Film Review:Tower Heist

Has Brett Ratner ever made a great film?… No. Has he ever made a really good film?… No. Does he only make terrible films?… No. Brett Ratner is not a great director but he is neither a terrible one. He is simply… meh. Why he is such a name? I shall never know. He isn’t bad enough to have Ed Wood infamy and he certainly isn’t Kubrick. He is a man who must have talent, for he gets these movies made. The final results are not always tremendous but they exist which really is an achievement. Was Red Dragon necessary?… No. Was X-Men 3 a worthy end to the trilogy?… No. Was Family Man a funny heart warming comedy?… No.

But here today’s question: Is Brett Ratner’s new film, Tower Heist, starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy any good?… No. It isn’t a total disaster, it just comes across as a very expensive film with flat jokes and an average look. It is perfect for watching while eating a complicated meal. You could be looking at your food most of the time and you wouldn’t miss much. There really isn’t a lot to say about it. But I will attempt to find something.

It tells the story of a group of people who work for a Donald Trump- esque figure played by Alan Alda, who lose their jobs when he is arrested for fraud. They have also lost their pensions because their manager, Ben Stiller, asked Alda to invest the money for them in order to get a higher return. You see what they are doing there? Using this to talk about the current financial climate and how the banks lost all our money gambling. Clever, right?… No. There is nothing original in it, this is not film as art or as a device to make a point. It is solely business. For it to pretend to be relevant is simply nauseating. Much as Avatar had a message of nature vs. man and machines, but was almost entirely made on computers; and unless Cameron rode a bike to power the machines it reeks of double standards. Or An Inconvenient Truth, where Al Gore tells us all to cut our carbon emissions as he flies from country to country in a private jet, filmed from the outside by what I am assuming is yet another plane.

So the film basically functions as an Oceans 11-esque film. A group robbing from the evil rich. Ben Stiller mails in his usual performance, and Eddie Murphy looked into his files to pull out one of his standard performances from the 80s. Both Murphy and Stiller need better material to be really funny. Murphy was brilliant in films such as Trading Places and Stiller can be so good in films such as Flirting with Disaster. His co-star from that film, Téa Leoni, also appears here and is one of the highlights of the film. Not to say that she has a funny part, it is just nice to see her on the big screen – a brilliant actress who has not been given enough good roles. Also appearing is Matthew Broderick, who looks old and ill and still acts like he’s sixteen. He is fast becoming the next Baby Jane. I like Broderick but I prefer him when he plays shits, in films such as Election or You Can Count on Me. We also get to see Gabourey Sidibe, the large girl from Precious, in a part which is only a series of fat jokes. In one scene she is talking and has cake all over her face. I assume this was a last minute addition by Ratner: “Put some cake on her face. He he he. Fat people love cake. He he he he. Put more on. Yeah. He he he he.” It is depressing but in many ways this was inevitable. She is a good actress but her size would eventually dictate she plays roles such as this.

Enough of all this. You read this review to answer one question. Should I go and see this movie?… No.

Rating: 2/5

Reviewer: Harry Davenport
Release Date: 02/11/11 (UK)
Rating: 12A
Directed By: Brett Ratner
Cast: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Alan Alda