Review of Tower Heist (2011) by Dawdlingpoet — 28 Nov 2021

This is pretty run of the mill fare and not a film that will appeal to people who don't care for Eddie Murphy's loud-mouth antics, as he's very much present throughout the majority of the film. Having said that, its equally Ben Stillers film, although he does play his usual rather quiet, philosophical bumbling fool type character but its pretty entertaining to watch in general and it certainly doesn't require much thinking to enjoy either. If your not a fan of action films, or visual comedies like some/most of Ben Stillers other films, then again this is probably not for you but its perfectly enjoyable and entertaining enough otherwise.

I liked the mix of characters present and the use of music, it kept it feeling somewhat edgy and kept my interest to see what would happen with the heist. Of course, given recent scandals involving investment banks and the financial industry, with peoples opinions of bankers and those involved in the industry at rock bottom, in a way maybe that helps people feel more keen to see a good outcome to this film, given its really the 'little people' wanting to recoup what they feel they've been swindled out of - a feeling that no doubt many people have had over the last decade or so and thus can relate to. Its perhaps a bit puerile in parts, the comedy is fairly amusing though hardly laugh-out-loud material, to me anyway and its clearly not exactly original storywise but I liked the plot pace and basic characterisation and there is a decent cast present, so overall I guess there are worse ways to spend a couple of hours (the film has a running time of approximately an hour and three quarters.

There are one or two sub-plots present, which made me (as a viewer) more interested in the characters, to see how things played out and to find out more about some of the inhabitants of the tower. Its far from a complicated film, as you might expect, or have guessed by now but for what it is, its certainly diverting and pretty entertaining generally, I suppose. Nowadays im less keen on action based films I think, than I used to be but if this is your kind of thing and other aspects I've mentioned don't especially bother or concern you, then your likely to enjoy this. There are one or two plot twists present, to keep you guessing and there's an element to it that makes you really question how likely it would be to happen but its quite fun to see how it plays out, although it isn't memorable - its ok, basically.

Yes, I'd recommend this film, on the basis that its entertaining, with some good action scenes and a decent cast. Its quite fast paced and has some one or two interesting plot elements, although generally it is quite unoriginal - some won't enjoy this but others likely will, it just depends on what you like but as long as you know that and take that into consideration, then I guess I would just about recommend it overall.