ACTION COMEDY; 1hr 44min
STARRING: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Gabourey Sidibe
A matter of trust: from left, Alda and Stiller
The obscenely loaded value privacy and protection, which Manhattan’s The Tower apartment complex — actually Trump Tower — offers in gilt-wrapped everything. Building manager Josh Kovacs (Stiller, playing it straight) lives his job. When he discovers that odious finance tycoon Arthur Shaw (Alda) has defrauded Tower employees of their pension funds, the outraged Josh conspires with a mixed bag of fellow disgruntled staffers, evicted tenant Mr Fitzhugh (Broderick) and light-fingered ring-in Slide (Murphy, in fine, mouthy fettle). Their plumb crazy plan: to steal millions of dollars hidden in Shaw’s fabulous penthouse.
It’s a fool’s errand, given Tower security and FBI surveillance of Shaw, who is under house arrest (Leoni is the agent in charge). Then again, when little guys go up against the big, crooked guns in a tentpole crowd-pleaser, the more unlikely their chances, the better, ching ching. With his eye on the commercial prize, Rush Hour director Brett Ratner hits the midpoint between adrenalised and absurd, then floors it from there. Hold onto your limits of credibility! This gang of thieves means box-office business.
