The Ledge:  (Blu-Ray)

I haven’t written a movie review in quite a long time.  But I felt that since one of the main characters in this film is openly atheistic, I couldn’t help but provide some discussion on it’s content.

The film is called The Ledge and it begins with the atheist character, Gavin, walking along the roof of a building and stepping out onto the ledge preparing to jump to his death.  How he got to this point is revealed through flashbacks as Gavin discusses his situation with the police officer there to talk him down, played by Terrance Howard.  What Gavin ultimately does and why is the message of the film.

The other main characters in this film are Joe, a devout evangelical Christian and his wife Shana.  Joe and Shana are neighbors of Gavin who himself is straight but has a roommate, Chris, who is gay.  Shana works at the same hotel as Gavin and he quickly becomes infatuated with her.

Gavin and his roommate are invited to dinner at Joe and Shana’s apartment, where Joe precedes to tell them how he can help them recover from their affliction with the help of God.  As you can imagine, this philosophical discussion does not end well.  As Gavin and Chris leave, Shana apologizes for Joe’s behavior.  Gavin decides to make it his goal to liberate Shana from what he sees as an overbearing religious fanatic.

Ultimately Gavin convinces Shana to have an affair with him that is quickly and easily exposed to Joe.  Gavin’s initial motivation to begin the affair may not have been love, but he ends up there.

As the movie progresses, we begin to see there are no good or bad guys.  But instead Joe, Shana and Gavin all have flaws caused by events from their pasts that are revealed throughout the film and drive the motivation for the actions their characters take.

Gavin the atheist and Joe the evangelical Christian are caricatures.  The extremes are presented; the angry atheist and the unwavering confidently correct evangelical.  Sure I’ve seen both in real life, but I think they are the exception.  They are exaggerated in the film to create a clear distinction between the two.

Part of the message of the film has to do with the concept of morals.  Many believers think that atheists, not having a God, have no sense of morality.  How can they if there isn’t a judgmental figure in the sky to give them the rules to live by?  If they don’t fear judgment when they die why should they care about anyone but themselves?

This story explores that question and asks if atheists can stand by their convictions.  Can they be selfless given that they don’t believe in an afterlife?  Can they sacrifice themselves for someone else?  Do they have their own sense of morality?

This film got terrible reviews from the crowd at RottenTomatoes, however I found the film overall to be quite well done, giving it 3.5 stars.  Sure, it’s not perfect, there are some plot holes and Liv Tyler’s character, Shana, had a distance to her throughout the film that wasn’t really convincing, but I think many of the reviewers may have missed the point.  I wanted to know how it would end.  Would Gavin the atheist be able to sacrifice himself for someone else?

Terrance Howard did the best acting job in the film.  Even though it was a side plot, the issue his character was dealing with was almost more interesting than the main storyline and the resolution was ultimately satisfying.

Finally, it seems the moral of the story is that there is no absolute right or absolute wrong, only actions and consequences.

Best Line(s):

• “See, I’ve decided I’m more of an old testament sort of guy.”
• “I have the courage to die for my beliefs because I know where I’m going.”