Weekly Review -- The sword of Damocles

The Ledge (2011) -- A dramatic piece with honor at its core is a one in a million find. A conscientious story that does not preach is an even scarcer commodity. Matthew Chapman's The Ledge is an epitome of both, keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat while offering up a thoughtful message, but often losing track of its details.

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**

The story is told in flashbacks, as detective Hollis Lucetti (Terrence Howard) tries to talk a young man named Gavin Nichols (Charlie Hunnam) off of a high rise ledge. Gavin tells him about his affair with a new employee, student Shana Harris (Liv Tyler), and his eventual clash with her religious zealot husband Joe (Patrick Wilson), a dispute that has led to Gavin being faced with a horrible dilemma. As Hollis struggles with his own demons and as more facts come to light, Gavin only has minutes to think...

The sole problem with the film is that it frequently gets entangled in the labyrinth of its characters' issues. Every character is overloaded with attributes; Hollis and Gavin's roommate Chris (Christopher Gorham) are those that instantly come to mind. There is a surplus of traits presented within a limited time frame, some of which are merely mentioned and insufficiently explored. Consequently, a few of the dialogues are so bloated, they resemble political debates rather than scripted scenes, bursting at the seams of cinematic space with various hot potatoes. Having said that, The Ledge does manage to successfully show the danger that religion can become in the hands of the under-educated, vulnerable and, most of all, weak-willed individuals. To name an example, there is a brilliant line drawn between Chris' Kabbalah beliefs and Joe's ultra-Christian dogmatism. Whereas Chris has turned to Kabbalah as a tool to cope with personal crises and is not ruled by its principles -- indeed, his set of beliefs starts to crumble when a rabbi refuses to marry him and his boyfriend -- Joe equates his convictions with his existence. His religion is his very identity and vice versa; he has taken the tenets and turned them into weapons against whoever gets in the way of his "washed, sanctified and justified" duty. The scene in which Gavin and Joe contest their views of the world stands out as the strongest verbal depiction of the characters, each in their own element. It is an intellectually charged duel between atheist Gavin, who accepts the beauty of life without being a slave to doctrines, and extremist Joe, whose theocratic ideologies preclude him from actually seeing people, let alone comprehending or accepting anyone else's opinions as plausible.

The performances are excellent. Hunnam is fantastic as the curious and open-minded Gavin, who plays with fire throughout the proceedings, failing to understand just how menacing a fanatic can become and underestimating the potential of human evil. As Shana, Tyler is a deer in the headlights, caught between a strength she may possess and a life she wants to experience. Wilson gives a masterful performance as Joe, turning him into a wretched figure and making the audience loathe and pity him at the same time. The character's sadness and horror upon learning of the affair is disturbing to say the least, and Wilson manages to bring us into his psyche using merely gestures and body language. We know that the event represents the end of the life that Joe is familiar with. We know that, being in uncharted territory, he will do anything to either get it back or avenge his ruin, because he has nothing left to lose, and Wilson takes this doggedness and runs with it. Howard is good as the conflicted Hollis, who finds his own self during the negotiations with Gavin, and Christopher Gorham gives a touching supporting turn as Chris, one of the few voices of reason.

Minor imperfections aside, The Ledge is a work that dares to question what we hold sacred and that dares to provoke controversy with subject matter that other films might balk at. Examining multilayered themes and overturning audiences' expectations, Chapman displays courage not often found in cinema. The film takes the road less traveled, defiantly slamming its characters into the brick wall of fate and possibly choosing to put them back together only after their souls have been torn to pieces.

8/10