There isn’t one single thing in “Man on a Ledge” that hasn’t been done before. The movie is a panoply of scenes from a dozen other films.

However, “Man on a Ledge” is executed with enough energy and wit that it succeeds in meeting the definition of entertainment. With a couple of exceptions, the cast members succeed in playing their roles with conviction, and the movie holds together until an ending that feels like the final gasp of a runner hurling himself over a finish line.

Sam Worthington (“Avatar”), who’s less an actor and more of a leaden flesh-golem radiating a sort of anti-charisma, is poorly cast as Nick Cassidy, who’s recently escaped from Sing Sing and now finds himself 21 stories above Madison Avenue, standing on a ledge outside his room in the elegant Roosevelt Hotel. Why he’s out there remains a mystery as NYPD units roll in to cordon off the area. Hostage negotiator Jack Dougherty (a convincing Edward Burns) talks to him first, and Cassidy tells him to summon detective Lydia Mercer (Elizabeth Banks, “The Hunger Games”). Mercer is a hostage negotiator who’s loathed by most of her peers after failing to talk down a rookie cop who leaped to his death.

The movie’s central hook is revealed early on, so this is no spoiler: Nick’s on the ledge to hold the attention and resources of the NYPD while a block away his brother Joey (Jamie Bell, “Billy Elliott” now all grown up) and Joey’s fiery and foxy girlfriend Angie (the wonderfully named Genesis Rodriguez) break into the vault of a real estate tycoon.

What’s in the vault? A $40 million diamond. But why would Nick bust out of the joint and set up this absurdly elaborate heist while he himself was in full view of the media and the New York public?

To prove he’s innocent.

So, yeah. That’s the gist of the movie. The heist borrows liberally from a gazillion movies that we’ve all seen before, and well … if you’ve seen one New York cop movie, you know how it works.

Bell is just fine as Joey, and his interplay with the no-bullshit Angie makes for some amusing Fred-and-Ethel-type bickering. Banks seems like a private school mom who decided to become an NYPD detective, but if you can get past the casting, she’s actually pretty good.

Baffling Question of the Moment: Why does Ed Harris have such an enormous head? It’s bizarre. He looks like a pumpkin on a broomstick. Is it encephalitis? Is his body shrinking? Whatever’s happening, it’s really odd and distracts from his turn as the scheming villain of the piece.

Good support comes from Titus Welliver (“Deadwood”) as the NYPD’s scene commander who just might be hiding something, and the always-welcome William Sadler who plays a valet at the Roosevelt who’s a hell of a lot more resourceful than you’d expect.

This is Asger Leth’s first feature film as director, and he plays it very safe. The material is tried and true, and the actors are all pros. Aside from a few oddly framed shots and one or two screwy edits, the movie’s competently made.

And that’s the key word: competent. This is a classic January pump-and-dump movie that Hollywood cranks out without fail to fill in those times on the release calendar when something bigger or better just isn’t available. It’s not a bad movie, but is that an endorsement? A hoagie makes for a filling lunch, but can you remember any single lunch where you consumed a hoagie? No. Those lunches are forgotten almost immediately, even if you didn’t go home hungry.

Same goes for “Man on a Ledge.” It doesn’t insult you. It has a few laughs. It’s got some nice performances. So whaddaya want for your 10 bucks?

Jason Heck is Ink’s movie critic. He is co-host of “The DVD Gurus” with the University of Missouri-Kansas City film professor Mitch Brian for “Up to Date” on KCUR 89.3 FM. Reach him at inkmovieskc@gmail.com.