about what he and Angie should do
about the sensor. Joey doesn't understand him, but Angie realizes what Nick is trying to say.
She says that it's a heat sensor and they need to cool it down. They use a fire extinguisher to
take care of the sensor. Nick tells Mercer that he knows she pulled a print of his cigarette and
is about to find out who he is. Simultaneously, Mike goes to Joey's storage unit and finds Nick's,
Joe Walker's, and his own file in a cabinet. Marcus gets Nick's prints back and calls Mercer.
He tells her who Nick is and that he was in prison for stealing Englander's 40 million dollars
"Monarch" diamond. Marcus also tells her that he's the owner of the hotel, with an office there and a
diamond exchange across the street. Mercer and Dougherty realize that Nick's plan is to prove
his innocence. She finds out that Mike was his partner and calls him explaining the situation as
he's burning the files he found in storage. Marcus calls Englander's security and tells them to check
on the vault. Simultaneously, Joey and Angie are right outside the vault, trying to get in. Mercer
confronts Nick and asks him what the whole point of his stunt is. Nick tells her to send a team to
the diamonds exchange, sending Joey into a panic because they aren't finished there yet. He insists
that he's innocent and needs Mercer's help because Englander had set him up for stealing the diamond.
She doesn't believe him. Then, Nick says that this is his retrial and instigates the crowd below
to agree with him. Simultaneously, Englander's security is being escorted by the police toward
the other building. Nick tells Joey about it and he asks him to buy them some time to hide.
Suddenly, Nick begins throwing money off the ledge, and the crowd flocks the street, blocking
the way for the police and the security to get to the entrance of the exchange. Angie sets up a
camera to get the passcode when the security guy enters it, while Joey finds them a hiding spot.
The security and the police officers get inside the building and come up, just as Angie and Joey
get inside the hiding spot. Simultaneously, Marcus talks to Englander about Nick.
Englander is pissed about the situation and thinks that it's not a coincidence that Nick chose the
same day as his major press conference about a new building property to perform his stunt.
Marcus says that he shouldn't worry, but gets threatened that his life would be ruined if he
doesn't fix the situation. Back at the exchange, the security guard takes the police inside the
vault room, entering the code. He explains all the security measures to the officers which are enough
to convince them that no one can break-in, then he informs Marcus about it. Marcus goes to the
hotel room and gives Mercer 15 minutes to get Nick off the ledge or his sending in the tactical team.
Meanwhile, Mike is speeding toward the hotel. Joey and Angie get out of hiding and go back to
the vault room. Mercer tells Nick that tactical will come after him if he doesn't get down so he
tells her about what happened when the diamond was stolen. Apparently, the diamond was stolen
by Englander's men, who jumped Nick when he was transporting it. Englander was getting closer to
being bankrupt, but instead of selling the diamond and admitting to that, he got insurance for it.
Mercer wants to believe him but hesitates when Nick tells her that Englander's thugs
were probably cops. She goes to investigate his story when Mike arrives at the hotel.
He checks in with Marcus before he goes up. A police officer brings in some documents they found
in Nick's cell and Mike offers to take them to the room. Mercer voices her suspicions about Nick's
guilt to Dougherty, but he's pretty sure that he did it. She asks Marcus about it too and tells him
that Nick was cooperating with Internal Affairs about another case involving a cop called Joe
Walker. She thinks that it's connected to Nick's case, but Marcus denies it. When Mercer tells him
that Nick won't jump, he orders the tactical team to get into position. Meanwhile, the crowd and
the media all have different opinions about Nick's presumed guilt. Mike takes a look at the documents
from Nick's cell and removes a few of them before he gets into the room and delivers the rest to
Dougherty. Mercer questions him about Englander, but he says that he had nothing to do with him.
She's suspicious of Mike too and isn't letting him get near Nick even though he insists that they're
friends. At the same time, Angie crawls through a vent to get into the vault room. When she gets
inside, the first thing she needs to do is disarm the security system and she needs Nick's help for
that. Mercer calls him back into the room again, but Nick asks her to buy him some more time.
Dougherty finds bomb schematics in the documents. Simultaneously, Nick tells Angie how she can short
circuit the main processor to shut down the sensors. She has a moment of doubt on which
wire to cut but gets the right one eventually. Angie uses the wire to fry the processor and turns
off the sensors. Joey opens the vault room door, then drills through the vault itself to open it.
The tactical team is getting into position and Mercer asks Nick if there really is a bomb.
Dougherty tells her that she needs to clear the window. She argues with him and Marcus about what
they should do, but since none of them want to listen to her she steps on the ledge next to Nick.
Angie and Joey break into the vault finally and open it up to reveal all of Englander's riches.
They have their sights on only one thing though - the Monarch diamond. While they search through the
vault, Mercer and Nick stand side by side on the ledge. Unfortunately, they don't find the diamond
and when they call Nick to inform him, Mercer sees him talking to Joey. Nick tells her what his plan
was. Since the diamond isn't in the vault, Joey has to switch to plan B. They activate the alarms
to distract the police and the security. Englander goes to take a look at the vault and tells his
guard to keep the police out while he checks on the real safe where he keeps the Monarch. He's
relieved to find it there and decides to take it with him. Mercer comes back into the room and asks
to talk to IA. Mike returns and pulls Dougherty out of the room, locking him out so he can speak
to Nick alone. He calls him back in, saying he can help. Nick tells Mike that they're talking to
IA which makes Mike nervous and he reaches out to grab him. At the same time, Marcus orders tactical
to get Nick and two agents drop down. Nick manages to escape them and jumps from one ledge to another
until he gets back inside the hotel. The crowd gets unruly when they see what's going on. Marcus
and tactical manage the search for Nick as he runs through the hotel. Meanwhile, Englander
gets back to his office and finds Joey and Angie waiting for him there. Joey frisks him and finds
the diamond. They make him cuff himself to the safe in his office and leave with the diamond.
When they get to reception, they give the valet a bag telling him to hold it. The man takes the
diamond out and puts it away. Englander gets to a phone and tells Marcus that Joey has the diamond.
Then Marcus tells tactical that Nick has a bomb trigger and they have to take him down.
Mercer is searching for Mike and Nick through the hotel when she gets a call-back from IA.
The agent tells her that they have circumstantial evidence on Mike and Marcus. Nick is being chased
down by the tactical team. He runs into the valet who hands him his jacket with the diamond,
then shows the officers in the other direction. They still catch up to Nick who steps out on the
ledge again and climbs up the hotel. Meanwhile, Marcus finds Joey and Angie and he tortures them
for information about the diamond. Nick gets to the roof at the same time as Mercer and tactical.
He gets on his knees when Marcus arrives and arrests Mercer for obstruction. Marcus orders
the tactical team to back down so he can remain alone with Nick. When they leave, Englander gets
Joey up on the roof and threatens Nick that he'll kill Joey if he doesn't give him the diamond.
Nick returns the diamond, but Englander still tells Marcus to kill them. Mercer gets out of
her restraints and immediately heads back to the roof. Marcus tells Nick to jump off the roof or
he'll throw his brother off. Suddenly, Mike shows up and shoots him down, but he gets shot too.
He apologizes to Nick for setting him up as Marcus is ready to kill them both.
Mercer arrives in time and kills him. Joey calls over to Nick that Englander is getting away.
With nothing left to lose, Nick jumps off the roof and fortunately lands on the air mattress
the police set up earlier. He runs after Englander and confronts him in front of the crowd. Nick runs
over to him and knocks him down so he can get the diamond. Once it's in his hand he shows it to the
crowd who cheer in his favor. Later, Mercer picks Nick up from prison and they go to a bar where
everyone is happy to see him. His father, who was alive and helping him the entire time, is the
happiest. In the final moments, Joey asks Angie to marry her with a ring he stole from Englander.