Tower Heist

Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in this hilarious comedy caper about a luxury condo manager (Stiller) who leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler (Alan Alda) who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slide (Murphy) to steal the $20 million they're sure is hidden in the penthouse. From the director of the Rush Hour series, "Tower Heist is so fun, it's criminal!" (Associated Press).

At the center of Tower Heist is a gleaming Ferrari once owned by Steve McQueen, and that's what the movie is: a sleek machine, tooled for speed. Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) manages a super-high-tech high-rise in the middle of Manhattan, catering to every need of the tower's residents, including financier Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). When Shaw gets arrested by the FBI, Kovacs realizes that his staff's pensions, which he asked Shaw to invest, are lost, and when it looks like Shaw is going to get away with it, Kovacs pulls together a mismatched team (included Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, Gabourey Sidibe, and Eddie Murphy) to steal the secret stash of cash that the FBI suspects Shaw must have. Tower Heist successfully tweaks all the character clichés just enough so that they are a smooth blend of the familiar and the unexpected. The plot zips along with purring efficiency, alternating predictable turns with surprising ones just enough to keep the pattern-seeking parts of the viewer's brain hooked. The cast--which also includes Téa Leoni as the lead FBI agent--charms without overdoing it. In essence, director Brett Ratner (the guy behind X-Men: The Last Stand and the Rush Hour series) has honed all of his sloppier tendencies and crafted a skillful piece of mass entertainment. Afterward, the movie's plot holes and defiance of the laws of physics may irritate, but while it's unfolding, Tower Heist is a smooth ride. --Bret Fetzer