Sunday, November 6, 2011

Tower Heist

This comedy with Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick, Téa Leoni, Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Michael Peña, Gabourey Sidibe and Eddie Murphy is good popcorn fair, good for some laughs.
I like much of the cast and that usually leads to built in positive feedback. I have read that the director intentionally included actors with strong dramatic chops to ground the comedy and did not go for jokes but rather strong characters. The reviews that I have seen and heard by critics have all commented that Eddie Murphy does not show up soon enough, that there is not enough of him in the movie, and that it is his big return to what he does best. I agree that it is great to be entertained by Eddie Murphy in a classic Eddie Murphy way. That said, he is in the first scene of the movie. It may be the very fact that he is not in every scene that leaves one wanting more. If he were in the movie more, maybe it would not have been such a triumphant return for Murphy. I am much less confused by the announcement that he is hosting the Oscars now, that is forsure.

I saw the movie with Katy and she was no longer able to suspend her disbelief a few scenes before me. There came a point when I too was taken out of the movie because I could no longer shrug it off as believable. That said, there were lots of laughs, it is topical to our times and very entertaining. The point of a fall matinee pre-Oscar season, right? That said, up next, J Edgar on Monday courtesy of another screening pass the lovely Miss Ficker has obtained.

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