Zoë's Blu-ray Review: TOWER HEIST
A wealthy Wall Street swindler gets his just desserts at the hands of the employees he stiffed in the year’s most uproarious action comedy, Tower Heist, coming to Blu-ray™ Combo-Pack with UltraVioletTM, as well as DVD, Digital Download and On Demand February 21, 2012 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.
The Film
Somehow, an unconventional cast and ridiculous story line manage to produce a solid comedy film. Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, Matthew Broderick and a surprisingly hilarious Gabourey Sidibe provide a lighthearted movie about employees of a high end apartment complex wanting to steal millions of dollars from their top client in an effort to keep their meager lives in order.
The story is fresh and the plot has a handful of twists viewers will not see coming, all in all giving us a movie that doesn’t need to take itself too seriously. Towards the end of the film, the antics grew to be a little too unbelievable, but it really doesn't downplay the entertainment factor. Enjoy it for the abundance of laughs and hilarious improvisation the stars take part in.
Special Features Breakdown
Plotting Tower Heist - This feature is nearly 45 minutes long and is an informative layout of the film. It explains how the heist was configured, why certain actors were chosen and plenty more production details including set construction and filming. It’s an enjoyable surprise for a film such as this, and makes me wonder why bigger budget home releases lack quality behind the scenes featurettes.
Alternative Endings - Both of these short endings added a lot to the film, and should have been included in the theatrical release -- even if only after the credits. This would have been perfect for me since I was left wanting more at the end of the film.
Deleted Scenes - Most of these extra scenes are just extended versions of ones we saw in the film, and none stand out as exceptionally hilarious. It’s obvious why these extras were not included in the film.
Gag Reel - A prime example of what a blooper reel should be, where the film's stars don’t try too hard to be funny and showcase their great personalities.
Brett Ratner’s Video Diary - This is a montage without commentary of various days of filming. Each segment is short and we are only given the date of the footage and no more insight. It would have been better if certain actions were explained since this feature grows boring pretty quickly.
Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star comedy cast in this hilarious tale of sweet, sweet revenge. The film’s stellar ensemble cast includes Casey Affleck (Ocean’s Eleven trilogy), Alan Alda (The Aviator), Matthew Broderick (The Producers), Stephen McKinley Henderson (“Law and Order”), Judd Hirsch (A Beautiful Mind) Téa Leoni (Fun with Dick and Jane), Michael Peña (Battle: Los Angeles) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious). The film is produced by Academy Award® winning-producer Brian Grazer (8 Mile, A Beautiful Mind, American Gangster). The Tower Heist Blu-ray™ Combo Pack delivers the film in perfect hi-def picture and perfect hi-def sound and features over an hour of bonus features including two alternate endings, deleted scenes, a gag reel and exclusive behind-the-scenes features on the making of the film.
When the staff of New York City’s most expensive and luxurious condominium discovers that the billionaire investment advisor living in the penthouse has plundered their retirement fund, they take matters into their own hands in a “downright fun, comic caper” (Mike Scott, Times Picayune). Convinced that light-fingered Wall Street Titan Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) has stashed his ill-gotten millions in his apartment, building manager Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) rallies his troops and enlists the help of small-time thief Slide (Eddie Murphy) to make sure they get back what’s rightfully theirs. These rookie thieves—including high-strung concierge Charlie (Casey Affleck), broke ex-Wall Streeter Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), new bellhop Dev’Reaux (Michael Peña) and feisty maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe)—know the building better than anyone. It turns out they’ve been casing the place for years…they just didn’t know it.
