Title: Tower Heist (2011)Original UK Release Date: 4th November 2011
Original US Release Date: 24th October 2011
UK Rating: 12
US Rating: PG-13
Director: Brett Ratner
Genre: Comedy/Crime
Plot: When staff at The Tower, a luxurious apartment block in New York, lose their pension fund after an investor swindles them, the building manager of The Tower schemes to get revenge.
Mike's Review
This seems like the perfect recipe for a film. Take a few comedy greats, some Academy Award nominated actors and a great director and you have the makings of a classic comedy film. However something went wrong. That’s not to say this film isn’t good it is, but it isn’t close to what it could have been.
The film is about a robbery in a very secure building with the latest security and the best staff that money can buy. The staff have invested their own personal savings and their pension fund with one of the tenants, a financer Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). However he is arrested for fraud and they find out that he has lost all their money.
The
cast including Ben
Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey
Affleck, Téa Leoni, and Juan Carlos Hernández is
good. They work well together and they all have great moments. Gabourey Sidibe steals every moment she is on screen and she could have
a great future in comedy.
This
film should have been great. It was originally going to be in the style of
Ocean’s 11 but somewhere along the way it changed into this. You have comedy
greats Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Ferris Buller. I say Ferris Buller because it feels
like Matthew
Broderick is playing that
character after he has lost everything. The film felt like it should have been
full of big comedy moments, but I couldn’t find them. There are some very funny
scenes but not many. As for the hi-tech building security mentioned a few times
in the film, it doesn’t materialise, all you are shown are a few cameras that
are quickly disabled with a smiley face sticker!
I was
really looking forward to this, mainly in the hope that Eddie Murphy would give a performance worthy of his
comedy legacy. I loved his films from the 80’s. His films of the 90’s were hit
or miss until his performance in Bowfinger, one of his best performances. Apart
from his role in the Shrek films there was nothing great about any of his roles
since then. So what would he be like in this? Fortunately he is good. Not as great
as the Eddie Murphy back in his reckless care free roles, but better than 90%
of the last two decades of his films. The reason he is so good in Bowfinger is
what makes this role work. It is because he isn’t in the lead role. Take the
pressure away from having to carry the whole film and he shines.
I was disappointed with the lack of great comedy moments and the lack of risk for the characters, but it is a good film, just don’t watch this expecting a comedy classic as you will be disappointed.
8 out of 10
Additional Information
Stand out performance: Gabourey Sidibe as Odessa
Trailer
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