Tower Heist
Now playing at Oakridge, Scotiabank
A Robin Hood story in this economic climate is not a tough sell. That Tower Heist is being released whilst the 99 per cent are camped out in cities across North America is a studio's dream come true.
The heist in question takes place at "The Tower" (really the Trump Tower), which offers the most expensive real estate in North America. Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) has forsaken a personal life for a 24/7 commitment to his job, and runs the day-to-day operations, catering to his clients' every whim.
But The Tower is in the middle of its first forced eviction, of Merrill-Lynch casualty Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), a doughy, nervous wreck. And the building now has its first high-profile criminal in Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), accused of bilking investors out of millions. Shaw takes morning swims in his penthouse rooftop pool, which features a giant C-note on its liner.
Unfortunately, among the victims were the staff of the tower: Josh invested their pensions with Shaw. Ever the professional, Josh remains loyal until FBI agent Claire Denham (Tea Leoni) makes it clear that he's guilty, and the staff will never see their money again. The close-knit Tower family, including expectant dad Charlie (Casey Affleck), Jamaican national Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe) and new recruit Enrique (Michael Pena) are devastated.
An attempted suicide and a misdemeanor later, Josh is out of a job. When he hears that there's a good chance Shaw has a cache of cash hidden in his apartment, he concocts a plan to break back into the Tower and redistribute the wealth. "You can be my skinny Friar Tuck," Josh says when he unrolls the plan to Charlie, who is also his brother-in-law. "Who's Friar Tuck?" asks Charlie.
Mr. Fitzhugh, Charlie, Enrique and Odessa are on board, but Josh needs a real criminal. He approaches Slide (Eddie Murphy), a neighbour with whom he shares a distant past, to coach them in the art of burglary. This leads to a very funny training session in the local mall, where Slide makes each man steal $50 of merchandise.
Eddie Murphy originally conceived the film as an Ocean's Eleven-type caper with Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Martin Lawrence and Dave Chappelle. Producer Brian Grazer changed direction, putting Stiller as the frontman and Murphy in a supporting role (with a producer's credit).
It's a no-brainer to root for criminals who plan to rip off a Bernie Madoff-style swindler, but there could've been more heart to the story. Characters exist independently but never really gel together, and there are several promising story threads that lead nowhere. It would've been fun to see the staff look the other way as the heist was taking place, for example. Leoni is an awesome drunk, but an ageless Judd Hirsch is wasted as the Tower's GM.
It takes a while to get cooking, but once it does, there's decent momentum. Director/producer Brett Ratner does here what he does best: crafts a solid, but unexceptional, action flick with a few high points and some decent stunts (a Ferrari dangling from a building, a police chase through a parade). With Tower Heist, fun and forgettable is the name of the game.
