Tower Heist Review

Brett Ratner’s first film since 2007’s Rush Hour 3, this is a kind of blue-collar, lower-wattage Ocean’s Eleven, in which a high rise’s staff scheme to get their savings back from fraudulent fat cat Alan Alda. Cashing in on the credit-crunch, it takes a few swerves towards the serious (an exploited old codger jumps under a subway train, a la Wall Street 2), before the heist kicks in and the tone settles on ‘preposterous’. The final act hurtles along breezily and twistily, throwing in the Macy’s Parade, betrayals, a yapping dog and a vertical car chase. But the lead-up’s fairly dull, and while it’s good to see Eddie Murphy back in Trading Places form as a foul-mouthed hustler, he’s sorely underused. In fact, it’s Alda’s smarm offensive that turns out to be the primary pleasure.