![]() I mean bad jokes in an Envy kind of way (Ouch, it hurts just thinking about that movie). And I don’t mean bad jokes in a Zoolander way. There were so many bad jokes that simply fell flat. The problem however, is that it was just poorly written and executed. The cast is great, and there was so much potential to make this movie more enjoyable than it was. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), newly hired and newly fired elevator operator Enrique (Michael Pena), housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), and a criminal that yells at him as he passes by everyday on his way to work – Slide (Eddie Murphy). Josh’s not-so-criminal accomplices are comprised of: his former co-worker Charlie (Casey Affleck), recently evicted tenant Mr. After being fired, Josh orchestrates an elaborate heist to steal back the money that Shaw has wrongfully taken. Faced with the duress of losing everything for his closest friends and co-workers, Josh destroys one of Shaw’s most prized possessions – a Ferrari driven by Steve McQueen, worth a million dollars. Even worse, Josh chose him to manage his employees’ pensions, which seem to be as good as gone. That is until he is acused of security fraud, and stealing billions of dollars from his investors of the years. One of his most important tenants is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a Wall Street mogul who has become a close friend of Josh’s over the years. Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the building manager for “The Tower,” an ultra-secure, ultra-expensive building for New York’s elite. I ask myself, “is it really going to be good, or do they just shove as many star-studded names onto the marquee as possible?” Unfortunately, Tower Heist seems to follow the formula of the latter. Mean calls Murphy the movie’s “not-so-secret weapon, who employs the unmistakable comic swagger that has been missing, and greatly missed, since the days of Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop.I am always a little skeptical of a highly advertised comedy with a bunch of big names in the cast. Meanwhile, the Vancouver Sun’s Katherine Monk opined that Murphy “lights up the screen with his Molotov energy,” while the Salt Lake Tribune’s Sean P. Other praise for Murphy came from the Associated Press’ Christy Lemire, who wrote that “when Murphy’s on screen in his classic comic mode, it’s hard to focus on anyone or anything else.” VIDEO: Eddie Murphy Says Brian Grazer Saved ‘Tower Heist’ “It’s not going for too much, but I laughed a lot, despite knowing better, which was more or less any time Eddie Murphy says anything to Ben Stiller.” “ Tower Heist is smoothly made and smart enough,” he added. Wesley Morris of the Boston Globe wrote that Murphy gives the movie “scene after scene of jive gusto.” He doesn’t have much screen time in T ower Heist - just enough to steal it.” doesn’t get a little more elbow room,” he wrote.Īmy Biancolli wrote in the San Francisco Chronicle: “Rare is the movie that doesn’t light up when Murphy cracks his face into a squinty-eyed grin. “I wouldn’t say that producer and co-star Murphy is slumming here, exactly, but it is too bad the superstar who ruled the world with such savvy commercial entertainments as the first Beverly Hills Cop and the first 48 Hrs. The Chicago Tribune’s Michael Phillips echoed that sentiment. PHOTOS: ‘Ben Stiller Show’ Alumni: Where Are They Now? You come away wishing he had more screen time (especially since the movie, albeit in a very different form, was apparently his idea in the first place).” “With the exception of his hee-hee-haw Donkey in Shrek, Murphy hasn’t been this funny since Beverly Hills Cop, the first edition. “ Tower Heist reminds you of the raw comic brilliance Murphy brought to Saturday Night Live all those years ago,” she wrote. Among them is Betsy Sharkey of the Los Angeles Times, who laments that Murphy didn’t get more screen time. Many other critics agree with McCarthy, praising Murphy’s performance as the best part of the movie. “This is the rude, confrontational, wiseass Murphy audiences have nearly forgotten after all the silly kid comedies and heavy-makeup outings of recent years.” “With Murphy’s full entrance at the 40-minute mark, the film’s energy and amusement level kick up a few notches, at least for a while,” he wrote. The Hollywood Reporter’s Todd McCarthy wrote that Tower Heist marks a return to form for the actor-comedian. STORY: Ben Stiller Reveals ‘Zoolander’ Sequel Secrets Future of the Fockers and What He Thinks of ‘Tower Heist’ Co-Star Eddie Murphy as Oscar Host The movie itself has been getting mixed reviews, but what do the critics have to say about Murphy’s return to the genre where he got his start? But in recent years, he’s veered more toward family films like Daddy Day Care and the Shrek movies and even co-starred in the 2006 musical Dreamgirls, which earned him an Oscar nomination.
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