Tower Heist (2011)

Jack and I laughed a lot at this action comedy with a fully developed plot (victims team up to rob a Ponzi schemer) and awesome production values, reuniting Ben Stiller and two of his co-stars, Téa Leoni and Alan Alda, from the must-see indie Flirting with Disaster (1996), as well as Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Casey Affleck, Gabourey Sidibe, Michael Peña, and many more. Since I panned Little Fockers and Night at the Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, refer to Greenberg and Tropic Thunder for some Stiller fandom--he is earnest in this, playing it straight, but that's not a problem. As for Murphy, who is very funny here with his trademark rubbery face, for my favorites I would choose his debut 48 Hrs. (1982), Trading Places (1983), Coming to America (1988), Bowfinger (1999), Dreamgirls (2006), and this. 

My favorites of Broderick's work are WarGames (1983), Ferris Bueller's Day Off (1986), The Freshman (1990), Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle (1994), The Road to Wellville (1994), The Producers (2005), and Then She Found Me (2007). Alda (other faves: M*A*S*H of course (1972-1983), Same Time, Next Year (1978), The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979), The Four Seasons (1981), Sweet Liberty (1986), Crimes and Misdemeanors (1989), Betsy's Wedding (1990), Manhattan Murder Mystery (1993), and Everyone Says I Love You (1996) in which his song was one of the best, and he was Oscar-nominated for The Aviator (2004)) plays with finesse the charming but heartless financier. 

Affleck (covered in I'm Still Here) has a lot of funny lines, as do Peña (30 Minutes or Less) and Sidibe (Oscar-nominated for Precious and has been in every episode of The Big C). Leoni's (after Flirting with Disaster, my other favorites are The Family Man (2000), Hollywood Ending (2002), Spanglish (2004), and You Kill Me (2007)) FBI agent reminds me of the line from The First Wives Club (1996), when Goldie Hawn's character says that the only roles for women are "babe, district attorney, and Driving Miss Daisy." Leoni was a babe in Flirting, and she's every bit as lovely 15 years later, but not treated as such.

I believe this is the first Brett Ratner-directed movie I've seen and the pace is good. We didn't have high hopes when we saw there were two screenplay writers, Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven (2001), Matchstick Men (2003), others) and Jeff Nathanson (both of Ratner's Rush Hour sequels, Catch Me If You Can (2002), The Terminal (2004), more), and three story writers, Adam Cooper & Bill Collage (Accepted (2006) and an Olsen twins movie) and Griffin. But there are no plot holes that I remember (imdb contributors found a few) and the whole thing is quite entertaining. Oscar-nominated Dante Spinotti (for L.A. Confidential (1997) and The Insider (1999), and 60 other productions, including Public Enemies) is the cinematographer responsible for the beautiful photography of New York and the plush interiors, although I'm guessing he was not in the helicopter for the aerial shots.

Exciting jazz-inflected music is by Christophe Beck (last covered in Crazy, Stupid, Love.) and you can listen to tracks here. Check this out sometime. It probably won't be nominated for anything, but it's good fun.