‘Tower’ing Over

“Tower Heist” is funny. Nothing more, just funny. There are funny actors and funny characters, funny lines and funny situations. But other than that, it’s a forgettable film.

A true comedy is funny, sure, but there’s more than just typical jokes—and leaving the theater, I wasn’t completely satisfied. I’d prefer to have spent eight bucks on a movie that I would actually recommend before “Real Steel.”

Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the affable manager of one of New York’s most elegant apartment buildings that’s known simply as “The Tower”. His staff includes former-Burger-King-employee-turned-elevator-operator Enrique (Michael Pena), his flaky brother-in-law Charlie (Casey Affleck), long-time doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson) and Jamaican housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe).

When CEO and penthouse owner Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is arrested for fraud, Josh is forced to tell his staff that, three years ago, he asked Shaw to invest their pensions, which added up to $2 million. Now that Shaw’s at risk of losing everything, Josh and his staff can only hope that he is innocent—and of course, he’s not.

Josh finds that his only solution is to steal from Shaw. Convinced that Shaw has a vault in his penthouse living room that contains millions of dollars, he hires his neighbor, a thief named Slide, played by Eddie Murphy.

Finally, an hour into the film, Josh has his team; Slide, Odessa, Enrique, Charlie and former Tower resident, Mr. Fitzbugh (Matthew Broderick). Together, they plan to “storm the castle.”

Does this story sound ridiculous yet? I’ll admit, it was entertaining, but so is watching my dog jump up and down before I take her for a walk.

The plot is crudely sewn together and I can’t decide whether there’s either no climax, or five different ones. There are also many moments when I turned to my friend on my right and whispered, a bit too loudly, that there was no way this would ever happen. I suppose that’s what made it entertaining, but no way would a solid gold car be lowered down the outside of a skyscraper and not be noticed by one of the thousands of people participating in the Thanksgiving parade on the streets below.

Yes, there were one or two laugh-out loud-moments, but they were basically caused by how ridiculous the situation was or perhaps the specific actor that said a line.

So, it is what it is—a movie based on cheap humor and clichéd jokes. If you’re looking for a temporary escape from your day, then “Tower Heist” is your movie—as long as you can tolerate meek performances and a dragging plot for the chance of a few jokes.

 One and a Half out of Four Stars