The route from ledge to ground is uncomplicated and usually ends brutally.
It appears these laws of entropy and potential energy are at the heart of the film-maker's thinking when compiling this movie.
Whereas endeavours with more self-involved ideals may have presented a melange of conflicted images and souls, this thriller fulfills the promise of the title within the first few minutes and never stops.
This feat is not to be scoffed at (as many critics have done) when the purpose of the movie is pure popcorn hokum.
I mention popcorn because a jumbo cola would be a bad idea. The condensation mixing with the inevitable sweat of your palms would make for an embarrassing lubricant.
But, unlike the movie, I digress. Nick Cassidy (Sam Worthington) is on a ledge, a cop trying to proclaim his innocence and expose the conspiracy that saw him jailed for nicking a tidy gem from magnate David Englander (a hardball Ed Harris).
Opposite the eponymous ledge is the vault in which said diamond, he claims, is still residing.
And while he brings New York to a standstill - and occupies the tender mercies of something-to-prove negotiator Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks), bro Joey (Jamie Bell) and his feisty girl are breaking through Englander's fortress protection.
Any more revelation and the twists may untangle but it is sufficient to say this is a well done and swift thriller - corny as hell but never shortchanging on thrills.
The simple start explodes all over the place and the finale is pulsating and mad in equal measure, which is not a bad equation.
