Tower Heist (2011)
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A group of disgruntled apartment building employees team up with a criminal to steal back their stolen pensions from a billionaire.
The story
Josh Kovaks, the building manager of The Tower, an upscale New York City apartment complex, discovers that the penthouse tenant, Wall Street billionaire Arthur Shaw, has embezzled the staff's pensions in a massive Ponzi scheme. After being fired for confronting Shaw, Josh is approached by FBI agent Claire Denham, who suggests stealing the hidden reserve money. Josh assembles a team consisting of his brother-in-law, an elevator operator, a bankrupt former investor, a petty criminal, and a maid with locksmith experience. Their goal is to break into Shaw's apartment during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to reclaim their lost funds while evading the FBI.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Josh Kovaks, the building manager of The Tower, discovers that billionaire tenant Arthur Shaw has embezzled the staff's pensions. After being fired, Josh teams up with Charlie (the concierge), Enrique (the elevator operator), and Mr. Fitzhugh (a bankrupt investor) to steal the money. They recruit Slide, a petty criminal, and Odessa, a maid with locksmith skills. They plan to strike during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. During the heist, Slide tries to betray the group, but they intercept him. They discover Shaw's money is hidden inside a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso, which he reassembled as car parts to hide the gold. They manage to lower the car to Fitzhugh's old apartment. However, Shaw and the FBI realize the plan. The FBI arrests the conspirators, but Slide escapes. Josh is caught by Denham in Central Park. In the paddy wagon, Josh reveals he found Shaw's ledger of illegal finances. Miss Iovenko, a receptionist turned lawyer, offers to turn over the ledger in exchange for everyone's freedom, provided Josh serves a minimal two-year sentence. The car's gold parts are distributed to the employees to compensate for their pensions. Shaw is sentenced to life, and Josh enters his cell satisfied.
- First release year
- 2011
- Runtime (minutes)
- 104
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Brett Ratner
- Writers
- Ted Griffin · screenplay; Jeff Nathanson · screenplay; Bill Collage · story; Adam Cooper · story
- Cast and characters
- Ben Stiller · Josh Kovaks; Eddie Murphy · Darnell "Slide" Davis; Casey Affleck · Charlie Gibbs; Alan Alda · Arthur Shaw; Matthew Broderick · Mr. Fitzhugh; Judd Hirsch · Mr. Simon; Téa Leoni · Claire Denham; Michael Peña · Enrique Dev'reaux
- Genres
- heist comedy; crime comedy
- Themes
- revenge; blue-collar struggle; corruption
- Tone and mood
- comedic; snappy; formulaic
- Premise and plot tags
- heist; comedy; crime; revenge; con artists; FBI
- Source material / true-story basis
- idea by Eddie Murphy
- Reception
- The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise for the cast and Eddie Murphy's return to form, but criticism for its formulaic and dull plot. It failed to meet box-office expectations.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 67% · review count: 198; Metacritic · score: 59 · scale: 100 · review count: 39; CinemaScore · score: B · scale: A+ to F
- Awards and nominations
- NAACP Image Award · Outstanding Motion Picture · Nomination; NAACP Image Award · Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture · Nomination
- Production trivia
- The film was originally titled Trump Heist.; The production used several of Donald Trump's properties, including the Trump International Hotel and Tower, for exterior shots.; The film's soundtrack album and musical score was released on November 1, 2011.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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