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Man on a Ledge with Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns & Jamie Bell

Posted on June 16, 2012 Written by ripitup

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Man on a Ledge movie poster
Man on a Ledge movie poster with Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns & Jamie Bell. Prison break? Check. Cool heist? Check. A female negotiator more invested in helping and solving than the protocol? Check. Image via sinemafilmler.net.

Ever watched a movie that made you feel like you were the spot-on target audience? A movie that makes me feel like that usually has these elements: an entertaining story, a genre that I love, actors that I like and some good humor.

Movies don’t have to be masterpieces or mind-blowingly creative attempts to entertain. I usually just want to have a good time – and Man on a Ledge can definitely show you that.

Here’s why:

1)      The Plot

We have the innocent convict Nick (Sam Worthington) who takes a day off for his father’s funeral to make his escape. He knows it is his only shot, and frankly, he’d rather die to go back to serve 20+ years of jail. An former cop, he makes sure he has enough time to set his plan in motion: he rents a room on one of the top floors of a luxury hotel, enjoys a “last” meal, leaves a “note”, wipes off his parents, steps on the ledge and makes his request when the cops (though not the ones who know who he is) arrive in the room: They’ve 30 minutes to get suicide-negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks) to talk to him, or he jumps.

 

The cop who takes his request is Dougherty (Edward Burns), and neither he nor the cop in charge of “ground control” (Titus Welliver) are pleased about it.

 

But after a short while, Mercer seems to have formed a bond and Dougherty is becoming more convinced of her skills. Still she fears that he might jump, and is also suspecting he might be up to something. And he is. He’s gathering all the attention so that his brother (Jamie Bell) and brother’s girlfriend (Genesis Rodriguez) can break into the vault next door- so that they can steal the “supposedly stolen” diamond from the rich and powerful man (Ed Harris) who framed him.

 

But as resourceful as he is, he still has to race against time, help out his brother, dodge the cops who are after him while maintaining the Mercer’s trust. Will they be able to pull it off on time?

 

2)      The fun: the heist, Nick’s tactics to keep everyone busy, Dougherty’s reactions to Mercer’s unorthodox methods, and most of all- the fun one-liners between Joey and his girlfriend.

 

3)      The cast: Sam Worthington, Elizabeth Banks, Edward Burns, Jamie Bell, Ed Harris, William Sadler (Sheriff of Roswell and McGarrrett’s father in the new Hawaii Five-O) and Kyra Sedwick – who makes brief but entertaining appearances as the cheeky reporter.

 

4)      The predictable but highly enjoyable twists. There’re very few twists that get a movie addict shocked, or at least hasn’t seen coming. But I don’t watch a fun action movie for twists – surely you see them coming, but they are so entertaining as a whole that you just care if the way to the “twists” are fun.

 

5)      A protagonist to root for

 

6)      Interesting supporting characters

 

7)      A totally ruthless villain

 

 

Man on a Ledge is rated only at 6.6 on IMDB, and I think it should be higher – for its entertainment value. See it to enjoy it. It’s good entertainment- it doesn’t try to be anything more.

 

Directed by Asger Leth and written by Pablo F. Fenjves.

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Ed Harris, Edward Burns, Elizabeth Banks, genesis rodriguez, Jamie bell, Kyra Sedgwick, man on a ledge, man on a ledge 2012 movie, man on a ledge cast, man on a ledge dvd, man on a ledge movie, man on a ledge movie review, Sam Worthington, sam worthington man on a ledge, titus welliver, william sadler

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Posted on December 13, 2010 Written by ripitup

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A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany
A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

John Nash (Russell Crowe) is a brilliant mathematician who gets into Princeton on a prestigious degree. Obsessively working on a big and original idea for his doctorate thesis, he is often mocked by his peers due to his highly anti-social and odd behavior. His only real friend turns out to be his roommate Charles (Paul Bettany).

After a while, a night out with friends gives him the perfect idea and he gets the credit and success he deserves. Years later, he is working with his Princeton friends, Sol (Adam Goldberg) and Bender (Anthony Rapp) at MIT. There he meets a beautiful student named Alicia (Jennifer Connelly) and they start dating. However, Nash has already accepted a secret government assignment as a code-breaker, recruited by a man named William Parcher (Ed Harris) and his assignments start getting riskier after marrying Alicia. But is John’s paranoia justified?

As Nash is admitted to a mental hospital under the authority of Dr. Rosen (Christopher Plummer), both Nash and Alicia are about to face a shocking revelation…

**

A Beautiful Mind is based on the life of the mathematician John Nash, and the biographical book of the same name. Directed by Ron Howard in 2001, A Beautiful Mind is one of those rare movies where you agree that it deserved all the Oscars and Oscar nominations it received. And I definitely wish Crowe had won Best Actor. It was one of the most humane, authentic and touching performances I have ever seen on screen.

The movie won 4 Oscars: Best Supporting Actress (Jennifer Connelly), Best Director (Ron Howard), Best Film (Ron Howard & Brian Grazer) and Best Adapted Screenplay ( Akiva Goldsman). The nominations were Best Actor (Russell Crowe), Best Editing, Best Makeup and Best Music (James Horner). I also wish the movie had gotten the best makeup academy award – especially for what they have done with Russell Crowe.

You see, I have never been a Guy Ritchie or Christopher Nolan or Quentin Tarantino fan. Sure there have been Nolan movies that I enjoyed but as I realized once more, I will take a Ron Howard movie any day. Ron has directed Apollo 13, Ransom, Far and Away, The Da Vinci Code, Cinderella and more.  Yeah, I guess I am more into old-fashioned story-telling with great actors, lovely music and an interesting story than cult appeal.

Highly recommended.

Fun Note: Co-stars Paul Bettany and Jennifer Connelly got married in 2003 and they have a child together.

 

Other Posts on Russell Crowe & his movies

A Good Year starring Russell Crowe & Marion Cotillard

Other Posts on Jennifer Connelly & her movies

Coming Soon:The Dilemma starring Vince Vaughn, Jennifer Connelly, Kevin James, Winona Ryder and Channing Tatum

Jennifer Connelly Trivia: 14 Facts About Actress Jennifer Connelly

Dark City

Requiem for a Dream

He is just not that into you

Of Love and Shadows

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together

Other Paul Bettany Movies & Posts

The Tourist starring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie & Paul Bettany

Firewall starring Harrison Ford, Virginia Madsen and Paul Bettany

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together

Other Ed Harris Movies

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris & Diane Kruger

Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell & Ed Harris

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: a beautiful mind, a beautiful mind movie, Academy-award winning movie, adam goldberg, Akiva Goldsman, anthony rapp, biography, brian grazer, Christopher Plummer, drama, Ed Harris, james horner, Jennifer Connelly, john nash, movies, Paul Bettany, ron howard, russell crowe

Swing Shift starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

Posted on May 25, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Ed Harris and Christine Lahti
Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell, Ed Harris and Christine Lahti. Image from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f0/Swing_shift.jpg

Kay Walsh (Goldie Hawn) is happily married to her husband Jack (Ed Harris).When World War II strikes, Jack has to join the navy and Kate is left alone. Kay finds a job; after all almost all plants are need of extra labor after most men go off to war. Women are not made all that welcome by some of the men. Kay tries her best to do her job and makes a new friend called Hazel (Christine Lahti). Her new “leadman” Lucky (Kurt Russell) also is really nice to her. Well, it is more like he is smitten by her. He keeps asking her out and she keeps turning her down. But eventually, she gives into his charm. Along with her friendship with Hazel and Hazel’s romance traffic, her guilt about her own affair and work life, her life gets very busy. And her husband is due home any day…

This is one harmless, sweet movie. It is not memorable. It is by no means bad, but I was misled into thinking that it would be a romantic comedy with few dramatic touches (I am blaming it on IMDB’s genre labels). It has some funny moments. It has some romantic moments. But with all the war background and the relationships….something is missing. Of course watching Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn is never boring. And Kay’s husband is played by Ed Harris. It is weird seeing Ed with hair, I’ll give you that (well, he had more hair in 1984). Academy was more impressed with the Hazel character than I was as she was nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.

5.8 on the IMDB. Sounds just about right. Directed by Jonathan Demme.

Also on Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

Overboard starring Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn

6 Hollywood Couples: Gorgeous, Glamorous and Happy Together feat. Goldie and Kurt

Also on Ed Harris

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris & Diane Kruger

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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Christine Lahti, comedy, drama, Ed Harris, goldie hawn, Jonathan Demme, Kurt Rus Russell, Swing Shift

Copying Beethoven starring Ed Harris, Diane Kruger and Matthew Goode

Posted on February 21, 2010 Written by ripitup

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Copying Beethoven with Ed Harris and Diane Kruger
Copying Beethoven with Ed Harris and Diane Kruger. Mixed feelings, all over. Not just in me, but in the characters too. Matthew Goode is playing probably the only sane character in the film.

This is one strange movie. I don’t know how I actually feel about it. In fact I am not sure whether I liked it or not. I can’t even guarantee that you will like the movie if you are a Beethoven fan. Here’s the plot:

Beethoven (Ed Harris) needs a good copyist so his helper has asked for the best music student to copy Beethoven’s notes. He is appalled to find out that the student sent is a young woman -Anna Holtz (Diane Kruger). Despite his and Beethoven’s prejudices, Anna is determined that she is indeed the best student and she will try her best to gain Beethoven’s trust and put up with his idiosyncrasies. It isn’t easy, since he can be gentle or mean and she can never know what he will be in the mood for.But albeit complicated, their relationship becomes stronger in time.

Favorite Scene:

The concert premiere, where Anna helps Beethoven leads the orchestra, since his hearing difficulty is making it difficult to lead on his own- both Diane Kruger and Ed Harris are wonderful in this scene and the music is well..amazing. Even if you are not into classical music…

Favorite line:

Ludwig van Beethoven: I’m a very difficult person, Anna Holtz, but I take comfort in the fact that God made me that way.
(from imdb.com)

Performances:

* Diane Kruger is good. Matthew Goode plays her romantic interest and he is lovely. Another supporting actor is Joe Anderson- he plays Beethoven’s nephew. He is good at reflecting the differences between him and his famous uncle. They are all pretty OK. But Ed Harris is just so brilliant and so unrecognizable. Why he wasn’t nominated for another leading actor Oscar is beyond me. Maybe the academy is planning to give him the freaking award the next time he is nominated- he has been nominated for 4 times already! (Twice for leading, twice for supporting actor)

As a movie:

It is rather about the music, the man and the girl’s determination. Nothing much really happens so do not get into it expecting lots of events or interesting dialogue. But…if you are an Ed Harris fan, do not miss it.

Fact:

6.8 on IMDB, voted by over 4.600 people. What is interesting is that the movie’s discussion board has like 15 pages so a lot of people have reacted to this film. I am still not sure what to make of the film, but I am positive that I now have even a higher level of respect for Harris.

Other Ed Harris Movies

Swing Shift starring Goldie Hawn, Kurt Russell & Ed Harris

A Beautiful Mind starring Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ed Harris & Paul Bettany

Other Diane Kruger Movies

Wicker Park starring Josh Hartnett, Diane Kruger, Rose Byrne & Matthew Lillard

The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere, Jesse Eisenberg & Terrence Howard. Feat. Kruger


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Filed Under: Movies and Actors Tagged With: Beethoven, Copying Beethoven, Diane Kruger, Ed Harris, Joe Anderson, Ludwig van Beethoven, Matthew Goode

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