34
Metascore
14 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 60MovielineStephanie ZacharekMovielineStephanie ZacharekGetting a movie's setup right is one thing. But following through on an intriguing premise is the hard part, and that's where Matthew Chapman's The Ledge, a thriller that wrangles with intricate ideas about faith and religious extremism, goes splat.
- 50The A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe A.V. ClubNoel MurrayThe Ledge is a sometimes-fascinating, often-aggravating chamber thriller that works best when it's doubling as an inquiry into faith.
- 40Boxoffice MagazineRay GreeneBoxoffice MagazineRay GreeneBefore The Ledge descends into third act melodrama, there are enough intriguing moments to make the viewer sense the better film this one wanted to be. A real shame that one didn't make it to the screen.
- 40The Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttThe Hollywood ReporterKirk HoneycuttCharlie Hunnam and Terrence Howard put enough actors' oomph into these ledge mates to make them authentic characters even though the film fails to achieve anything like the same level of authenticity.
- 40VarietyDennis HarveyVarietyDennis HarveyThere's a great deal of on-the-nose talk here about faith, rationality, sin and so forth. But Chapman's sincerity is undercut by the crudely melodramatic explanations of why his principals believe as they do.
- 30The New York TimesStephen HoldenThe New York TimesStephen HoldenThe Ledge, it should be noted, is not dumb. What undoes it is its mechanical structure: a stale dramatic formula of the sort taught in elementary playwriting classes.
- 20Village VoiceVillage VoiceEven if The Ledge couldn't be written off as a hollow polemic, there's also the lifeless drama, laughable dialogue, chintzy sets, and poor lighting to grapple with.
- 20Time OutTime OutIt's the dead-fish flop of the didactic dialogue that does them in once and for all.
- 12Slant MagazineJesse CataldoSlant MagazineJesse CataldoThere's nothing wrong with establishing a field of unlikable characters, but The Ledge not only relies on paper-thin stereotypes, it keeps its allegiances clear from the beginning.