The hotel's former manager (Stiller) recruits a streetwise childhood acquaintance, played by Eddie Murphy, to tutor the novice criminals.Īs one character describes them, they're Robin Hood and his Merry Doormen. When an FBI takedown reveals Shaw's financial misdeeds, including fleecing the entire hotel staff of their pensions, a group of disgruntled employees decides to "storm the castle" and get it back. In such a climate of anxiety and uncertainty, it feels good to let go and laugh-especially at the antics of this inexperienced gang of "heisters" who hatch a scheme to steal back what was stolen from them.īen Stiller, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick and Michael Peña play characters who've all been victimized by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a smug billionaire broker who lives atop a swanky New York luxury condominium hotel, swims in a heated rooftop pool that looks like a big, watery $100 bill and fawns over his prize possession, a red Ferrari that once belonged to actor Steve McQueen. Mean calls Murphy the movie’s “not-so-secret weapon, who employs the unmistakable comic swagger that has been missing, and greatly missed, since the days of Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop.Starring Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy and Tea LeoniĪn all-star cast scales some hilarious heights in this timely yarn about a group of working-class heroes hung out to dry by a financial swindler.Īs such, "Tower Heist" is certainly well timed, as America is roiling with unease about Wall Street gluttony, corporate greed and the ever-deepening chasm between the have-it-alls and the have-nots. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun’s Katherine Monk opined that Murphy “lights up the screen with his Molotov energy,” while the Salt Lake Tribune’s Sean P. Other praise for Murphy came from the Associated Press’ Christy Lemire, who wrote that “when Murphy’s on screen in his classic comic mode, it’s hard to focus on anyone or anything else.” VIDEO: Eddie Murphy Says Brian Grazer Saved ‘Tower Heist’ “It’s not going for too much, but I laughed a lot, despite knowing better, which was more or less any time Eddie Murphy says anything to Ben Stiller.” “ Tower Heist is smoothly made and smart enough,” he added. Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe wrote that Murphy gives the movie “scene after scene of jive gusto.” He doesn’t have much screen time in T ower Heist - just enough to steal it.” doesn’t get a little more elbow room,” he wrote.Īmy Biancolli wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Rare is the movie that doesn’t light up when Murphy cracks his face into a squinty-eyed grin. “I wouldn’t say that producer and co-star Murphy is slumming here, exactly, but it is too bad the superstar who ruled the world with such savvy commercial entertainments as the first Beverly Hills Cop and the first 48 Hrs. The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips echoed that sentiment. PHOTOS: ‘Ben Stiller Show’ Alumni: Where Are They Now? You come away wishing he had more screen time (especially since the movie, albeit in a very different form, was apparently his idea in the first place).” “With the exception of his hee-hee-haw Donkey in Shrek, Murphy hasn’t been this funny since Beverly Hills Cop, the first edition. “ Tower Heist reminds you of the raw comic brilliance Murphy brought to Saturday Night Live all those years ago,” she wrote. Among them is Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times, who laments that Murphy didn’t get more screen time. Many other critics agree with McCarthy, praising Murphy’s performance as the best part of the movie. “This is the rude, confrontational, wiseass Murphy audiences have nearly forgotten after all the silly kid comedies and heavy-makeup outings of recent years.” “With Murphy’s full entrance at the 40-minute mark, the film’s energy and amusement level kick up a few notches, at least for a while,” he wrote. The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy wrote that Tower Heist marks a return to form for the actor-comedian. STORY: Ben Stiller Reveals ‘Zoolander’ Sequel Secrets Future of the Fockers and What He Thinks of ‘Tower Heist’ Co-Star Eddie Murphy as Oscar Host The movie itself has been getting mixed reviews, but what do the critics have to say about Murphy’s return to the genre where he got his start? But in recent years, he’s veered more toward family films like Daddy Day Care and the Shrek movies and even co-starred in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
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