Product Details

• Actors: Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson, Charlie Hunnam, Terrance Howard
• Directors: Matthew Chapman
• Format: Color, NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.77:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: R (Restricted)
• Studio: MPI HOME VIDEO
• DVD Release Date: September 27, 2011
• Run Time: 101 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B00561BNHW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #19,440 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

There are lots of big issues being tossed around in the relatively small confines of The Ledge, an ambitious indie production with a stagy quality that feels as though it could have been adapted from a play. The problems confronting the film's ensemble cast concern the Christian fundamentalist clash with homosexuality, adultery, atheism, and pretty much every other social issue on the mainstream liberal agenda. Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) is an easygoing hotel manager who hires then starts an affair with Shana (Liv Tyler), the wife of Joe (Patrick Wilson), a staunch Christian conservative who lives in his apartment building. Gavin's roommate Chris (Christopher Gorham) is gay and HIV positive, and Joe immediately assumes them to be a couple doomed to hell unless he convinces them to turn to God for salvation. The relationship among all these characters does not begin well and goes quickly downhill. To the film's credit, Gavin is portrayed as being as intolerant of Joe's beliefs as Joe is narrow-minded and unwavering in his own convictions about right and wrong. Neither Gavin nor Joe is portrayed as the good guy, and Shana is sort of caught in the middle. She owes a moral debt to her husband, but has a free-spirited soul that's been repressed by his dogma and is now being reawakened by Gavin's heart (and hunky good looks). It's no surprise that Joe discovers the affair, which is where the titular setting comes into play--a narrow cornice on a downtown building where Gavin must stand in penance for several hours before making a literal leap of faith. The ledge is where the movie begins and ends, with all the exposition in the middle coming thanks to the character of Hollis (Terrence Howard), a cop tasked with talking Gavin down. Gavin starts by telling Hollis that he doesn't want to jump, but he has to at the stroke of noon in order to save the life of someone else. In addition to the above chain of events, there's also plenty of secret pain in the characters' pasts that we learn about as Gavin stands prone on his precipice. That includes Hollis, whose own day started with the shocking news that he isn't the father of the children he thought were his. Several times he takes a break from hearing about Gavin's emotional turmoil to deal with his own by talking to his wife, a slightly implausible scenario that breaks up the movie's pace the same way its frequent shifts in narrative structure do. It's this somewhat contrived construction, combined with the weighty themes that are often too dramatically overwrought, that gives The Ledge its stagy, unrealistic tone. But the performances are all first-rate and the atmosphere sufficiently grave to make this a thought-provoking inquiry into matters that float around long after the ledge is left empty. --Ted Fry

Product Description

Gavin (Charlie Hunnam, Cold Mountain) is on the ledge.  Hollis (Terrence Howard, Crash), who just learned that he is not the biological father of his children, is tasked with talking Gavin down.  Their conversation eventually reveals Gavin s deep-rooted conflict with his fundamentalist Christian neighbor Joe (Patrick Wilson, Watchmen), whose theological opposition to Gavin was intensified by Gavin s gay roommate and later by Joe s wife's infidelity. The negotiations take a drastic turn when Hollis learns that Gavin has a deadline, and his life is not the only one hanging in the balance.  Writer/director Matthew Chapman (Runaway Jury) returns after a long hiatus to helm this unpredictable thriller that asks challenging questions about faith and reason; the nature of belief; and the value of human life.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Powerful and thought provoking character study that is very watchable and a great movie. Acting is great, watch this. I say B+ September 14, 2011

By Tony Heck

Format:DVD

"I have to stay up here until noon and then jump, if I don't someone
else is gonna die." Hollis (Howard) job is to talk down suicide
jumpers, after finding out that his kids may not be his he is sent out
to talk to Gavin (Hunnam). But there are always two sides to every
story and Gavin is not on the ledge by choice. This is the type of
movie that you watch because of the cast and end up being blown away.
While the movie is a little slow in parts the message, acting and plot
are great. All four main characters in this movie are all conflicted
and each have their own choice to make in order to move on with their
lives and it is intriguing to watch all of them handle it. At it's core
this is a movie about faith and morals and will leave you questioning
yourself as to what you would do in each position. That is the sign of
a good movie, one that makes you look at yourself in a way you may not
have before. Overall, I highly recommend this movie. More movies should
be like this. I give it a B+.

Would I watch again? - I think I would in order to catch everything,
there is so much to take in you may not be able to get it all the first
time.

*Also try - Last Night

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars A Great Premise And Good Actors Struggle With Clunky Dialogue, Unbelievable Characters, And Overly Convenient Plotting September 21, 2011

By K. Harris HALL OF FAMETOP 10 REVIEWER

Format:DVD

Writer/director Matthew Chapman had a terrific idea for a complex movie dealing with faith and sacrifice set in a neo-noir framework. I absolutely love the idea of "The Ledge" and its intriguing premise earns it some merit. But if I'm being honest, the themes that Chapman wants to introduce and wrestle with are largely undermined by a screenplay that presents some of the most awkward dialogue and contrived settings that you're likely to encounter in a serious picture with this much talent involved. Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler, Terrence Howard and Charlie Hunnam are all actors that I have connected with in the past. It's easy to see the attraction that this type of movie would have held for them. But aside from one great scene near the end for Wilson, the rest of the cast flounders with the clunky script and overwrought ideology. The film bludgeons you with its many debates on religious notions by forcing characters together that would never expend so much effort in the real world attempting to communicate. Sadly, it's a near fatal flaw.

The plot of "The Ledge" is exceedingly strong. Hunnam starts the movie by climbing out onto a ledge (no big surprise considering the title) with the intent to jump. Howard, as a cop having a bad day, is on the scene to talk him down--but instead is the recipient of a story of why the potential suicide may be more than it seems. Hunnam relates a tale that involves adultery and religious debate with his new neighbors (Wilson and Tyler). Both have had a challenging past, but they've settled into a life as fundamentalist Christians. Their friendship with the atheist Hunnam is an opportunity for basic debate. And while it's always nice to have a movie that is unafraid to tackle religious themes overtly, there is a clumsiness to these scenes that can be difficult to handle. Neither party is particularly likable, have nothing in common, would never develop a relationship more than to say "hi" in the hallway--but the movie consistently puts them together for meaningful dialogue. There is nothing natural about the flow of the film.

I'm not going to discuss more of the plot so as not to give anything away--but it is these central conflicts that eventually drive Hunnam to the aforementioned ledge. The film could easily have been turned into a nifty little thriller with more realistic character development. Hunnam's character is blatantly unprofessional and inappropriate at work. A good actor, here he is stranded in a thoroughly unappealing and unbelievable character. Seriously, his seduction scenes with Tyler made me alternately laugh and cringe with some of the silliest dialogue I've encountered this year. Tyler, for her part, plays one emotion. It's hard to see what is supposed to be so alluring about this expressionless character. Howard is undeveloped. His plot thread is conveniently tacked on to heighten the drama and for him to be the recipient of the piece's deep philosophical lessons. Wilson, one of our most underrated actors, is turned into a zealot--but has one scene that sticks out in a refreshingly riveting way.

It was, ultimately, the characters that left me cold as well as the heavy handed message. For example, Christopher Gorham is on hand as Hunnam's homosexual Jewish roommate. Why? As a plot device, of course, so Wilson can scorn homosexuals and Hunnam can challenge religion (he can quote from the Talmud, naturally). At one point, Gorham is bathing the apartment in blessed Temple water. Really? It's overdone and obvious. With a bit of subtlety, Chapman might have scored a real triumph. I loved the idea, I like the actors--but (for me) little about the movie worked. Good ambition, but lacking in the execution. KGHarris, 9/11.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars I AM WASHED, SANCTIFIED, AND JUSTIFIED July 17, 2011

By Michael TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Blu-ray

Gavin (Charlie Hunnam) is a faithless jumper on a ledge. Terrence Howard plays Hollis, a police officer whose job it is to talk him down. The story as to how he got to the ledge is a flashback and the main part of the movie. This is interrupted by scenes of Hollis confronting his wife, which we don't know if these are flashbacks or if this is something he is thinking about doing.

Gavin is a hotel manager. His roommate is a gay Jew and HIV positive. Liv Tyler plays his mousey neighbor married to an unlikable Christian who wants to convert gays and atheists. Liv gets a job working for Gavin, who wants to liberate her from Mr. Joe Christian. I grew weary of the stereotyping of both Christians and atheists before this thing was half over... Catholics burn in hell and atheists are atheists because of some event in their life to make them hate God. Later the movie deviates from the stereotypes. Christians are not always good and atheists are not always bad. They are both human. Ho-hum.

Joe Christian treats his wife like dirt. Liv Tyler tells a far fetched story on how she met Joe, who as it turns out is a bit psychotic. The movie starts out slow and draws you in to where you have to see what happens. It doesn't make any definitive statement about God or atheism.

F-bomb, sex talk, sex, nudity (Liv Tyler)