Tower Heist (2011)

Genre : Comedy
Country : USA

Cast :
Ben Stiller : Josh Kovaks
Eddie Murphy : Slide
Casey Affleck : Charlie

Director :
Brett Ratner

Summary
Josh Kovacs is the manager of a residential apartment in New York. He is close to all the tenants, especially Arthur Shaw, a financier. One day Shaw is arrested by the FBI for fraud. Josh thinks it's a misunderstanding that can be resolved. But later he learns that the employees' pension fund which he asked Shaw to handle is gone. An FBI agent tells him that it's been rumored that Shaw has $20 million lying around if he needs it in a hurry. Josh thinks he knows where it is. So with two other employees who also lost their jobs and an evicted tenant, they set out to get into Shaw's penthouse to get the money.

My opinion

I will blow your face CLEAN OFF your face!

What remains of an action/comedy with almost no humor and a limited piece of the action? Very little actually. In general, this film reminded me of "Trading places" (also with Eddie Murphy) or "The secret of my success" with Michael J. Fox. Both movies are about a multimillionaire who gets screwed by an individual with an ingenious plan. In Tower Heist a floor manager working in a hotel and who just got fired, is that individual who'll make sure that a Wall Street crook, who steals the pension of other employees, gets what he deserves. Nothing fancy, nothing innovative and seen several times.

They recruited a very nice cast with Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy in the leading roles. Ben Stiller is not my favorite actor. This guy is never funny in my opinion. The way he constantly looks around sadly. I always expect this guy to burst out in tears. And his funny moments feel so forced. Eddy M. plays again a creditable role. It's a role that he has played several times : that of a street thug with a big mouth. He is actually the only one who could make me smile. However it's not the same as the time I rented a VHS with a live performance of him. Furthermore there's Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick and Michael Pena. They are the rest of the gang trying to rob the billionaire Shaw (Alan Alda). The chemistry between this gang was totally missing and don't expect much humorous input. Tea Leoni as the FBI agent also plays no significant role. The only thing I can remember is the special color of her eyes. She was only once funny when she was getting drunk.

The storyline is filled up with cliches and a mix of slapstick comedy, with the inevitable moments that everybody just appears at the wrong moment, and a bit of human drama. The actual robbery of stealing the golden Ferrari is completely unlikely. A golden Ferrari pushing out of a window, letting it hang on a tiny cable and pulling it back inside. Yeah right ! Then pushing it into an elevator and descending. I am sure that the elevator won't go up another millimeter. And I'm still wondering how that thing finally got in the pool anyway. Disassembled and reassembled? And the fact that someone triumphantly holds a golden rim up in the air was completely laughable. I really want to see her do that for real, without getting a hernia. But ultimately this unreal moment fit in the overall mood of the movie.

So this is just a movie to watch on a lazy Saturday evening and probably will be shown countless times on TV in the future. This movie belongs in the list of "Oh-it-plays-on-the-TV-again"-movies like "Home alone" for instance but then without the snow and the Christmas spirit!