Tower Heist (2011)

Genre: Crime/Comedy/Mystery/Action

Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe

In a luxury high-rise apartment building in downtown New York called The Tower, Josh (Stiller) is the general manager of the building and is doing a pretty good job for what he is supposed to do. The Tower's owner, Mr. Arthur Shaw (Alda) who is also an investment banker, is fond of Josh and recognises his efforts. When one unfortunate morning, Josh witnesses a kidnapping of Arthur Shaw and decides to chase him down. Apparently, Shaw was not being kidnapped but was trying to escape after being declared bankrupt. The Tower's employees had unknowingly contributed their retirement money to Mr. Shaw to invest and some had even knowingly given him all their life savings. Josh realised three things. He was responsible in some way for the employees to lose their money; Mr. Shaw is far too smart to lose all his money; He still has a lot of money in his penthouse apartment in The Tower's top floor. Along with a team, Josh decides to put his knowledge of his workplace to test by breaking in to Mr. Shaw's penthouse and finding that money. Many con and robbery movies either have a predictable plot or a plot that is far too unrealistic to ever happen. This movie uses simplicity and a good story to make a reasonably entertaining movie that most would enjoy. It does not have the conventional twists and climaxes and tries to be different. Eddie Murphy is a good addition to add the humour but had their been more of his trademark slapstick comedy, I am sure it would have been a brilliant time-killer.

Thumbs up: Good story

Thumbs down: More of Eddie Murphy needed

Rating: 7.0/10