Movie Review: Tower Heist

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Wanted to head out to see A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas. Unfortunately, my normal theaters only had the up charge versions (3D, digital 3D and Titan XC) and I very rarely pay for 3D. This was not one of those times. I didn't discover until after I had seen Tower Heist that I could have seen H&K in 2D, but it would have been an hour trip via bus each way. Interesting that the two biggest theaters on the island decided not to carry the cheaper 2D version of the film and relegated the film to the lesser locations within each chain.

So we have a group of people working at an upscale residence in New York City called The Tower. Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the building manager. He and a number of the staff have worked there for years serving their clients of which one is Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) who is an investment manager and happens to own the penthouse apartment with the pool on top. Other workers at The Tower include concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck) who is also Josh’s brother-in-law, about to retire and travel doorman Lester (Stephen Henderson), new hire elevator man Enrique (Michael Pena) and feisty Jamaican housekeeper Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe).

It turns out that Shaw and Bernie Madhoff were cut from the same cloth in bilking investors of their money. Actually Madhoff was never mentioned, but the end result was the same, people lost lots of money including Shaw whose accounts seem to have dried up as well leaving nothing for the victims to get back. Josh had entrusted Shaw with the retirement fund for the workers and they are all left with naught. When FBI agent on the case Claire Denham (Tea Leone) suggests to Josh that these guys always store away some get away money, Josh figures that he might know where it might be and wants to attempt to get back their pension fund money. He recruits some of his coworkers and a former building resident in an attempt to break into Shaw’s unit in the secure building but shortly realize they are basically all good people who don’t have a clue to pull this off properly.

In comes Slide (Eddie Murphy), a petty criminal who used to go to daycare with and now lives a few doors down the street from Josh. But can you trust a petty criminal when $20 million dollars is involved? Is it time to move up to the big leagues? As with all heist movies, you can plan, but you can’t predict everything. As Julie Chen on Big Brother would remind houseguests, “To expect the unexpected”, the bulk of the movie is how to adapt and adjust when the unanticipated and unforeseen does happen.

Is it a great movie? No. Is it a fun movie? Yes. Is it believable? To an extent, yeah; as Josh points out to his coworkers, they know all about the building, its workings, the residents and their habits. They’ve been casing the place for years but never realized it. It explains some of the reasoning and why they can do what they do, but the screenwriters also leave some pretty big holes in the logic. Stiller remained calm as the building manager not going into the anger and freak outs like we’ve seen him do is so many other movies, Mr Furious from Mystery Men comes to mind. We’ve seen Murphy play the Slide character before as a person who is charming one moment and very dubious and devious the next. Rated PG 13 for some sexual content and language, director Brett Ratner gave some decent action/suspense scenes throughout the movie keeping people on the edge of their seats for part of the 104 minute running time.

The Movie Monkey

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Movie Review: Shrek Forever After

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Dreamworks has given us the fourth and hopefully final Shrek in Shrek Forever After. You know that a series has run its course when they have to revert to the It's a Wonderful Life storyline. I stayed through the end of the credits and while there was no easter egg at the end, there were images recapping some of the escapades of Shrek, Donkey, and Fiona through the entire series. So unless someone can come up with a really good script, I think that all the air has been let out of this balloon or in the the world of Far Far Away, all the air has been let out of this frog.

The original Shrek was fresh and original. The pop culture references, the pop songs, the lampooning of Disney. Who can forget, "Please keep off of the grass, shine your shoes, wipe your....face, Duloc is.... Duloc is.... Duloc is a perrrr-fffffect place" with the dolls that look like they were imported out of "It's a Small World". The world of the fractured fairytale. We loved it.

With the fourth in the series, the shine has gone off this penny. The penny is still the penny, it has value, but it's just not as exciting anymore. Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, Cameron Diaz and Antonio Banderas return giving their voices to Shrek, Donkey, Princess Fiona and Puss in Boots respectively. Julie Andrews and John Cleese reprise their roles as the Queen and King of Far Far Away. The new comers this time are Jane Lynch, John Hamm and Craig Robinson voicing Gretched, Brogan and Cookie, leaders in the Orge Rebellion. They are rebelling against Rumpelstiltskin voiced by Walt Dohrn who had some writing responsibilities for this and Dexter's Laboratory and Sponge Bob Square Pants on Nickelodeon.

The animation was solid. I saw the 2D version, not the 3D or IMAX 3D but it was pretty apparent where the 3D would be used mostly for the depth rather than coming out at you. I imagine that the chase scene with Shrek and the witches might look pretty good in 3D. Since the original there is more detailing in the textures. Skin and items like clothing had a bit more nuanced appearance. There were a couple of shots where it became really apparent that the computer is able to put in those details that most of the audience won't catch.

The movie opens with a brief retelling of the original Shrek with a Rest of the Story. Afraid that their daughter might not be rescued, the King and Queen go to Rumpelstiltskin to arrange for someone to rescue their daughter from the Dragon's Keep in exchange for them giving up the kingdom. As evidenced by the first movie, that didn't happen. Shrek ruined Rumpels' plan by saving Princess Fiona.

Jump to current times. Shrek has settled into the rut. Wake up, feed the three children, take out the garbage, fix broken things, you know....life! He wishes he could go back to the old days when he was a feared ogre. In steps Rumpel who is down on his luck and offers Shrek the ability to get a day of the old ways by trading a day of his life. Shrek agrees and signs the contract. Things go back to the way Shrek would have liked it but he discovers that things aren't quite right. Witches are over running the place, Far Far Away looks like a dump, Donkey doesn't recognize him and there are wanted posters with Fiona's picture on them. Turns out the day that Shrek gave up was the day he was born. Insert hand hitting forehead sound here followed by a "Doh"!

To break the contract Shrek must obtain what the other fairy tales talk about. But how can he do this when no one knows about him and his past. The remaining 45 or so minutes of the one hour and 37 minute movie shows us how he intends to get his life back, if he can. Unlike It's a Wonderful Life where George Bailey gets his life back by wishing and wanting his old life back, Shrek must accomplish the task or disappear forever. You can't get more dramatic than that can you?

Fiona and Donkey
at Universal Studios Florida

There are some new characters, but most of the movie involves the old jokes that have been used before. I mean really, Pinocchio's running gag in all the movies of trying to get something by telling a lie and having his nose grow is a yawner at this point. Heck, they even put it into audioanimatronic form at Universal's Shrek 4D preshows in both Hollywood and Orlando. No sense in beating us over the head or poking us in the eye with that dead branch. As I write this, I have on my Angry Wig!

Kids will enjoy the action of the movie and the jokes. Adults will laugh but not as much as in the original or number two. If you see the movie in the theaters, I'd say matinee or you could wait for the Blu-ray. Like all other Shrek movies, this one has a PG rating for crude humor, brief language and mild action.

While there is no easter egg at the very end of the movie as I mentioned earlier, stay through the credits to watch those recap scenes; if they are as I hope, the end of the Shrek series, it's a nice way to recap Shrek's adventures. The idea that the credits are on a scroll of paper is cool too!

The Movie Monkey

To subscribe to the audio podcast of the reviews via iTunes click here. Audio versions are released the following Wednesday.