There are moments within Tower Heist in which you almost (ALMOST) find cause to get on board
and enjoy the ride. Stiller gives a quality, understated performance that
probably deserves a little more attention than it’s going to receive. He gives
Josh a little more authenticity than I expected and that serves his character well.
Likewise, you can never go wrong with Affleck, who always manages to steal just
about any scene he’s in. The plot is timely and interesting and that shines
through from time to time, illustrating why the very talented cast signed on in
the first place. And there is an undeniably fun energy that runs through Tower Heist which continually tries
(unsuccessfully) to keep the movie’s pulse high while encouraging the audience
to get involved with the storyline.
Unfortunately, that’s where the positives stop. In fact,
for my money, Tower Heist is the true
definition of sloppy filmmaking. But then again, what else should I expect from
director Bret Ratner? Throughout his time in Hollywood, Ratner has spent far
more time making a fool of himself than he’s ever spent actually working on his
craft. He’s a guy who enjoys being famous far more than he does making movies.
None of his movies are particularly good and most of them are downright awful
and despite the fact that he usually works within the action-comedy genre, he’s
still unable to figure out how to carve out any sort of a positive niche for
himself within said genre. Even Michael Bay has perfected the special effects
shot, creating occasional moments of visual brilliance in each of his films and
giving audiences a reason to come back for more despite the fact that he has no
understanding of dialogue, plotlines, or casting. Ratner can’t even do that;
instead, all of his movies are a hodge-podge of haphazard stupidity.
Every aspect of Tower
Heist reeks of indifference and laziness. Plot holes abound, ridiculous
actions are accepted as totally reasonable, and the dialogue is often to the
level of a fourth grader. Basically, Ratner doesn’t know how to effectively
tell his story and so any part of it that you might enjoy is painted over by
absurdities and general stupidity. He routinely traps his actors in corners
that they can’t get out of and thereby wastes their talents. Murphy in
particular seems like he’s stuck in glass box acting out his greatest hits from
his former glory years, almost like a caricature of himself. Is he funny? I
guess, but not in the laugh-out-loud way that he’s trying to be. That doesn’t
stop with Murphy, however. There are shockingly few truly humorous moments
within Tower Heist and that leaves it
feeling overly long and even dull at times. It’s as if Ratner was under orders
to shoot, edit, and ship this movie in 30 days and paid no attention to little
details like, you know, a cohesive storyline and jokes that actually make the
audience laugh. All of this makes Tower
Heist a disappointing, waste of time.
Thanks. This is one I'll avoid, even at the Dollar Theater (which is now the $1.50 Theater).
ReplyDeleteThat's the goal of this site: to save readers $1.50. :)
ReplyDeleteAnd an admirable goal it is. More importantly, it can save time and pain.
ReplyDeleteHopefully one day, Brett Ratner will have a good movie release again. I was a fan of Rush Hour, and Red Dragon had its merit, but X-Men 3, Rush Hour 2-3, The Family Man...well, they are all less than stellar.
ReplyDeletegood review! Thanks for the heads up. It looks like Tower Heist is exactly what I expected.
Yeah, I enjoyed Rush Hour when I was younger. Haven't rewatched it recently because the sequels were just awful.
ReplyDeleteFor me, Tower Heist is an example of how weak the fall movie schedule has been. I would have never seen it in theaters if I had many options!