You Got Heist in My Comedy!

The buzz about last year's movie Tower Heist was mixed enough that I felt no need to see it while it was originally in theaters. But a friend of mine picked it up on Blu-ray and loaned it to me so I could give it a try.

If you missed it, Tower Heist is an ensemble comedy mashed up with a caper film. Ben Stiller stars as the head of the staff in a residential skyscraper that's home to the ridiculously wealthy -- including the richest of all, played by Alan Alda. When the Alda character is revealed to have been part of a criminal scheme that lost the pensions of the entire tower staff, Stiller leads a group of them in a heist to break into the man's apartment to steal their money back.

There are a lot of good names in the cast, though unfortunately, not many of them are doing exceptional work here. It starts with Stiller; personally, I've always found him to be more entertaining playing outrageous characters (as in Dodgeball or Zoolander) than realistic ones (such as in the Meet the Parents series). There's Something About Mary is one movie that bucked this trend for me, but Tower Heist is not.

Casey Affleck appears as a slightly grown-up version of his character from the Ocean's Eleven trilogy -- a rather stupid screw-up that nevertheless has a role to play in the heist. I think it hurts this film to invite such obvious comparison to another great caper movie.

Matthew Broderick is a lackluster second fiddle, whose presence mainly just serves to make me sad for the days when Broderick used to be the star of any movie he appeared in -- all of which were good. Man, Godzilla just destroyed that guy's career. (Or was it Sarah Jessica Parker? Zing!)

Tea Leoni is a bland FBI agent mechanically set-up to be an opposing force/love interest. Alan Alda's character is too cartoonishly evil (for the purposes of setting up a heavy) to ground the film in any kind of reality. Michael Peña and Gabourey Sidibe play rather stereotypical characters; the latter is especially funny, though she maybe treads a little too close to the stereotype for comfort.

That leaves Eddie Murphy. I'm surprised to say it, but he's actually the best thing about the movie. I don't think he's been the best thing about a movie since... what, Beverly Hills Cop? He probably hasn't been funnier since then, either. I mean, he's no laugh riot by any stretch, but if you've watched his recent crap like Pluto Nash or Norbit? Well, first, what the hell is wrong with you; and second, you'll appreciate this comedic turn close to the machine-gun wit and acid that made Murphy famous in the 1980s.

The main problem with this hybrid comedy-heist movie is that it doesn't really have much comedy in it. The first half hour is a laugh-free preamble setting up the story and all the many characters to be involved in it. The laughs only come when Eddie Murphy finally takes center stage. (Again, I know that's a surprise to hear.) The heist itself turns out to be somewhat entertaining too, but that also takes a long time to arrive. Ocean's Eleven was already a superlative heist movie with a streak of humor, and so I was expecting this film to be a comedy foremost and a caper second. I guess I should have known better. "Heist" is in the title, "Comedy" is not.

The film isn't terrible, but I wouldn't really recommend it either. I'd grade it a C+. It might be one to watch if you're truly convinced you love one of the actors in it. Or it might be a good "stuck in a hotel room somewhere with nothing better to do" kind of film. I just don't see it as one to seek out.