Tower Heist is a 2011 American heist comedy film directed by Brett Ratner, written by Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson, based on a story by Bill Collage, Adam Cooper and Griffin and starring Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy with Casey Affleck, Alan Alda, Matthew Broderick, Judd Hirsch, Téa Leoni, Michael Peña, and Gabourey Sidibe in supporting roles. The plot follows employees of an exclusive apartment building who lose their pensions in the Ponzi scheme of a Wall Street businessman and enlist the aid of a criminal, a bankrupt businessman, and an immigrant maid to break into his apartment and steal back their money while avoiding the FBI agents in charge of his case. The film marked one of Heavy D's final roles and the last to be released while he was still alive as he died on November 8, 2011, four days after its theatrical release.
Tower Heist began development as early as 2005, based on an idea by Murphy that would star him and an all-black cast of comedians as a heist group who rob Trump International Hotel and Tower. As the script developed and changed into an Ocean's Eleven–style caper, Murphy left the project. Ratner continued to develop the idea into what would eventually become Tower Heist, with Murphy later rejoining the production. Filming took place entirely in New York City on a budget of $75 million (after tax rebates), with several buildings provided by Donald Trump used to represent the eponymous tower. The film's soundtrack album and musical score was composed by Christophe Beck and produced by Jake Monaco and was released on November 1, 2011, by Varèse Sarabande, Back Lot Music and Colosseum Records.
Prior to release, the film was involved in a controversy over plans by Universal Pictures to release it for home viewing on video on demand to 500,000 Comcast customers, only three weeks after its cinematic debut. Concern over the implementation's harming ticket sales and inspiring further films to follow suit resulted in several theater chains' refusal to show the film at all if the plan went ahead, forcing Universal to abandon the idea.
Tower Heist was theatrically released on November 4, 2011, in the United States by Universal Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics, with praise going to the cast, including Broderick, Leoni, and Stiller. Murphy's performance was repeatedly singled out, with critics feeling that he displayed a welcome return to the comedic style of his early career. Much of the criticism was focused on the plot, which was considered "formulaic", "rushed", "dull", and "laborious". The film failed to meet box-office expectations, earning only $152.9 million worldwide on a budget of $75–85 million.
Plot
Josh Kovaks is the building manager of The Tower, an upscale apartment complex in New York City that has Wall Street billionaire Arthur Shaw as its penthouse tenant. Josh, a friend of Shaw's, has asked him to manage the staff's pensions. One day, Shaw is placed under house arrest by the FBI for masterminding a Ponzi scheme, embezzling up to $2 billion. Realizing they will lose their pensions, the staff members are distraught and the doorman Lester even attempts suicide. Josh, his brother-in-law and The Tower's concierge Charlie, and elevator operator Enrique are fired by general manager Mr. Simon after angrily confronting Shaw for his scheme.
Claire Denham, the FBI agent in charge of Shaw's case, drunkenly suggests to Josh that Shaw has concealed $20 million as a reserve, and that he should steal it. Josh gets Charlie, Enrique, and evicted Tower tenant Mr. Fitzhugh to help him steal the money.
They supplement their inexperience by enlisting Josh's childhood friend Slide, a petty criminal, and The Tower's maid Odessa, who has locksmith experience. Denham informs Josh that Shaw is scheduled to attend court on Thanksgiving during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade to avoid publicity, so Josh and his team decide to break into Shaw's apartment then. Prior to this, Charlie is rehired as The Tower's new building manager. Uncomfortable with the plan, Charlie warns Josh to abandon it or Charlie will turn him over to the police.
Slide attempts to betray the team by reaching the safe ahead of them and taking all of the money for himself, having tricked Odessa into giving him lessons. The team intercepts him at Shaw's apartment and breaks down a false wall, revealing Shaw's safe, which turns out to be empty. During the ensuing altercation, the group find gold underneath the paint of a Ferrari 250 GT Lusso which Shaw has displayed in his apartment, realizing that he invested his money in gold, turned it into car parts, and reassembled the car inside the apartment to hide the money in plain sight. Fitzhugh estimates the car's value at $45 million. They then decide to lower it to Fitzhugh's old apartment using a window-washing platform. Charlie rejoins the team after realizing their presence and saves Fitzhugh from falling to his death. They push the car on top of one of the elevators, and Josh finds a ledger of Shaw's illegal finances in the car's glove box, detailing the latter's long history of fraud.
Shaw and the FBI return, realizing the Thanksgiving Day court date to be part of Josh's plan. Denham notes the missing car and Shaw's hidden safe, and forfeits Shaw's $10 million bail, remanding him into federal custody until his real court date for not informing the FBI of the safe even if was empty. The FBI arrests Josh's conspirators (except Slide, who somehow manages to slip away) while Denham catches up to Josh in Central Park. In the paddy wagon, Josh reveals to Shaw that he found the ledger. Shaw tries to negotiate a deal with them by giving them cash ten times the value of the gold car in exchange for their silence. Enrique reminds Shaw "We don't accept tips at The Tower."
At FBI headquarters, Denham mentions to Josh that they know about his friendship with Slide. Tower receptionist Miss Iovenko tells Director Mazin that she passed her bar exam three days before and will be Josh's attorney. She shows the FBI Shaw's ledger and tells them she will turn it over in exchange for everyone's freedom. Mazin accepts on the condition that Josh serves a minimal two-year sentence for masterminding the heist.
Slide leads the retrieval of the car from The Tower's swimming pool. Its various dismantled parts are sent to Tower employees to compensate for their lost pensions while splitting the remainder of the gold among themselves. Shaw is sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty, while Josh enters his cell with a satisfied smile slowly forming on his face.
Cast
Ben Stiller as Josh Kovaks, the Tower's building manager. Eddie Murphy as Darnell "Slide" Davis, a petty crook and Josh's childhood friend to whom Josh turns for help. Casey Affleck as Charlie Gibbs, the Tower's concierge and Josh's brother-in-law. Alan Alda as Arthur Shaw, a Wall Street billionaire living at the Tower who was placed under house arrest for embezzling $2 billion and trying to flee the city with help from some men. Matthew Broderick as Mr. Fitzhugh, a bankrupt former Wall Street investor who aids Josh. Judd Hirsch as Mr. Simon, the Tower's general manager. Téa Leoni as Claire Denham, an FBI special agent assigned to Shaw's case and Josh's love interest. Michael Peña as Enrique Dev'reaux, the elevator operator and the newest employee of the Tower's staff. Gabourey Sidibe as Odessa Montero, a Jamaican-born maid at the Tower threatened with deportation by Shaw's theft. Stephen McKinley Henderson as Lester Day, the Tower's retiring doorman. Nina Arianda as Miss Iovenko, a receptionist at the Tower and lawyer-in-training. Marcia Jean Kurtz as Rose D'Amato, the personal assistant to Josh and Simon at the Tower. Juan Carlos Hernandez as Manuel, the Tower's head of security. Harry O'Reilly as FBI Special Agent Dansk, an FBI agent who guards the entrance to Shaw's apartment. James Colby as FBI Special Agent Huggins, an FBI agent working alongside Denham. Peter Van Wagner as Marty Klein, Shaw's attorney. Željko Ivanek as FBI Director Mazin, the head of the FBI's New York field office and Denham's boss. Robert Downey Sr. as Judge Ramos, a judge who resides in the Tower. Jessica Szohr as Sasha Kovaks-Gibbs, Charlie's pregnant wife and Josh's sister. Heavy D as a courthouse guard that informs Claire that Judge Hollingsworth is in Washington, D.C. visiting his daughter. Kate Upton as Mr. Hightower's mistress.
Production Development The idea for Tower Heist began development as early as 2005, when Eddie Murphy pitched a concept to producer Brian Grazer and Brett Ratner concerning an all-star cast of black comedians including Chris Tucker, Kevin Hart, Dave Chappelle, Tracy Morgan, and Martin Lawrence, as a group of disgruntled employees who plan to rob Donald Trump and Trump International Hotel and Tower. The film was originally titled Trump Heist under this concept. A script was developed by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage and over the course of the next five years, the script was rewritten by several writers including Russell Gewirtz, Rawson Marshall Thurber, Ted Griffin, Leslie Dixon, Noah Baumbach, and Jeff Nathanson, with the bulk of the work – and credit – going to Griffin and Nathanson. On the development of the film, Grazer said "It's difficult to imagine that a casual conversation six years ago has grown into such a fully realized film that is so grand in scope. Plus, who could have known that, in this period of time, the global financial markets would teeter on the verge of collapse and the villain in our story would pale in comparison to some very real ones on Wall Street? Truth remains stranger than fiction."
Rewrites of the script gradually moved away from the ensemble of comedians and began to focus on two central characters, at which point Murphy left the project. The modified script reminded Ratner of the Ocean's Eleven remake, a project he had developed but for which he was unavailable due to his commitment to directing Rush Hour 2. The project remained in development for a period of years but Ratner remained committed to the project, having enjoyed the heist films of the 1970s including The Taking of Pelham One Two Three, The Hot Rock, and The Anderson Tapes, turning down the opportunity to direct other films such as Horrible Bosses, which he instead produced. Ratner also wanted to work with Murphy, whom Ratner partially credited as inspiring his Rush Hour films. As the script began to be finalized, Murphy was drawn back into the much changed project after being informed of Ben Stiller's participation, with Murphy being offered the role of Slide. Murphy rejoined as both a cast member and producer, alongside Grazer and Kim Roth. In late October 2010, the film was finally scheduled for release, being given a November 4, 2011, release date.
Writing Feeling the original concept was too close to Ocean's Eleven, Ratner attempted to recruit Rush Hour screenwriter Nathanson to perform additional work on the Tower Heist script, but at that time Nathanson was unavailable. Ratner instead hired Griffin, a writer on the Ocean's Eleven remake. Griffin "brought the real motivation and the heart to the concept", moving away from the premise of performing an ensemble heist on a rich Donald Trump type, and focusing instead on a group of blue-collar employees who take on a corrupt, thieving Bernard Madoff like businessman who has embezzled their pensions. Ratner enjoyed the pitch and brought it to Grazer who gave his approval. After taking the script to Stiller and bringing him into the project, Ratner had Noah Baumbach perform specific rewrites for Stiller's character. Nathanson then came aboard the project and performed the final rewrites to Griffin's screenplay in October 2010, adding "the obstacles, complexities and specificities of the characters".