Quartile rating: 6/10 · 1 rating
A luxury condo manager leads a staff of workers to seek payback on the Wall Street swindler who defrauded them. With only days until the billionaire gets away with the perfect crime, the unlikely crew of amateur thieves enlists the help of petty crook Slide to steal the $20 million they’re sure is hidden in the penthouse.
Tower Heist is a serviceable but largely formulaic caper comedy. The Madoff-inspired premise had timely relevance but the execution follows a predictable heist template without much surprise. The ensemble cast — Murphy, Stiller, Broderick — delivers competent if unremarkable work, with Eddie Murphy providing the most energy but feeling constrained. Cinematography is functional New York location shooting without distinction. The film offers little novelty beyond its blue-collar-revenge framing, and the ending resolves too neatly without real tension. Solidly mid-tier studio comedy product.