![]() The caper itself is extremely elaborate and requires precise timing and coincidences. Does anyone actually remember Brad Pitt’s or George Clooney’s characters? I only remember Brad Pitt, the sidekick and George Clooney, the ring leader. ![]() And like it, I frequently noticed the actor instead of the character - an occurrence a director never wants to happen during a movie. Like it, this too has a very large and recognizable cast. Tower Heist has quite a few similarities to “Ocean’s Eleven” so it wasn’t surprising to see it was co-written by Ted Griffin. There are Miss Iovenko (Nina Arianda) who Josh reminds not to study for the Bar Exam during work hours Odessa the maid (Gabourey Sidibe) whose skill will be revealed during the film and there is Lester the doorman (Stephen McKinley Henderson) who is the tower’s longest serving staff member. Josh performs his morning checks of the staff and conveniently runs into an assortment of supporting characters each with their own specific quirk or skill which may or may not come into play during the heist at an integral moment. Now that the team is in place, it is very lucky the film chose to open with a sort of “Day in the Life” of operating a luxury residence. Josh knew Slide as a child however, it takes awhile for Slide to remember Josh and when he does, he goes off on a not too funny rant on seizures. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), a former tower resident and now bankrupt banker, Enrique Dev’Reaux (Michael Pena), the brand new elevator operator, and finally there is criminal and parolee Slide (Eddie Murphy). There is Josh’s brother and hotel concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck), Mr. Whether or not a man in Arthur’s position would alter his behavior like that in reality is unclear - the script requires it of him here to provide the requisite motivation for the upcoming heist.Ĭasing the hotel, Josh picks up a motley crew of robbers who have no business robbing a piggy bank let alone a high-tech penthouse. During his house arrest, he relishes reminding the staff of their lowly station in life and just how replaceable they are as part of the service industry. The film abruptly transforms Arthur from a nice and congenial billionaire into a miserly and insulting billionaire overnight. He is in shock that a man as rich as Arthur would swindle the meager pensions of the very employees who cook his food, take out his trash, and open his doors. Josh is not going to go down without a fight though. It was Josh who convinced the rest of the staff to ensure their pensions to Arthur Shaw so he feels responsible when everything goes bust. Stiller tries his best to pull off blue collar and everyman characteristics here even though he was paid $15 million to try and do that. Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) plays the tower’s manager and trusted staff leader. His smallest investment account happens to be the pension funds of the staff that run the vast and luxurious tower he lives on the top floor of. the penthouse owner (1%).Īrthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is a Bernard Madoff archetype who is put under penthouse arrest by the FBI for running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding his investors. Tapping into a particular segment of that angst, Tower Heist is about the blue collar vs. The Occupy Wall Street protest is alive and well not too far from where this film is set and hundreds of other Occupy protests are simultaneously happening around the world. Tower Heist enjoys a coincidence of sorts in its choice of opening weekend.
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