Tower Heist

Tower Heist stars established comic actors Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy.  Alan Alda plays a villainous businessman who scams the employees of a luxury apartment tower in New York City, where Stiller and others work.  The story starts out by showing how Josh (Stiller), as the building's manager, has worked hard to make the lives of the affluent tenants in The Tower easy.  He knows their every little whim, but he knows all their habits and secrets too.  Without the knowledge of his co-workers he has invested their pensions with Arthur (Alda), a businessman whom he finds out later has used the money in a ponzi scheme and defrauded all the savings of the "little people" who work in the building. 


Josh not only trusted Arthur, but considered him a friend, and so when the fraud is discovered, Josh feels doubly betrayed.  So much so that he vows to get back everyone's earnings one way or another, even if the FBI agent on the case (Tea Leoni) tells him they are small potatoes and probably won't get any money back.

Of course this doesn't sit well with the employees, which include the soon-to-retire doorman, a new elevator operator, a Jamaican maid, the Russian office worker, and Josh's brother in law (Casey Affleck), as well as a despondent, recently evicted apartment dweller (Matthew Broderick).  But Josh has heard a rumor that Arthur has secreted $20 million somewhere in his penthouse, and vows to steal it.  Each of the forenamed employees have a skill that works into his plan, but he needs one wild card, a small time criminal (Eddie Murphy) to help solidify his plan.

While it seems like a largeish cast, I think each of the members of the "gang" played their parts well, but not too overblown.  The character of Shaw continues to be a smarmy jerk throughout which is balanced by the persona of its actor, Alan Alda, which might have otherwise been too much of a baddie and made the film more uncomfortable for the audience.  I liked that Stiller and Murphy, two actors who can be a bit hammy, weren't too muggy either, and balanced out with the rest of the ensemble cast.  Josh also remains true to his vow to his co-workers, taking one for the team at the end of the movie.  Leoni reminds us again she is a good character actress first, rather than the typical romantic interest, a plus that also balances out the hijinks of the heist.

Production values are pretty nice, fitting the glamourous setting of the story.  Views of New York are not the typical shots but play into the plot, getting down to many street level scenes.  While the heist is convoluted, the elements captured my interest and overall it was a fun and funny film.