His name is Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington). He's an ex-cop, serving a prison term. Let outside for a day under armed escort to attend his father's funeral, he escapes from his guards, ditches his prisoner's uniform, makes it into Manhattan, checks into a hotel, tucks into a big breakfast and climbs out on the ledge.

At this point, if we're experienced moviegoers, we have a good idea he isn't going to jump anytime real soon, because then the movie would be over, get it? No, we're going to get a lot of point-of-view shots looking straight down past the toes of his shoes. Man, is he high up. He collects a big crowd, which brings traffic to a halt.

At the same time, the movie cuts away to David Englander (Ed Harris), a wealthy master of the universe whose offices are in a high rise across the street. He's preparing to unveil his grandiose scheme to erect a skyscraper. I've forgotten its name, so let's call it the Englander Tower, in honor of the Donald.

Now we cut between Nick Cassidy, David Englander and Joey (Jamie Bell) and Angie (Genesis Rodriguez). Why do I always think people named Joey and Angie are New Yorkers? I'm sure there are lots of them elsewhere. Anyway, Angie emulates the new breed of female action heroine by squeezing herself into a skin-tight latex costume that incorporates a push-up bra designed along the same lines that made the facade of the Sydney Opera House possible. Then she begins crawling through air shafts.

Across the street, a cop named Jack Dougherty (Edward Burns) arrives in the hotel room to talk down the jumper. Soon he's replaced by an NYPD psychologist named Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks). Down below, on cue, the crowd chants jump! jump! while hoping to film the death on their iPhones and pick up some change from "Eyewitness News." TV news reporter Suzie Morales (Kyra Sedgwick) breathlessly covers the story. Her station's NewsChopper helpfully flies so close to the ledge that its downdraft threatens to blow Nick into a thousand YouTube postings.

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