Band of merry men can’t save this Robin Hood caper: Tower Heist

Director Brett Ratner is most famous for having helmed the Rush Hour films, comedies that connected with very large audiences and relied on the comic wits of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker. The comedic timing of his latest feature, Tower Heist, is a little more reminiscent of similar Eddie Murphy vehicles we 30- and 40-somethings remember fondly like 48 Hours, Trading Places or  Beverly Hills Cop,  but everything is a bit off and disconnected.

The film’s complex plot revolves around Wall Street businessman Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), a Bernie Madoff stand-in, whose Ponzi scheme defrauds many–including building manager Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) and his hardworking employees. When Shaw, who occupies the penthouse suite in the enormous New York City high rise where Josh works, gets arrested on fraud charges, Josh quickly realizes that the pension on which he and his employees had relied for their retirement has been wiped out. In a fit of rage, Josh destroys a Ferrari on display in Shaw’s suite and loses his job as a result.

Eager for revenge, Josh assembles a Robin Hood band of misfits that includes his brother-in-law Charlie (Casey Affleck), elevator operator Enrique (Michael Pena), evicted Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), and Jamaican maid Odessa (Gabourey Sibide) with the goal of breaking into Shaw’s penthouse to find where he’s stashed millions of unaccounted for dollars. Josh also bails out his neighbor Slide (Eddie Murphy), a small-time crook, to educate the group on the ins and outs of committing a crime. It’s not giving too much away to say that the caper doesn’t go exactly as planned and the crew must get creative if it wants to slip past investigators and escape with Shaw’s money.

The film isn’t terrible. You definitely find yourself rooting for the little guy. And it’s a pretty terrific ensemble cast, although we did notice Stiller slipped in and out of a Queens accent. Even Murphy keeps himself in check as the double-dealing thug who isn’t quite as tough as he makes himself out to be. The real problem is that the film just isn’t that funny or that believable. It takes too long to set up the heist and then once the guys start to pull it off, the film leaves several unanswered questions, which makes you think that some key scenes ended up on the cutting room floor. The movie’s soft opening weekend numbers suggest it’s not going to be a huge hit.