Tower Heist (2011)

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

Director:

Brett Ratner

Writers:

Adam Cooper (story), Bill Collage (story)

Stars:

Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck

3 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 McKinley Henderson	...	Lester
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 Dansk
Peter Van Wagner	...	Marty Klein Esq.

Storyline

Manager of a high-rise condo, Josh Kovaks' a good relationship with the tenants; especially financier, Arthur Shaw. When Shaw's arrested 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 - and his job. An FBI agent tells him Shaw might just walk, and recovering the fund is unlikely. She tells him 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. Josh, along with 2 other (fired) employees, a(n evicted) tenant, and an (criminal) acquaintance, they set out to get into Shaw's, and get the money.

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Plot Keywords:

manager | fbi | high rise | heist | ponzi scheme | 

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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

Did You Know?

Trivia

The bar scene with Ben Stiller and Téa Leoni had originally been scripted to be shot at Elaine's in Manhattan. However, Director Brett Ratner and the writers Jeff Nathanson and Ted Griffin agreed that was not believable that these two characters meet at an upscale place when Stiller is a working class guy from Queens. So they relocated the scene to Queens with the help of Production Designer Kristi Zea and used the bar from Goodfellas (1990), which wasn't far from where the apartment that Stiller lives in in the film in Astoria, Queens.

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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

[from trailer]
Josh Kovacs: Several years ago, he was asked to manage all your pensions. Right now, they're saying that anyone who invested with Mr Shaw has been frauded.
Odessa Montero: Did he get your money too?
Josh Kovacs: ...Yeah. He did.

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Connections

Featured in Ebert Presents: At the Movies: Episode #2.16 (2011)

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Soundtracks

She Got Me
Written by Salaam Remi and Hernst Bellevue
Performed by Krunkadelic
Courtesy of BoomBOXXX, LLC

User Reviews

A Popcorn Movie

Great Cast , and direction. Eddie Murphy shined in this movie even though his frame-time was less when compared to Ben Stiller. Still I would've thought you could've made the plot even more

interesting by adding a car chase/action sequence which could've put the cherry on the top. Since the movie was shot in New York , one could've added cameos by the icons of New York like Donald Trump , Diddy , Jay z etc .One other thing that is lacking is the spontaneity in the Movie , This movie could learn somethings from movies like Ocean's Eleven Franchise where the pace is never dropped . I would say the lack of pace was easily masked by the dialog delivery of Stiller and Murphy. On the whole , your money is well spent nevertheless.

Details

Official Sites:

Official site [France]

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish Chinese

Release Date:

4 November 2011 (USA)

Also Known As:

Trump Heist

Filming Locations:

Neir's Tavern - 87-48 78th Street, Woodhaven, New York, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$75,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$24,025,190, 6 November 2011

Gross USA:

$78,046,570

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$152,930,623

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