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"Tower Heist" is a fun comedy, action and crime thriller. It's a chess game of life. The opponents are a band of employees who run a high-class apartment building in the heart of Manhattan, and the pent-house tenant who takes their pensions and savings to the cleaners. But, one caper deserves another, and the employees are on the rebound after the FBI get into the picture.

It's all about decorum, money, position, working for a living, trusting others, greed, fraud, getting even and justice. That may not sound like the elements of comedy, but they all add up to a very good and entertaining movie. Ben Stiller is the lead character. Eddie Murphy, Alan Alda, Judd Hirsch, Tea Leoni and a host of other actors add to the fast action, bedlam and smiles in this film.

Most adults should enjoy this film. Just be prepared for city street language and some vulgarity. The end is an especially nice surprise.

I didn't expect too much from this movie after watching the trailer. Judging from the cast and the trailer I thought that it would be at the very least a little entertaining or just an okay movie. It is actually very entertaining and the performances from the entire cast are solid. I laughed a lot and more than I expected. It also has quite a few twists and turns which I wasn't expecting and which should keep you interested. The chemistry between Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy is very good too and they both provide a couple of very memorable scenes. If you are looking for something to pass the time this movie would be a very good choice.

This film is about a group of employees in a luxury apartment building who tries to take back what a rich financial guru in their building took from them.

"Tower Heist" tells a bunch of dedicate and hardworking people who lost their pensions because the financial guru lost all their money in a fraud. The subsequent heist may be funny and implausible, but the film is certainly watchable. Describing the greedy and unscrupulous behaviour of some people in the finance sector surely brings back memories of the financial collapse a few years ago. Getting revenge from them is likely to strike some heartstrings among the public. The action scenes include a rather cool elevator shaft scene, and a very scary scene involving aerial action which made me on edge throughout. "Tower Heist" is like a modern day Robin Hood story, with a heartwarming ending. I enjoyed it a lot.

Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller) is the perfect employee. Managing a high end apartment skyscraper in New York, his team look after and cater for all the foibles of their rich charges.

Living in the penthouse suite with a rooftop swimming pool emblazoned with a Dollar Bill mosaic is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a wealthy financier with Steve McQueen's Ferrari in his living room.

How did it get up there, they took it apart and moved it piece by piece, subtle this is not.

Josh plays online chess with Arthur, likes him and entrusts the employees pension fund to him to "double their money", unbeknown to his work colleagues.

With a story ripped from recent headlines, Shaw is soon in trouble with the FBI, notably pretty detective (Tea Leoni). Subsequently, the employees are left searching for their lost pension funds turning the movie into a "let's get even" escapade.

Josh is largely loyal but when rattled he can and does takes matters into his own hands, vintage car aficionados should look away.

Following subsequent events, we are left with a larcenous but incompetent gang of six. Likable and nominally in charge Josh, Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is not much good at anything but has a pregnant wife and extreme motivation. New boy Enrique (Michael Pena) who is not the brightest bulb, Slick (Eddie Murphy) supposed criminal mastermind but none of the above. Odessa, a chambermaid with a bizarre Jamaican accent and a handy sideline in safe-cracking (Gabourey Siibe) and lastly, Mr Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), depressed, straitlaced, crumpled ex-banker and ex-apartment owner.

We are all set for a decent farce with elements of drama, however the movie is set for fun and mostly delivers.

This a rare Hollywood comedy that is actually funny. Whether the group are planning their heist using Lego, getting distracted with Female Sexuality issues or breaking off mid heist to walk a residents pet dog.

Overall of course it's all very silly and preposterous but it is good to see Eddie Murphy funny again, his sequence with Odessa, as she teaches him the in's and out's of safe-cracking is well done. Stiller largely plays the straight-man, allowing the others to bounce their comedic lines off him. Matthew Broderick is perhaps the standout, managing to make Mr Fitzhugh both sad and funny at the same time, Broderick's comedic timing used to great effect.

It is good to see Judd Hirsch on the big screen, getting a few good scenes as the overall building boss. Alan Alda also lifts the film with his considerable talents bought to bear on the smarmy Mr Shaw.

Like any comedy caper, the tone needs to be right and the project is very much a light soufflé but Director Brett Ratner manages to pull off the various elements, to make this a fun night in.

Summary

That rare event, a Hollywood comedy that manages to both entertain and provide a light sprinkling of social commentary.

The film is largely designed to be a crowd pleaser and largely fulfils that role admirably http://julesmoviereviews.blogspot.co.nz/

"Tower Heist" is a movie that's never going to win awards. But if it's playing on your television during a rainy day, you will find it is an acceptable way to pass the time. And you'll find the movie has some positive features. Alan Alda makes for a good slimy villain, and Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Matthew Broderick (as well as their co-stars) make a likable bunch of people with a goal that you hope they will be able to reach. The actual heist has some unexpected twists as well as some genuine suspense. Certainly, the movie is not perfect. There are some parts of the movie when the movie seems to be missing footage, especially at the end where not all the plot points are resolved (though the two alternate endings on the DVD have this missing material that was for some reason removed from the theatrical print.) While I wouldn't say this is a movie to seek out, if you stumble upon the opportunity to see it, it will probably give you an acceptable amount of entertainment.