‘Tower Heist’ Trailer Is ‘Ocean’s Eleven’ Meets ‘Rush Hour’

It’s been a while since Eddie Murphy starred in a hit movie – and an even longer while since he appeared in a funny one. He’ll have help reversing that trend with this fall’s Tower Heist, which pairs the (former) comedic superstar with the likes of Ben Stiller and Matthew Broderick, among others, as the masterminds behind a lucrative heist.

There’s a trailer out for Tower Heist, a film which features Brett Ratner in the director’s chair – hence why there’s a definite Rush Hour vibe (among other things) in this early footage from the film.

No less than eight different screenwriters are credited with having worked on the Tower Heist script at some point, including Noah Bambach (Fantastic Mr. Fox), Russell Gerwitz (Inside Man), Rawson Marshall Thurber (Dodgeball), and Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me If You Can) on the rewrite.

Here is an official synopsis for Tower Heist:

Opening in theaters on November 4, the comedy caper is about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them.

Oscar-nominee Alan Alda plays the Bernie Madoff-like Wall Street crook, while Stiller, Broderick, Casey Affleck, and Michael Peña are onboard as the revenge-seeking condo employees. Murphy follows in the footsteps of Jamie Foxx from this month’s Horrible Bosses, by playing a criminal who consults the clueless would-be robbers about their operation.

Check out the Tower Heist trailer (via Yahoo! Movies) below:

While Tower Heist features Stiller and Murphy doing what they do best (playing the straight man and motor-mouth, respectively), the comedic sparks don’t exactly fly between the two in this trailer. Supporting stars like Broderick and Peña have the funnier lines here, while Precious starlet Gabourey Sidibe gets the biggest laugh at the end. Factor in Alda playing a deliciously detestable rich cat and Tower Heist could be one of those movies where the supporting players are the ones that end up stealing the show.

Ratner is not what you’d call a beloved filmmaker, but he’s at his best when working in the action-comedy genre. His Rush Hour movies are nobody’s idea of masterpieces, but as far as popcorn movies go, they generally did an okay job of keeping the jokes and thrills flying fast enough. Yes, that’s not the highest of bars to reach, but Tower Heist could end up doing likewise. Take that as you will.

Tower Heist arrives in U.S. theaters on November 4th, 2011.

Source: Yahoo! Movies