Tower Heist
Tower Heist was brought into being around 6 years ago when Eddie Murphy had an idea for an all black Oceans 11 starring himself and others like Martin Lawrence and Chris Tucker, but as the idea was being formulated Eddie decided to leave the project and director Brett Ratner eventually came up with the film we have now with Murphy rejoining the cast.
The film centers around a high rise exclusive apartment building where apartments cost millions to buy and residents are waited on hand and foot, the place we would all love to live. The filming took place in New York City, on a budget of $85 million and Trump International Hotel & Tower was used for exterior filming.
Donald Trump allowed film makers access to some of his exclusive properties with one giving them the idea for Shaw’s apartment, they also interviewed staff that work at some of the most exclusive apartment buildings so that they could get a feel for how they are run, from doormen, to maids and kitchen staff.
Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) has worked as building manager for a number of years and is loved by everybody even the billionaire owner Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) but when Shaw is arrested by the FBI for fraud in which it turns out he has lost or stolen $2 billion, and placed under house arrest in his penthouse apartment an act that if I am ever arrested it is the place I would love to be placed under house arrest. It has a rooftop swimming pool with a mural of a hundred dollar bill on its floor and Shaw has a 1963 Ferrari 250 GT Lusso supposedly owned by Steve McQueen in the apartment. Josh needs to break the news to the employees that he has invested all their savings with Shaw and chances are it is all gone and Shaw will most likely go free.
Josh feeling let down by Shaw a man he trusted has it out with him and is fired, along with his brother in law Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is the buildings concierge, and the new lift boy Enrique (Michael Pena). Josh gets together with these ex employees and the maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe) who it turns out has some skills at breaking into safes, after the buildings doorman Lester attempts to kill himself because he has lost his life savings.
The plan is to break into Shaw’s penthouse where Josh is sure he is hiding $20 million, as none of the crew have any criminal skills apart from Odessa Josh turn to an old childhood friend Slide(Eddie Murphy) who is a petty criminal and together the attempt to put together a plan to rob secure penthouse that is guarded by the FBI. Eddie Murphy seems to be back in his old school street smart comedy performance along the lines of Beverly Hills Cop and 48 Hrs.
The plot is a good one and with the likes of Matthew Broderick playing a broke investor squatting in the building who joins the crew and Tea Leoni playing the lead FBI role as the tough female lead. The trailers for the movie look promising and the soundtrack by Christophe Beck sets the mood for the film some of the scenes give the impression of a great movie but I dont want to spoil the movie by giving away scenes but Eddie Murphy is back to his best and gels well with the other stars who all play their roles perfectly.
Without having seen the movie, just the trailer, and scenes I think it looks a great film, it has a PG13 rating for language and sexual content and a 104 minute run time released by Universal the official site is Tower Heist.
