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Tower Heist (2011)

Director: Brett Ratner

Time Out rating

Average user rating

7 reviews

Movie review

From Time Out London

More time-passing fluff from ‘Rush Hour’ maestro Brett Ratner, which puts a quality cast through their paces, alternates chuckles with spectacle and is pleasantly unpretentious with it. The tower in question overlooks New York’s Central Park and hosts serviced apartments where uniformed staff tend to super-wealthy residents – among them deliciously slippery Alan Alda as an investment kingpin whose arrest on fraud charges brings the shock that he’s lost the staff pension fund entrusted to him by likeably harrassed manager Ben Stiller. As the title suggests, the workers strike back not by pitching tents in the lobby but attempting to nab Alda’s stash from his penthouse pad. Hence there’s mild underdogs-on-a-mission japery, a clichéd assist from career-crook Eddie Murphy and a finale which might have been a bit more tense had we been able to take it remotely seriously. Still, that’s the price of unashamed escapism, and though it’s hard to get excited by this amiable potboiler, ‘Tower Heist’ is so at home with its limitations it’s equally hard to dislike.

Author: Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2150: 3 – 9 November, 2011

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User reviews of this film

bad ending said...

Posted on Mar 26 2012 00:06 Some fun scenes, but the ending was bad! There were 2 alternate endings on the DVD and either would have been better than the one they settled for. Also found the scene with the doorman in the subway a bit serious for a zany comedy.

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andy said...

Posted on Mar 25 2012 00:29 .Maybe not the most hilarious film I have ever seen or the most exciting but the quality cast and witty script more than make up for that.Very likeable and enjoyable.

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scrumpyjack said...

Posted on Nov 16 2011 18:23 Slips down like a cool Guinness and does EXACTLY what it promises, but pity about the last shot. Can't go into it here but a broad grin (think the end of ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA) rather than a mere hint of a smile would have suited MUCH better. 7/10

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Henry Zakumumpa said...

Posted on Nov 14 2011 14:35 Not as delicious as I had anticipated but still a worthy comedy although it doesnt feel like it for half of the movie. The laughs come in fast and furious when Eddie Murphy shows up. It is a shame he only had something of a cameo role although the film posters suggest otherwise. He should have come in earlier and had a more developed role. Clearly, the theme of the story is the current public dismay with wall street and associated corporate greed and fraud.-swindling out the regular guy. Several genuine laughs but their fair in between. Mathew Broderick is miscast in this one. On the whole a worthy one and half hour at the cineplex

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breezy said...

Posted on Nov 14 2011 07:07 It is what it is. Would have been a whole lot better if they had actually had the sort of amateur's version Oceans 11 style heist, instead they walk trough the front door.

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Mike said...

Posted on Nov 07 2011 20:53 Often cliched, sloppily written, and consistently predictable, this movie is still amusing. Easy entertainment providing you don't look for the cracks. 5/10.

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ARCHGATE said...

Posted on Nov 07 2011 09:32 We're going in Snoopy says Ben Stiller as he and his inept robbery crew enter the hotel containing the fortune of corrupt inevestor, Alan Alda. Cue ... big brass thumping soundtrack. This is the feelgood movie of the year which finds Eddie Murphy back in good form as the not so expert criminal enlisted to help the gang. See it enjoy it .... and remember no loud popcorn noises and no feet on the seat in front. 8/10 - looking forward to a sequel.

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