— by CHERRY BELL DAMASCO-FARRINGTON —
In a swanky high rise in New York City, with a highly-advanced security system, a rag tag group staff members conspire to steal $20 million and get payback from the man that defrauded them and stole their retirement funds.
Ben Stiller is Josh Kovaks, who has managed the Central Park condominiums where Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) resides in his penthouse apartment. Shaw has been put under house arrest for defrauding his investors and with high tech security and FBI agents keeping careful surveillance at the entrances, Kovaks and his fellow staff members plan a heist. None of them have any experience in thievery, so Kovaks puts into play an old acquaintance, Slide (Eddie Murphy), to help them out.
The rest of the trailer goes into the various mishaps that the group encounters as they stake out Shaw and “learn” about how to rob a building from Slide. As part of the all-star cast, we see Gabourey Sidibe (best known for her role in “Precious”) as a maid, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Michael Peña and Judd Hirsch among the plotters and schemers.
Stiller and Murphy are always good for a laugh, and perhaps in this crime comedy film — produced by Imagine Entertainment and Stiller’s Red Hour Films — we may get a few. I’ll give a Stiller or a Murphy film a chance any time, but I’ll be prepared for a letdown when Brett Ratner’s “Tower Heist” hits theaters Nov. 4.
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It looks like a flick to catch on Showtime or HBO when you don’t want to think too much. I will admit to laughing out loud at the very last line, though.
I’d love to see Eddie Murphy in a really funny role, but I can’t shake the feeling that they could have gotten J.B. Smoove for this role, saved millions and it would have been funnier. I agree about the last line, though.