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Tower Heist
By Sr. Rose Pacatte, F.S.P.
Source: AmericanCatholic.org
Whatever you think “Tower Heist” is as a film, it is really
not a comedy, despite comedian Ben Stiller in the lead as Josh, the manager of
a luxury condominium complex in Manhattan and the presence of Eddie Murphy as
“Slide” the gangster.
Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) is a millionaire financier who lives
in the penthouse. The FBI arrests him for a Ponzi scheme that has robbed many
people of their investments and livelihoods. Josh must admit to all the people
who work at the Tower that he invested their retirement funds with Shaw,
without their permission. He loses his job but along with his brother-in-law
Charlie (Casey Affleck), an evicted tenant Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), a
lock-picking housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe), and the newly hired pseudo
electrician Enrique (Michael Pena), they discover where Shaw has stashed his
safety net funds.
I did not think this was a very funny movie but it is very
clever and it has a strong moral center in a world where financial ethics are a
joke. That center is Josh, who does perpetrate a heist to get their money back
but uses illegal means. The FBI is ready to arrest them all but Josh provides
the real treasure: information. The FBI agrees to let all his accomplices go,
but Josh has to go to prison for two years. For the sake of his friends who had
lost so much, he agrees to the deal. And Shaw does get arrested for his crimes.
The film was ok but I was disappointed that it wasn’t as
funny as the previews led us to believe. Heists are supposed to be improbable
tales about losers outwitting the winners and this one did so with interesting
characters, though it was almost impossible to understand Casey Affleck’s
mumbled lines.
The heist takes place dangling
between the 40th and 50th floors I think. I really hate a
heist at that height.
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