A very random weekend trip to Nashville provided me with the very random experience of taking in a movie in a different setting, with a different audience.

Together with a couple of friends we decided to kill a couple of afternoon hours checking out Tower Heist at a local Nashville theater.

One of the reasons going to a movie can be so enjoyable is being able to share the experience of the theater with a large gathering of people. Whether or not you enjoy watching a movie can depend very heavily on the environment in which you experience it. The reason that I mention this is because I am not the biggest Eddie Murphy fan, but apparently the gentleman sitting in the row behind me can't get enough Murphy. This guy was cracking up at every line from his hero, and repeated them multiple times after hearing them. I think I was more entertained by him than I was some of the scenes of the movie.

The plot for Tower Heist centers on a group of former employees and tenants of The Tower, led by Ben Stiller, who in an effort to get back the stolen pensions of their co-workers and friends attempts to rob the leader of a ponzi scheme (Alan Alda).

The movie is filled with some plot lines that are pretty unbelievable, but yet they will make your palms sweat because you are nervous about the results. The special effects leave quite a bit to be desired although I highly doubt that anyone is heading to the theaters for the special effects in Tower Heist.

The cast is filled with some heavy hitters, Murphy, Stiller, Alda, Matthew Broderick, and Tea Leoni but I thought Michael Pena was better than any of them. His one-liners kept me chuckling throughout the movie.

The only way he could have been better was if there was an over weight Hispanic guy in the row behind me parroting everything he said.

OK, maybe not.


Tower Heist
Directed by: Brett Ratner
Written by: Ted Griffin, Jeff Nathanson, Adam Cooper, and Bill Collage
Starring: Ben Stiller, Eddie Murphy, and Alan Alda
My Rating: 3 out of 5
Would Gene pick it?: Yes