"TOWER HEIST" (2011) Review

"TOWER HEIST" (2011) Review

Six years ago, Eddie Murphy had an idea about him and a group of comedians starring in a movie about a group planning to rob Trump Tower. The script developed and changed into an "OCEAN'S ELEVEN"-style caper, leading Murphy to leave the project. When director Brett Ratner continued to develop the idea into the movie's present story, Murphy eventually rejoined the production.

"TOWER HEIST" told the story about three employees of an exclusive apartment building called The Tower, who lose their pensions in the Ponzi scheme of a Wall Street businessman, who also lives in the building. The group enlist the aid of criminal, a bankrupt businessman that also lives in the building, and another building employee to break into the businessman's apartment and steal back their money, while avoiding the FBI Agent in charge of his case.

One of my favorite types of movies has always been the heist comedy. This is why I am a fan of such movies like "LOCK, STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS", "A FISH CALLED WANDA" and the "OCEAN'S ELEVEN" series. I do not know if I would place "TOWER HEIST" on the same level as the previously mentioned films. I would not regard it as one of the best heist films I have ever seen, or even one of the best comedies. But I cannot deny that I found it entertaining.

I must admit that I did not believe Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy would ever generate a strong screen chemistry. But in a rather odd way, they seemed to click. I suppose this was due to the fact that Stiller's more subdued performance perfectly balanced Murphy's more extroverted one. And they had solid support from the likes of Casey Affleck, Téa Leoni, Alan Alda, Michael Peña, Matthew Broderick and Gabourey Sidibe. I was especially impressed by Alda's insidious performance as the scheming businessman Arthur Shaw and Sidibe's portrayal of the sharp-tongued maid Odessa, whose savy proved to be the group's godsend on at least two occasions.

Another aspect of "TOWER HEIST" that I admired was the movie's script written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson. It was not the most spectacular story I have seen on the movie screen. I had a problem with the movie's last five or ten minutes. I would reveal what I found troubling about the ending. But if I did, I would give away the story. I suspect Griffin and Nathanson ended it this way to put a little bite in the movie's ending. It just did not work for me.

However, I did enjoy most of the story. I also liked that one of the main aspects that injected a good deal of suspense into the story was the possibility of one or more of the robbers betraying the others - especially in the case of both Murphy and Affleck's characters. This is something that is usually common in a heist drama. But I have yet to see such a thing in a comedy, until I saw "TOWER HEIST".

In the end, "TOWER HEIST" proved to be a solid and entertaining comedy with a slightly weak ending. The movie was also blessed with a first-rate cast led by Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy. And director Brett Ratner did a good job in utilizing both the story and the cast to make a pretty solid film.