Stiller, Murphy fly high in ‘Tower Heist’
STILLER. Boosts his movie’s comedic appeal.
We’ve seen many crime, robbery and chase movies that don’t really hit the spot, so we didn’t have high expectations when we watched “Tower Heist” last week. Our main motivation for patronizing the action-comedy flick was to see if the stellar team-up between Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy would catch fire.
Well, we can report that it did. The two veteran comedians “vamped” against and with each other in an agreeably madcap way, and the movie’s comedic appeal to viewers was assured.
Even better, we got more than just a new comedy-action combo. Aside from Stiller and Murphy, “Tower Heist” flies high on other lively attributes, which are paced by its imaginative plotting:
Financial guru
Stiller plays the building manager of a spiffy New York apartment building for wealthy people. He loves working for his boss (Alan Alda), a top financial guru and genius, and life seems to be going great for him—until his beloved employer is collared by the FBI for defrauding all of the people, big and small, who entrusted their money to him for “safe” and profitable investing!
After getting over his shock, Stiller’s character tries to get back his fellow employees’ pensions, which he had entrusted to his boss, but the FBI officer in charge of the case sadly informs him that it’s all gone, adios, kaput!
Feeling guilty as heck, Stiller then comes up with a plan to set things right. More we cannot tell you for fear of preempting your viewing pleasure, but rest assured that a fun ride is in store.
The movie’s storytelling isn’t just lively, it’s creative, surprising and tight as a sphincter, pulling different styles and moods into its antic equation, and then tying most of those diverse strings tautly together in time for its big-bang finale.
Stiller keeps the action and comedy elements pulsating, his deadpan face imbuing the proceedings with an agreeably nostalgic, Buster Keaton-ish puckishness. For his part, Murphy is hilarious as a mangy scam artist with an ack-ack mouth.
Surprising portrayal
But, the most surprising portrayal is turned in by Alda, who goes against his entire career’s signature thrust as Mr. Good Guy, and plays the movie’s billionaire baddie with great believability—and subtlety.
In addition, Stiller’s cohorts in the literally high-flying heist he’s planned turned in similarly antic portrayals that contribute considerably to the production’s feeling of unending fun and frolic. Special mention here goes to the really huge talent, Gabourey Sidibe, who plays the only female member of Stiller’s robbery gang.
We were also particularly taken with Tea Leoni’s portrayal of the FBI officer in charge of making sure that Alda’s character gets his just desserts—while upholding his rights. Leoni’s combination of toughness and sultry femininity is choice and difficult to pull off—which is what makes it so noteworthy.
Over and above these individual successes, “Tower Heist” opens up its action in a big way by situating it within the context of Macy’s huge Thanksgiving Day parade! The complicating context gave the movie a lot of additional problems to solve and hurdle, but, most impressively, the production made it all look—easy as pie!
