Tower Heist (2011)

When a group of hard working guys find out they've fallen victim to a wealthy business man's Ponzi scheme, they conspire to rob his high-rise residence.

Director:

Brett Ratner

Writers:

Adam Cooper (story), Bill Collage (story),

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Casey Affleck

2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Stiller	...	Josh Kovaks
Eddie Murphy	...	Slide
Casey Affleck	...	Charlie
Alan Alda	...	Arthur Shaw
Matthew Broderick	...	Mr. Fitzhugh
Stephen Henderson	...	Lester (as Stephen McKinley Henderson)
Judd Hirsch	...	Mr. Simon
Téa Leoni	...	Special Agent Claire Denham
Michael Peña	...	Enrique Dev’Reaux
Gabourey Sidibe	...	Odessa
Nina Arianda	...	Miss Iovenko
Marcia Jean Kurtz	...	Rose
Juan Carlos Hernández	...	Manuel
Harry O'Reilly	...	Special Agent Danszk
Peter Van Wagner	...	Marty Klein, Esq.

Storyline

Josh Kovacs is the manager of a residential apartment in New York. He is close to all the tenants, especially Arthur Shaw, a financier. One day Shaw is arrested by the FBI for fraud. Josh thinks it's a misunderstanding that can be resolved. But later he learns that the employees' pension fund which he asked Shaw to handle is gone. When one of the employees tries to kill himself, Josh's views of Shaw change. He goes to see him and loses his temper. He loses his job. The FBI agent in charge of Shaw tells him that Shaw might walk and recovering the pension fund is unlikely. She tells him that it's been rumored that Shaw has $20 million lying around if he needs it in a hurry. Josh thinks he knows where it is. So with two other employees who also lost their jobs and an evicted tenant, they set out to get into Shaw's penthouse to get the money. But they realize they need the assistance of someone who knows how to steal. So Josh asks a guy he knows is a thief named Slide to help them.

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Plot Keywords:

fbi | high rise | fbi agent | ponzi scheme | apartment | 

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Taglines:

It's not just a robbery. It's payback.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and sexual content

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [fr] Universal [us]

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

4 November 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Trump Heist

Filming Locations:

Astoria, Queens, New York City, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend:

$24,025,190 (USA) (4 November 2011)

Gross:

$78,009,155 (USA) (27 January 2012)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures, Imagine Entertainment, Relativity Media

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital Datasat SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The 1912 chess game Shaw (Alan Alda) references while talking to Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is a real game. However, rather than playing it out, Levitsky resigned after Marshall moved his queen, realizing checkmate was inevitable. The "Marshall Swindle" term did not derive solely from that game, as it was a well known tactic of Frank Marshall's to often play a game in a lazy or relaxed style that ceded his opponent the advantage. Just when he appeared to be in a totally lost position, he would summon up a marvelous tactical flight of fancy to smash his unaware opponent. Some of his defeated and frustrated opponents, believing that they had a moral right to the victory after having established decisive advantage, felt that Marshall had cheated them out of their just desserts often complained that they had been "swindled". A well known "Marshall Swindle" occurred in a game between Marshall and Georg Marco in 1904.

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Goofs

When Kovaks is asked to steal $50 worth of materials, he steals a $12 candle and two pairs of underwear, but the underwear said 5 for $25. However, it is very possible (although unlikely) for the underwear to have an individual price of $19 or more, and the 5 for $25 just the sale price, bringing his total to $50. Some companies will purposely have high individual prices to encourage people to go for the sale.

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Quotes

Odessa Montero: You shoulda taken the cake man.

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits lists Judge Ramos as played by "Robert Downey Sr. (a prince)"

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Connections

Referenced in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.18 (2011)

User Reviews

Better Than I Expected

I was able to see one of the first screenings of Tower Heist last night. I went in just happy to see a free movie two weeks before its release, but at the same time I was not expecting this movie to be that funny. With that said, it was a lot better than I expected.

Eddie Murphy's character was an over-the-top funny type of guy and Ben Stiller had his moments of over-the-top humor too. The plot itself is obviously not that believable, but let's be honest, if you go into this movie expecting an "Italian Job-like" heist plot then you might as well not even go.

The supporting roles in this movie were really good and the film is filled with great one liners. There were a couple of lines that didn't really turn out as funny as the writer probably thought, but all that said it is worth the watch.