Finally, after years of doing dumb kids' movies, low-brow comedies and even the occasional Oscar flick, Eddie Murphy returns to what he does best – playing a smart ass. We last saw this side of Eddie Murphy back in the '90s, when he literally fought the character in The Nutty Professor. While "snarky Eddie Murphy" does pop up every now and then, the decorated comedian has mostly been relegated to schlock pictures ripe for mocking, as done in Ben Stiller's Tropic Thunder.

Speaking of Ben Stiller, he's our hero in Tower Heist – a hotel manager named Josh. He's a good man, with an honest, true heart. But he's scorned by a rich, crooked tenant, Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). Shaw steals Josh's retirement fund, and the funds of Josh's employees, in order to maintain his lavish lifestyle. After Shaw is caught and forced on house arrest, Josh – along with a few co-workers (Casey Affleck, Michael Pena and Gabourey Sidibe) and another building tenant (Matthew Broderick) – devises a plan to steal the money back.

This is how Stiller and Murphy meet up. Talk about awkward. I can only imagine what backstage meetings must have been like in light of Tropic Thunder. I digress. Murphy plays a local crook, Slide, who lives not far from Josh's home. From there, our motley crew attempts to figure out how exactly they'll be able to break into the building, grab the cash and get out unscathed. Worse, a budding romance between Josh and Shaw's assigned FBI agent (Tea Leoni) might just spell the end to their dastardly plans.

There's a lot going on in Tower Heist. Too much. The ensemble cast is rather great, building decent characters with the somewhat thin material, but there's simply too many people to follow and not enough film. As such, the story gets remarkably sloppy and rather unrewarding in the final act. Murphy's character nearly disappears in the last 20 minutes and several plot holes emerge, causing confusion and frustration. Some minor little plot cues, hinted at early on, also go unresolved. While pretty much every moment of the film is amusing on some level, the whole isn't very satisfying.

Murphy is the film's best asset, but he's curiously absent for most of the film. It's like he said that he'd only work on the film for 10 days or something. A few characters are pretty weak, too. Casey Affleck plays Stiller's in-law and co-worker. Affleck gives the performance quite a bit of complexity, but a reveal late in the game doesn't really gel with his character. Gabourey Sidibe is probably the film's weakest link. She's a fine actress, but pair her with a ridiculous Jamaican accent and her performance comes off as amateur and unfocused.

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But don't let these elements deter you from Tower Heist. The movie does offer a somewhat intriguing commentary on the current economic recession, and it will likely be cathartic to many who feel frustrated. It's also rather funny at times, anchored by sparks of Eddie Murphy snark. And the cast keeps things interesting. Tower Heist is no Ocean's 11, but it's hardly the worst ensemble heist picture ever made.

Tower Heist arrives on Blu-ray encoded in 1080p/AVC, mixed in 5.1 DTS-HD Master Audio. The combo pack includes a Blu-ray, DVD, Digital Copy and Ultraviolet cloud streaming copy. The film looks and sounds terrific, painted with vivid, lively visuals, an engaging palette and rousing, thoroughly designed lossless audio. Bass is aggressive and atmospheric. Surrounds are balanced and rich with discrete effects. The transfer is free of any annoying compression issues. Blacks are inky, and colors favor a steely look, with warm splashes during more intimate set pieces. For a comedy of this type, transfer and audio for Tower Heist rank rather high.

Extras include an enjoyable commentary track with director Brett Ratner, editor Mark Helfrich and co-writers Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson. It's a jovial party track seasoned with trivia, production insight and thoughts on the story and its deeper meanings. Next up are two documentaries – Brett Ratner's Video Diary (25 minutes) and Plotting Tower Heist (45 minutes). Both explore the film's production, though admittedly, there's not a whole lot of insight. Regardless, if you liked the film, both are entertaining and a little informative, too.

Other traditional extras include a series of deleted/alternate scenes. There's actually a lot here worth looking at. There's also two alternate endings, which actually appear connected, and seem to be a part of a longer ending. Both answer a few questions and help finish off the arc for Stiller's character, who doesn't get much of a resolution in the film. Lastly, there's a gag reel filled with the usual gaffes and flubs.

The Tower Heist Blu-ray also sports a few exclusive goodies. Beyond Universal's standard BD-Live connectivity, bookmarking and web ticker options, there's a Second Screen option, which utilizes the pocketBlu app (available for tablet or laptop). This feature allows fans to watch the film and interact with exclusive features. There's also two U-Control extras – a music listing option and a dull picture-in-picture video track which offers only minor behind-the-scenes bits. Extras are presented in HD.


Somewhere within Tower Heist there was a really good movie – a classic heist comedy – but all the pieces feel scattered and misplaced. The cast is great. The story has its moments. And direction is sharp and snappy. But with some pretty big logic errors, plot holes and missing pieces, Tower Heist comes up short. It's good, but it's not great.

Be sure to check out our latest instant streaming feature: The Best Heist Movies Instantly Streaming

R.L. Shaffer is a writer for IGN Blu-ray and IGN TV. You can follow him on Twitter @rlshafferIGN.

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