Murphy, in his first role since 2009, is in full Eddie Murphy mode, with comic riffs and astonished double takes. Fitzhugh (Broderick), who is jobless, broke, has lost his family and being evicted from the building, and characters played by Casey Affleck, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe (her second film since her Oscar nomination) as a Jamaican whose father would crack safes, and - well, Kovacs decides they need someone more familiar with crime and enlists Slide ( Eddie Murphy), a loud-talking dude from the street in his neighborhood. Obviously, this requires stealing the car from the penthouse, where there's no door or elevator that can handle it. They're looking for a wall safe, but then discover Shaw's Ferrari is solid gold: $65 million is hidden in plain sight. Enraged, Kovacs recruits a team to break into the apartment. So dear old Lester and all the others are penniless. The FBI is on the job because Shaw has been running a Ponzi scheme, and among his loot are the pension plan and investments of the tower's employees. It was taken apart piece by piece, he explains to FBI agent Claire Denham ( Tea Leoni), and assembled there. His most prized possession is a bright red 1953 Ferrari, once owned by Steve McQueen. ![]() so they decide to perform a heist on his penthouse. The penthouse is owned by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a financial wheeler-dealer, whose walls display priceless modern art. A ruthless businessmans (Alda) Ponzi scheme leaves a group of average joes penniless. His team works flawlessly, beginning with the beloved doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson). The story: Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the perfectionist building manager at the most luxurious condo skyscraper in New York, which providentially is on Columbus Circle, in the exact footprint of Trump Tower. It's funny in an innocent screwball kind of way. There is also the novelty that here is a comedy that doesn't go heavy on the excremental, the masturbatory and symphonies of four-letter words. It's the kind of story where the executives at a pitch meeting feel they're being bludgeoned over the head with box-office dollars. The movie is broad and clumsy, and the dialogue cannot be described as witty, but a kind of grandeur creeps into the screenplay by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson. Tower Heist has chutzpah, and the action builds satisfyingly, and that's more than can be said about so many other, momentum-less movies.Quibble, quibble. Watching the crime itself unfold in what may be one of the most hectic days in the city - in the middle of the Thanksgiving Day parade - gives it added oomph. Nevertheless, you have to ask: Why does Broderick only get shlubby roles these days? And does anyone care about the plot, which isn't exactly bulletproof? (There are plenty of inconsistencies, and a romance between two main characters is predictable and doesn't really add anything to the proceedings.) Be that as it may, the film is still a delight. ![]() Co-stars Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, and the rest of the gang have perfect chemistry - essential in a movie that's positing them as a band of brothers of sorts. ![]() ![]() But the film is certainly entertaining enough to be an escape from daily life. Nor from the usual cliches of action movies. Not an escape from the news, exactly, since the movie's main storyline - an obscenely wealthy money manager is arrested for defrauding his clients, who include the staff at his tony NYC residential building - seems ripped from the Bernie Madoff headlines. If you're seeking escape, you'll get it from TOWER HEIST.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |