Tower Heist Review

Tower Heist


Release Date: 26th December 2011 - Australia


Production Companies
Universal Pictures

Imagine Entertainment
Relativity Media (in association with)
Rat Entertainment

Dentsu (presented in association with)

Distribution
Universal Pictures Australia

Genre: Comedy

Rating: M

Runtime: 100 minutes

Budget: $85,000,000

Box Office Gross:

$152,930,623 (Worldwide)

Plot Summary

Josh Kovacs, a Queens
native, has managed one of
New York City's most
lavish and secure residences
for over ten years. With his
keen eye, no mistake goes
unnoticed. Atop Josh's

building, in the poshest,
suite, Wall Street tycoon

Arthur Shaw is in house

arrest for stealing two billion

dollars from his investors.

Which individuals were

the most affected by his

fraudulent actions? The

tower staffers were the ones

whose pensions he supervised.

As Arthur's escape from

justice draws near, Josh's

enlists the help of Slide,

a petty crook, to plan the

nearly impossible: stealing

what they believe is

hidden in Arthur's guarded

condo. These amateur

robbers know the building

better than anyone, despite

their lack of experience.

They had been scouting

the place for years, but they

were unaware of it.

Cast
Ben Stiller - Josh Kovaks
Eddie Murphy - Slide

Casey Affleck - Charlie

Alan Alda - Arthur Shaw
Matthew Broderick - Mr. Fitzhugh
Stephen McKinley Henderson - Lester
Judd Hirsch - Mr. Simon
Tea Leoni - Special Agent Claire Denham
Michael Pena - Enrique Dev'Reaux
Gabourey Sidibe - Odessa
Nina Arianda - Miss Iovenko
Marcia Jean Kurtz - Rose
Juan Carlos Hernandez - Manuel
Harry O'Reilly - Special Agent Dansk
Peter Van Wagner - Marty Klein Esq.
Zeljko Ivanek - Director Mazin

Lynne Rossetto Kasper - Radio 

Host (Voice)

Annika Pergament - NASDAQ News Reporter (Voice)

Clem Cheung - Kwan

Robert Downey Sr. - Judge Ramos

Max Russell Pratts - Kid in Lobby

Nathan Malnik - Kid in Lobby

Spencer Malnik - Kid in Lobby

Jarod Malnik - Kid in Lobby

Julie Vilanova - Kid in Lobby

Cynthia Patsos - Kid in Lobby

Kate Upton - Mr. Hightower's Mistress

Marilyn Kim - Mrs. Jin

Judianny Compres - Rita

Omar Nicodemo - Tower Security

Dylan Ratigan - News Reporter

Allie Woods Jr. - Mr. Newhouse

Johnny Tran - Huang

Monika Plocienniczak - TV News Reporter

James Colby - Special Agent Huggins

Edward Noone - Special Agent

Frank Pesce - Riker's Prison Guard

Annie Park - Girl in Mall

Christina Jacquelyn Calph - Victoria's Secret Saleswoman

Kevin Pariseau - Swarovski Jewellery Salesman

Desmin Borges - Modell's Sneaker Salesman

Jessica Szohr - Sasha

Brian Distance - Tower Security Officer

Village - Tower Security Officer

Les Papp II - Tower Security Officer

Michael Stratton - Tower Security Officer

Chris Rivaro - Doorman

Craig Castaldo - Radioman

Heavy D - Court House Guard

Veronika Korvin - Maid

Robert Clohessy - Parade Cop

Jan Owen - Mrs. Cronan

Lucky Park - Lucy the Dog

Robert Christian - Arresting Special Agent

Mark Phillip Patrick - Arresting Special Agent

Paul Hickert - Arresting Special Agent

Kelvin Davis - Arresting Special Agent

Christopher Breslin - Arresting Special Agent

Ty Jones - Shaw's Prison Guard

Ted Lochwyn - Shaw's Prison Guard

Madison Knopp - Charlie and Sasha's Baby

Troy Hall - Delivery Man

Julie T. Pham - Huang's Wife

Bojun Wang - Huang's Son

Juanita Howard - Mr. Newhouse's Wife

Bob Roseman - Josh's Prison Guard

Crew
Director - Brett Ratner
Based on Concept - Eric Ehrenhaus
Story - Adam Cooper and Bill Collage
Story/Screenplay - Ted Griffin
Screenplay - Jeff Nathanson

Unit Production Manager/Executive Producer -

Bill Carraro
Executive Producer - Karen Kehela Sherwood
Producers - Eddie Murphy, Brian Grazer

and Kim Roth
Production Designer - Kristi Zea

Art Director - Nicholas Lundy

Set Decorator - Diane Lederman

Costume Designer - Sarah Edwards

Makeup Department Head - John Cagilone Jr.  
Director of Photography - Dante Spinotti

Unit Production Manager - Carla Raij

First Assistant Director - James M. Freitag

Second Assistant Director - Tudor Jones
Second Unit Director/Stunt Player - G.A. Aguilar
Stunt Coordinator - Jery Hewitt
Special Effects Coordinator - Steven Kirshoff

Visual Effects Supervisor - Mark Russell
Visual Effects Producer - Ginger Theisen
Visual Effects Consultants - Michael L. Fink

and Adam Howard
Editor - Mark Helfrich

Supervising Sound Editor - Warren Shaw

Production Sound Mixer - Tod A. Maitland

Re-Recording Mixers - Michael Minkler

and Andrii Trifonov

Supervising Foley Artist - Gary A. Hecker  
Music - Christophe Beck

Review

The year 2011 ended the holiday season on a high note with the fun-filled and ordinary caper comedy of TOWER HEIST. I have finally set some time aside to indulge in this comedy. I'm not going to lie. I did my hopes up. It certainly wasn't as clever and elaborate as other heist movies. The storyline is exhausting and has become overused, probably because the writers were running out of ideas. However, some aspects of the film are appealing, particularly certain comedy scenes. One such scene involves a hotel maid ramming a trolley into a security agent, knocking him out cold. Unfortunately, the amusing scenes in this movie are just too few and scarce. Another flaw with this film is its slow pacing. It moves along too slowly, causing you to lose interest.

TOWER HEIST boasts a stellar cast of leading ensembles. Comedy film buffs will be happy to see some of their favourite comedic actors in this film. The actors all deliver commendable performances, especially Eddie Murphy, who is universally "hilarious" in anything he does. Director Brett Ratner is well-known for his action and comedy films, which he executed very well. However, he's lost his touch.

The problem with TOWER HEIST is that it's not memorable. I can't remember any particularly memorable scenes, except for a few. It is a movie that I would not be motivated to watch again. If you like heist movies, Ocean's Eleven is the mother of all features in this sub-genre.

Star rating: (6/10) Fair Movie

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