Tower Heist follows the story of Ben Stiller’s character Josh Kovacs and his work mates whose pensions have allegedly been stolen from them by a wealthy businessman. After one of Kovacs’ colleagues attempts to quit suicide this drives Kovacs to hatch a scheme to steal back everyone’s pensions. Then, knowing that both him and none of his colleagues knew anything about stealing, Kovacs gains the help of Slide, played by Eddie Murphy. Slide is a professional criminal with a shady past which makes him the ideal candidate for the planned heist. Hilarity ensues….kind of.
THE ACTORS
Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Gabourey Sidibe, Alan Alda, the list goes on and on. Almost all are great, the rest are passable. A comedy movie does not require Oscar winning performances, just a good enough performance to be convincing. Eddie Murphy is definitely better than he has been in some of his more recent films but he still doesn’t have the Beverly Hills Cop spark that made him brilliant. Ben Stiller puts in a decent performance but his performance often ranges from Josh Kovacs the character back to the typical Ben Stiller routine. It is a pretty sad day in comedy when some of the best lines in the film come from Gabourey Sidibe, speaking of which she gives a great performance and is truly showing her range as an actress.
THE DIRECTOR
Brett Ratner, what can i say about Brett Ratner. The direction is acceptable i guess, nothing special here, but what was i expecting from a comedy film. However, Ratner gave the original Rush Hour a certain spark which this film could certainly have used.
CONCLUSION
Tower Heist is a fairly average film with a few dashes of genius weaved into it. The film doesn’t have nearly enough Eddie Murphy to save it, Ben Stiller is doing his usual routine most of the time and most of the cast is just there in the background. Not as bad as i thought it would be, but not one of the stronger comedy films of 2011.
MY SCORE
6.5/10