By Brett A. Mejia ’13
THE ROUNDUP
“Tower Heist” –Starring: Ben Stiller & Eddie Murphy
8.0 out of 10
A plan to steal $20 million from a Ponzi-scheme artist with an all-star cast of comedians as the henchmen proves to deliver a comic relief in “Tower Heist.”
Directed by Brett Ratner, “Tower Heist” follows a bunch of everyday people who put together an ingenious plan to steal back their money.
The movie begins with Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) waking up at 4 a.m., making coffee and preparing for his busy and hectic job as building manager in the luxurious high-rise apartment building The Tower in New York City.
The building’s most notorious tenet is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a wealthy businessman.
Kovacs wants to steal Shaw’s money because he gave Shaw his pension for an investment opportunity, which resulted in a complete failure.
Kovacs recruits an evicted tenet (Matthew Broderick), a recently fired bellhop (Michael Peña) and a petty crook (Eddie Murphy) who Kovacs passes everyday on his way to The Tower.
Kovacs then puts a plan together to steal the $20 million dollars they think is located in a hidden safe in Shaw’s penthouse.
The movie runs 104 minutes, producing a lot of action and comedy sequences that will captivate the audience.
“Tower Heist” proved that a powerhouse of actors can make a great picture.
The chemistry between Stiller, Peña, Broderick and Murphy is absolutely phenomenal because they make an easy situation worse by not following the original plan.
Murphy’s performance was hilarious and was one of his best works in years. I only wish that he had more screen time because the movie consisted mostly of Stiller, Peña and Broderick coming up with the plan.
A fault for the movie was that it seemed like it wasn’t until half way through that the actual heist began.
Overall “Tower Heist” surges through the comedy world and shows that good movies can still be made.