Tower Heist (2011)

I admit, I probably wouldn't have given this movie a second thought if it weren't for the fact that I am the parent of four boys. The fact is that I am, and so I have a 20 years history with this sort of film. It was not loved by the reviewers, and I am not here to claim that it is a great film. But I found it very enjoyable--a Rat Pack meets Robin Hood sort of film. The setting it 'The Tower', and that character is elegantly played by Trump Tower. The penthouse is inhabited by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda--who is no Donald Trump), who is affable, from working class roots, and entirely without a moral compass, as we are soon to find out. The building's general manager Josh (Ben Stiller) keeps all the necessary balls in the air to make the operation smooth, keeping his boss (Judd Hirsh) off his back, and covers for his peeps (Casey Affleck, Michael Pena, and Gabourey Sidibe, to name a few--see where the Rat Pack reference is coming from?). The two other key players are Josh's neighbor, a small time crook (Eddie Murphy--again, one African American makes the Rat Pack) and a soon to be evicted down on his luck stockbroker (Matthew Broderick). Shaw gets busted by the Feds (Tea Leone) for what is alledged to be a ponzi scheme, and Josh feels overwhelming guilty for having invested all the employee's retirement funds with the shyster. What tips him towards revenge is finding out that he took the door man's life savings after he knew he was going down. So the help goes about getting even, and while it is wildly improbable as master criminal schemes go, it is entertainingly pulled off, and Josh manages to take from the rich and give to the poor. Which is almost The End. Minor plot twist to follow. I liked the blockbuster cast, and other than the 'Oceans' series, we don't see much of that any more.