![]() ![]() You (yes, you) should follow JM on Twitter (if it still exists by the time you’re reading this). Maybe someday, a filmmaker, who’s not Brett Ratner, will make a great Thanksgiving action movie - until then, there’s always Planes, Trains and Automobiles and/or ThanksKilling. Fans would be able to watch the movie in the comfort of their homes for the low price of… $59.99? Seriously? The plan drew “immediate objections from exhibitors,” and after being pressured by theater chains, some of which threatened to boycott the movie entirely, the studio’s so-called “experiment” was indefinitely delayed. Originally, Universal planned on releasing Tower Heist in theaters, followed by release on “Comcast digital services in Atlanta and Portland, Ore.” just three weeks later, violating the typical window theatrical exclusivity. If all that wasn’t enough, Tower Heist's planned release strategy was one of the most controversial in movie history. So, really, it’s no wonder why Tower Heist lost the top box office spot to Puss in Boots the following weekend. These incidents led to Ratner’s removal from a high-profile gig producing the Academy Awards - and just a day after the news of his exit hit, that year’s much-hyped host Eddie Murphy quit, seemingly in solidarity with the Tower Heist director. While the tower’s guards are distracted by giant inflatable Snoopys and Shreks, the would-be thieves are able to sneak in undetected. After all, the central premise of Tower Heist is extremely Thanksgiving-y, with Stiller using the Macy’s parade as a key part of his strategy. In some bizarro parallel universe where ketchup is green and Abraham Lincoln roundhouse-kicked John Wilkes Booth out of his theater box, perhaps Tower Heist is regularly celebrated as the movie that is to Thanksgiving what Die Hard is to Christmas. Also along for the ride are Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick, Michael Peña and Casey “How Am I the Worse Affleck Brother” Affleck. Plus, Precious star Gabourey Sidibe as a safe-cracking housekeeper and Téa Leoni as an FBI agent. Why? To steal back millions in stolen funds that were swindled from the staff by one of the residents, a crooked Ponzi scheme mastermind played by Alan Alda. Murphy, in his first role since 2009, is in full Eddie Murphy mode, with comic riffs and astonished double takes.The film stars Ben Stiller as the fired manager of a luxury apartment tower, who hatches an elaborate plan to break into the building’s penthouse. Fitzhugh (Broderick), who is jobless, broke, has lost his family and being evicted from the building, and characters played by Casey Affleck, Michael Pena, Gabourey Sidibe (her second film since her Oscar nomination) as a Jamaican whose father would crack safes, and - well, Kovacs decides they need someone more familiar with crime and enlists Slide ( Eddie Murphy), a loud-talking dude from the street in his neighborhood. 0:00 / 2:56 Tower Heist - Trailer Universal Pictures 7. Obviously, this requires stealing the car from the penthouse, where there's no door or elevator that can handle it. They're looking for a wall safe, but then discover Shaw's Ferrari is solid gold: $65 million is hidden in plain sight. Enraged, Kovacs recruits a team to break into the apartment. So dear old Lester and all the others are penniless. The FBI is on the job because Shaw has been running a Ponzi scheme, and among his loot are the pension plan and investments of the tower's employees. It was taken apart piece by piece, he explains to FBI agent Claire Denham ( Tea Leoni), and assembled there. His most prized possession is a bright red 1953 Ferrari, once owned by Steve McQueen. ![]() The penthouse is owned by Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a financial wheeler-dealer, whose walls display priceless modern art. His team works flawlessly, beginning with the beloved doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson). The story: Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) is the perfectionist building manager at the most luxurious condo skyscraper in New York, which providentially is on Columbus Circle, in the exact footprint of Trump Tower. It's funny in an innocent screwball kind of way. There is also the novelty that here is a comedy that doesn't go heavy on the excremental, the masturbatory and symphonies of four-letter words. It's the kind of story where the executives at a pitch meeting feel they're being bludgeoned over the head with box-office dollars. The movie is broad and clumsy, and the dialogue cannot be described as witty, but a kind of grandeur creeps into the screenplay by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson.
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