Tower Heist [M]

After fraudulent tenants of The Tower swindle a great number of the working staff and help simultaneously, Josh Kovaks, manager at the Tower, takes it upon himself to do a little robbery of his own. Roping various other wronged employees of the Tower and a criminal from his neighbourhood into the plot, they use their street smarts and interior knowledge of the Tower to formulate the perfect robbery… only to get caught up in an even bigger scheme.

I’m all for the occasional simple-plot-but-big-name-cast movie and when Tower Heist came into work the other day, I figured “why not”? This movie wasn’t a great work of cinematic brilliance in any way, but it was not without its charm and moments. 

After fraudulent tenants of The Tower swindle a great number of the working staff and help simultaneously, Josh Kovax, manager at the Tower, takes it upon himself to do a little robbery of his own. Roping various other wronged employees of the Tower and a criminal from his neighbourhood into the plot, they use their street smarts and interior knowledge of the Tower to formulate the perfect robbery… only to get caught up in an even bigger scheme.

First off, I have to say that the twist at the end was quite intriguing and good. No lame everything-works-out-for-everyone tripe, but a good solid ending with that hint of “no good deed goes unpunished”. I quite liked that. 

The whole Robin Hood-esque story that lays the foundation for the action and comedy of the film was a good one, and it did leave room for the occasional twist of the plot. I thought this was good as the story in general is one that can easily be predicted. One that we’ve seen before. 

At the end of the day, I thought Tower Heist was good for what it was, but it wasn’t really all that. It’s based on a simple plot, smatterings of action themed comedy, and a load of big names. I wasn’t really expecting much and because that’s the mood I was in when I watched it, I wasn’t disappointed. 

Starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Stephen Henderson, Tea Leoni, Michael Pena, and Gabourey Sidibe, Tower Heist was a fine action/comedy that harboured some memorable moments, but it’s not one that I would add to the collection. Filled with action, finance, conspiracy, and comedy, yeah it was good. It was nothing more that a good film, not a great film, but a good one.