"Tower Heist" Is An Investment That Sometimes Pays Off

I'd like to start off by saying that I've made multiple attempts to see this movie.  It was sold out twice in one night, and plans fell through the other few times I tried to check out Tower Heist, so I apologize for the lack of reviews throughout the month of November.  Anyway, last night I went back and forth between Tower Heist and The Descendants, not quite sure which I'd rather see more, favoring one over the other for brief moments, until I finally decided I'd try one last time to see Tower Heist.  The actual heist takes place during the Thanksgiving Day Parade and I figured this would put me in the holiday spirit.  However, since I failed in my attempts at seeing it so many times, maybe those were signs saying I shouldn't waste an evening with this mainstream jibber jabber.  But I digress.  The fact of the matter is, it was a Monday night and it's been out for a while and I got tickets no problem.  Let's talk about the actual movie.

So I don't think I need to get too into the plot points because the title itself tells you what this movie is all about.  Plus, it's a Brett Ratner film so the plot doesn't really matter because let's face it, this director just puts out decent crap.  And that's really all it is.  But in case you don't know, the movie takes place at The Tower, just like the Trump one, located in Columbus Circle.  I'm not sure how I managed to live there during the filming of it and not notice the production, but they probably only needed a few shots and I just missed out.  So Alan Alda plays Arthur Shaw, who is essentially Bernie Madoff, and he does a great job with this role.  Like Madoff, Shaw steals the Tower's employee's pensions in a Ponzi scheme.  Although Josh Kovacs, our protagonist played by Ben Stiller, had a very close relationship with Shaw at first, he discovers that his doorman friend got screwed over and he decides to get a motley crew together to steal back everyone's money.

The cast of characters includes: Matthew Broderick as a somewhat unintentionally hilarious Mr. Fitzhugh, who has recently been evicted, Casey Affleck as a less enjoyable, but not so bad version of himself in the Ocean's movies, Gabourey Sidibe as a pretty funny maid, and finally Eddie Murphy back to his hysterical, not Meet Dave self.  It took a while for him to finally get screen time in the film, making the first half hour or so quite stale, but it picks up once Eddie joins the crew.

So the plan for the heist gets pretty crazy and a bit unbelievable, but it's all in good fun.  The movie is nothing special, but it will hopefully pave the way for Eddie Murphy to get back on track with his career.  It's a shame that Ratner screwed up his chances at the Oscars, but I don't think he was ever truly committed to hosting anyway.  So if you have time to kill and wish to see decent performances from a decent cast, then check out Tower Heist.  I know it's been out for several weeks, but I'm glad I got it out of the way before Thanksgiving break.  The Muppets looks like it'll be a great movie-going experience.