Tower Heist Review (Minor Spoilers)

Pretty funny!

THE MOVIE: CRITIC'S TAKE

This movie had a lot of screenings and I was lucky enough to catch one. This movie looked promising from the trailers as well. Eddie Murphy looked funny as hell and Tea Leoni was as witty as usual. The story line seemed funny enough to give me, and hopefully many others, a great laugh. I had good expectations walking into this one. This movie wasn't as funny as it could be but it still gave the audience a good amount of laughs. This is definitely a must see this weekend!



STORY

Josh, played by Ben Stiller, is a manager at the most expensive apartment complex in North America. He leads a team of ass kissers for the rich and famous. He trusts a very rich wall street broker to invest his co workers pension so he could triple it. He falls victim to the stock broker's scam and loses everyone's money. The guilt didn't fully sit in until one of his co workers actually tried to kill himself. In Josh's mind vengeance was in order.

This means war!

He goes up to the man that screwed him over and asks if it was all true. The man didn't give a damn about anyone and was just plain rude and disrespectful to josh and his people. Josh decides to go APE $HIT on his most prized possession that leads to Josh's firing. This just gave Josh and his assoicates the leaverage and time they need to pull off the only heist of their entire lives. He recruits another failed stock broker, his brother-in-law, a Jamaican maid, and the comic relief idiot. Still it wasn't enough so they seeked the advice of another thief named slide, played by Eddie Murphy.

I really don't know what I'm doing

He teaches them how to steal by giving them tests. Unfortunately he has zero experience with cracking safes and had to rely on another team member to teach him. This leads to many problems with the heist that entertained the audience. It's not your normal heist and this film swims in the unpredictable. I won't give away anymore spoilers but this story does not have it's usual happy ending. The ending was far better than I ever expected!

Team of bandits

ACTING

The acting here was ok for the most part. Most of the actors played their roles well. I'm not a fan of Ben Stiller or Matthew Broderick but they both gave believable performances. Eddie Murphy , Tea Leoni, and Gabourey Sidibe made the film what it was and had the best chemistry with everyone. This department was not an overall disappointment.

I want that pool

SPECIAL EFFECTS

Shockingly this movie displayed some eye popping effects. They managed to make every scene look crisp and bright. There is a big action scene involving an elevator, a car, and the roof of the building. That scene looked well done and not fake at all. Despite it being unrealistic for something like that to really happen it looked like it could. That's the real meaning of special effects.

She was ok too

WRITING AND DIRECTING

The writing here was a hit and miss. The dialog was decent but the jokes and gags wasn't. If it wasn't for the actors present this film could have turned out worst. The directing however was good. Brett Ratner did a good job keeping the film focused on the right people and settings. It's not his best directed film but it's not his worst either. It's a decent job by a decent group of workers.

THE END

It's a must see overall. It has it's flaws and the humor is a hit and miss. The acting, however, is good and Eddie Murphy has finally returned to his roots. If you didn't like the last ten of his films then you will love this. It's a decent movie to watch to keep yourself out of the cold and warm your funny bone.

STORY - 7 out of 10
ACTING - 7 out of 10
SPECIAL EFFECTS - 8 out of 10
WRITING - 6 out of 10
DIRECTING - 7 out of 10

OVERALL 7 out 10 (MUST SEE)