Director: Brett Ratner
Starring: Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe
Running Time: 104mins
Certificate: 12A
Synopsis: In the prestigious Manhattan apartment building named The Tower, the deputy building manager, Josh (Ben Stiller), is meticulous about the needs of his occupants, particularly that of the friendly Wall Street legend Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). However it turns out that Shaw has swindled all of his clients, including the pension funds of the workers in The Tower. Feeling guilty for losing his employees’ future and looking for revenge, Josh enlists an inept group of disgruntled workers, an ex-tenant and a career criminal, to steal back the money Shaw has hidden away in his penthouse apartment.
TOWER HEIST marks director Brett Ratner’s first theatrical feature film since 2007’s RUSH HOUR 3. Has this four year gap allowed room for improvement? Well yes, but only a little. Ratner has produced a surprisingly good film, it’s solid, enjoyable and even has a fair share of funnies.
As well as being the ‘notable’ return of Ratner, the film also sees Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick looking to make a comeback in the world of comedy. Murphy was almost stripped of his 80s comedy crown following a string of flops such as NORBIT (2007) and IMAGINE THAT (2009), not to mention the rise of Will Farrell and R-rated comedies. Murphy plays Slide, a career criminal who Stiller has grown up across the road from, with each finding themselves on the opposite sides of the law. Murphy adds the much need criminal smarts that the straight-laced crew are missing, as well adding some much-needed comedy that the film sorely lacks until his introduction. Murphy attempts to channel his TRADING PLACES (1983) and BEVERLY HILLS COP (1984) voice with the smart talking rogue. He has cast aside the fat suit and fart gags, for now. There is a flicker of the glory days of ‘Raw’ here, and by god it is beautiful.
Speaking of actors delivering more grounded performances, we turn our attentions to Ben Stiller. Like Eddie Murphy, Stiller made himself known from his years on SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE with his unusual characters, parodies and over the top reactions. The latter quickly became his trademark, propelling the actor to great heights with ZOOLANDER (2001), THERE’S SOMETHING ABOUT MARY (1998) and the MEET THE PARENTS franchise. Sadly for this reviewer, his trademark has become incredibly dull and overused. This is why Stiller’s performance in TOWER HEIST is a welcome respite with a more natural comedy performance.
But for all those fans of the Stiller ‘freak out’ there is one brief moment involving Stiller, a golf club, Alan Alda and Steve McQueen’s car from BULLITT (1968). TOWER HEIST is also the fourth, and probably not last, in the Casey Affleck unofficial heist anthology after previous roles in the OCEAN’S ELEVEN films. While Affleck had consistently been one of the best parts in the Ocean films, in TOWER HEIST, you’ll forget he’s in the film when he’s not on screen.
It’s is a middling comedy that works better as a heist film, but it’s more OCEAN’S TWELVE than ELEVEN. Also, it is interesting and fun to have the film set over the backdrop of the economic meltdown showing some of the groups who have been affected by the collapse: those making the money in Alan Alda; those who lose their futures in the Tower’s employees; and those who have lost everything in Matthew Broderick’s sacked stock broker character. It is one of the rare heist films that has some genuine social relevance, plugging all the of the gaps found in the lack of humour.
Overall the film could have been better as a large amount of the jokes and performances do not live up to its potential but it is still enjoyable for what it is.
TOWER HEIST is released 2nd November 2011
