Ordinary guys. An extraordinary robbery.
Rating: 6/10
Running Time: 104 minutes
US Certificate: PG-13 UK Certificate: 12A
A risky ploy from Ben Stiller sees him teamed up with Eddie Murphy – Hollywood’s answer to leprosy – and Brett Ratner, who is not exactly a genius Director. I’m still a bit unsure as to how Benny Boy actually rose to superstardom in the first place and with Tower Heist he shows that he’s good but he can’t quite carry a movie with a less than excellent script.
Brett Ratner’s movie centres around a high-rise apartment block, it’s employees and a rich resident. The hard working employees – including Josh (Stiller) and Charlie (Casey Affleck) – are robbed of all their money by a Ponzi scheme sold to them by wealthy businessman Arthur Shaw (Alda). The group conspire to get revenge and their money back by breaking into Shaw’s penthouse apartment. As none of them have the relevant criminal minds they enlist a career criminal (Murphy) who’s just been released from prison.
Tower Heist escapes being awful by being more crime thriller than comedy. The crime aspect of the film is serviceably executed and gives enough meat to hang the comedy on. If it had of been played more for laughs then this could have been a disaster. There are a few brilliant moments and the action set pieces during the bungled robbery live up to their ambitious nature. To be fair, Eddie Murphy has most of the best lines, and so escapes the abuse this time, and as usual Ben Stiller is dependable, if not that funny. At the end of the day, there are also far too many desperate attempts at humour and jokes that die onscreen.
It's Got: A decent plot, nice action, some very funny moments
It Needs: More memorable moments, to have less awful moments
Summary
A largely forgettable crime caper that thankfully has enough plot to hang the jokes on. The best thing Rattner and Murphy have made for a long time but that’s not much of a compliment.