Movie: Tower Heist

• Director: Brett Ratner
• Release Date: November 2011
• Writers: Ted Griffin, Jeff Nathanson
• Run Time: 104
• Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime

Tagline: Ordinary guys. An extraordinary robbery.

Review: This movie has a lot of star power with big comedians like Ben Stiller and Eddie Murray. Some of the marketing plays it up as a semicomedy or comparisons to the Oceans 11 movies. I was expecting to laugh. While there were some minor (very minor) chuckles, it was far from a comedy. As a pure heist movie, it was okay but when you factor in all the star power and potential, I had to rate it poorly.

Eddie Murray does have one mild rant but otherwise is way under utilized. I seldom like characters played by Alan Alda since the first few seasons of MASH and this was no exception. The fact he was trying to play an unlikeable character is beside the point I believe. Matthew Broderick was in the movie but there was really nothing about the part that showcased his talent. Tea Leonis FBI character was also confusing and it was like her characters motivation would change to fit whatever fit the plot at that particular moment. Ben Stiller did a good job but as with the others in the movie, there was very little of either the funny Stiller or the drama Stiller. What finished the movie off for me as a poor 3 out of 10 rating was the ending. No spoiler here about it except to say that the ending turned it from an okay unfunny heist movie to a movie I am very disappointed to have wasted my money to see.

I went with my wife and 2 children. I have not seen many movies at the theaters in the last few months. Looking at this movie along with the ~$65 I paid helps convince me I do not want to see many more. People beside me felt it appropriate to talk back to the screen frequently, someone in front of us might have had TB based on the amount of hacking coughing, someone behind my daughter had another discussion going on and overall I was left thinking I would rather have waited for the DVD, paid $1 and watched it in my living room. I hope theater owners wake up before it is too late for them.