Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Tower Heist (2011)

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Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-07-2011, 11:30 PM:

I liked this movie a lot but something about it drove me nuts and kept me from REALLY liking it a lot. But I couldn't figure out where the movie jumped the shark for me, until just now it dawned on me: The problem with this movie is where the money was stashed. Or more to the point, the way the money was stashed.

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A car made out of solid gold?

Sure it was creative, but it was just too stupid and it made for a really corny ending. Instead of

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the car being made out of gold,

why couldn't they have just had the money stashed inside of it somehow? ANYTHING that would have been believable.

Another thing. The whole act of

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taking the car out of the building the way they did, and then managing to get it back upstairs and into the swimming pool.

It's just too damn impossible. It's lazy writing.

A much more satisfying thing would have been to have the actual cash stashed somewhere and then have some really creative, BUT PLAUSIBLE, way of getting it out of the building, and then have everyone opening a Fed-Ex package full of good old American cash at the end. The way they did it, they could've had Samantha from "Bewitched" come in, twitch her nose and have the money wind up in some faraway place. It would have been just as plausible as what's in the movie.

One more thing. The shoplifting scene was a wasted opportunity. They should have had ONE of the guys get caught, maybe a foot-chase thru the mall, or something. A big humor opportunity was wasted there.

Also it should have been rated R, with the actors allowed to improvise and use colorful language like in "Beverly Hills Cop." Done properly, it could have been about 100% funnier and that would have added to the believability too.

Normally a movie like this wouldn't bother me this much, but I had really high hopes for this one, given its cast and the trailers. But the cast is largely wasted, they put nearly ALL of Eddie Murphy's funny lines in the trailers, and the plot, as noted, is great for the first four reels but then falls completely off the track.

As it is, I give it 3 out of 5 stars. Good thing they had the cast they did; without them, it would have been 2 (or less) out of 5.

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 02-27-2012, 03:49 PM:

Caught this one on PPV last night. I'm not a big Ben Stiller fan, and was also disappointed that Eddie Murphy's part was both fairly brief and a cheerful rip off of his Beverly Hills Cop personna. I ditto the rather obvious ploy of the golden car (Goldfinger, anyone?), but the special effects were spectacular if somewhat nausea inducing. Anyhow, I'm glad I only spent $ 5.95 on it.