The Ledge - On the Abyss
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Ledge - On the Abyss |
| Original title | The ledge |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2011 |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Matthew Chapman |
| script | Matthew Chapman |
| production | Michael Mailer Mark Damon Steven Saxton Matthew Chapman |
| music | Nathan Barr |
| camera | Bobby Bukowski |
| occupation | |
| |
The Ledge (English original title: The Ledge ) is a 2011 American thriller by Matthew Chapman .
action
The police officer Hollis Lucetti is married and has two children. After an examination, he learns from the doctor that he is unable to conceive. The doctor explains to him that this has existed all his life, but has had no effect on his sex life. The detective has to understand that the children couldn't have come from him. He hardly has time to speak to his wife. His superior, Lieutenant Markowitz, needs him on an emergency call.
Gavin Nichols is standing on a ledge on the top floor of a skyscraper and is ready to jump into the depths. As a specialist in such operations, Hollis Lucetti is supposed to prevent Gavin's suicide and persuade him to return to the building. But it soon turns out that Gavin is by no means depressed and tired of life, but sees himself forced to jump at exactly twelve noon. There is little time for Hollis to find out why and to persuade Gavin to repent.
Gavin tells the detective how he fell in love with his neighbor Shana Harris. However, she is married and owes a lot to her husband Joe. Joe Harris is a fundamentalist Christian who always refers to the Bible and believes in being born again. He took Shana out of the gutter years ago, where she was a drug addict and worked as a prostitute.
Gavin is single. His little daughter was killed in a car accident in which he was behind the wheel. The accident was a chain of unfortunate coincidences and no one was to blame. A truck driver had a heart attack while driving, his car swerved and slid into the back of the car in which Gavin's daughter was sitting. After his daughter dies, Gavin can no longer believe in God. He is not looking for a new relationship and lives in a shared apartment with the gay-oriented Chris, who has just fallen in love.
Gavin finds Shana a job in the hotel where he works in management. As a result, the two meet more often. A relationship is developing. Joe repeatedly invites Gavin to philosophical discussions. The missionary character of Joe's speeches does not convince the atheistically minded bon vivant Gavin. As the rivalry between the two men escalates into talks of faith and will, the relationship between Gavin and Shana intensifies. Eventually, she promises to leave her husband to start a new life with Gavin.
However, Joe becomes suspicious and spies on his wife. In the hallway of the house where they live, he confronts Gavin. He asks him to talk to him again in his apartment. There he tells Gavin that he himself had a wife and two daughters, but that he neglected them in order to lead a life in a drug environment and among prostitutes. But later he was purified and found religion. Significantly, he met Shana injured in a church where she had been taken by one of her suitors.
Joe threatens Gavin with a pistol and forces him to read the Bible quote from the book Leviticus: "A man who commits adultery with his neighbor's wife is punished with death, the adulterer and the adulteress." Gavin replies this saying from the Old Testament with one from the Gospel of John , chapter 8: "Who of you is without sin, be the first to throw a stone ..."
Joe lets Gavin go, but he has a plan. The next day, while Gavin was waiting for Shana, he received a call from Joe. This has Shana in his power. He keeps her handcuffed and gagged in a hotel room and threatens her with his gun. Joe presents Gavin with the choice of saving Shana's life by voluntarily jumping off a skyscraper or living and accepting Shana's death. Joe can watch Gavin closely from the hotel across the street and Shana also has to watch as Gavin steps onto a cornice on the top floor of the skyscraper.
Detective Hollis Lucetti now has the task of preventing Gavin from jumping into the depths. He passes on the information he has received from Gavin to his manager. This tries to determine the whereabouts of Joe and Shana.
Hollis received a call from his wife in which she assured him that she only had the two children because she loved him and did not want to disappoint him in his desire to have children. The children look very much like Hollis because they come from his younger brother. Hollis Lucetti opens up to Gavin and tells him about his dilemma. Gavin advises him not only to pay attention to the mistake of his wife, but much more to the love she has shown him and which has led her to take this step.
The noon hour approaches when Gavin must make his decision and jump. He assigns Hollis to track down Shana and tell her that he loved her very much. When the tower bells of a nearby church strike, he leaps down from the ledge to his death.
A little later the police storm the hotel room in which Joe is holding his wife prisoner. Joe is arrested and Shana is freed. Hollis returns to his family, where he is warmly received by the children. On this evening, grace is canceled at the family dinner.
criticism
At Rotten Tomatoes , the film received a negative rating (14%) from the critics with a total of 29 reviews.
Web links
- The Ledge - On the Brink in the Internet Movie Database (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release certificate for The Ledge - On the Abyss . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , September 2011 (PDF; test number: 129 505 V).
- ↑ Rotten Tomatoes