( EW.com ) -- Although the tower in question in the gimcrack action comedy `` Tower Heist '' is fictional , many New York tourists will recognize the aggressive nouveau-riche opulence of the building 's exterior as that of an actual Manhattan hotel condominium owned by aggressive nouveau-riche Donald Trump . The aesthetic pairing of The Donald and director Brett Ratner is a natural . This brassy production , an imitation `` Ocean 's 13Â½ , '' features the name-brand talents of Ben Stiller ( as an honorable Tower manager named Josh ) and Eddie Murphy ( as a con man called Slide ) leading rookie thieves in an elaborate Robin Hood-style heist . Their target ? The oversize penthouse of one Arthur Shaw ( Alan Alda ) , a shady billionaire who keeps a rare 1963 Ferrari in his living room . In other words , `` Tower Heist '' is the cinematic version of a Trump property : overblinged , eye-catching , and essentially tacky . For a movie that claims its heart is with the masses -- the 99 percent ! -- there 's an awful lot of production-design admiration lavished on the trappings of the effin-rich 1 percent . ( Ratner had specific ideas about which pedigreed modern-art reproductions he wanted on the walls . ) Shaw is a fictional variation on Bernie Madoff : Entrusted with the retirement savings of the multicultural low-wage employees who keep the Tower running , he takes their money and ruins their lives . And so , rallied by egalitarian friend-to-all Josh -- the guy takes the subway to work from Queens , so you know he 's a mensch -- and hastily educated in criminal technique by Josh 's less honorable Queens neighbor Slide , these blue-collar little people rise up in triumph to steal their money back . By the moral standards of Occupy Hollywood , the crime earns an ethical thumbs-up . You may think I am picking too much on what 's built to be a fun , diverting , New York-state-of-mind caper comedy -- a joke-filled cavalcade that marks 50-year-old Eddie Murphy 's welcome return to the edgier stuff that made him famous . Alrighty , let 's talk about Murphy : He 's nowhere to be found in the first half of the movie ! And he 's only there to illuminate selected scenes in the second : He 's like the spot lighting supplied by a big-a** chandelier in an ostentatious Trump lobby . That 's too bad , because when Murphy is on screen , his comedic vigor -- reminiscent of Chris Tucker 's jive-talk mania in Ratner 's `` Rush Hour '' movies but with a blast of Murphy-specific danger -- gooses the movie 's energy level . I 've missed that guy . But whenever Murphy wanders off , the movie 's pulse rate drops . Tower Heist is in effect two movies : One belongs to Murphy , the other to the rest of the cast . Josh 's drippy in-house recruits include Matthew Broderick as a broke ex -- Wall Streeter and Tower resident ( and the kind of fretful nebbish he perfected on Broadway in The Producers ) ; Michael PeÃ±a as an uncouth rookie bellhop ; and `` Ocean '' 's alumnus Casey Affleck as an unreliable concierge who happens to be Josh 's stressed-out brother-in-law . ( The band of gentlemen credited with the story and screenplay includes Ted Griffin , who worked on Steven Soderbergh 's 2001 `` Ocean 's Eleven . '' ) Two female characters also join the increasingly frantic male-driven mayhem . ( Here 's where I mention with an eye roll that , in what I hope is a quickly passing trend in male- as well as female-driven comedies , vaginas are briefly discussed , this time by Affleck . ) TÃ©a Leoni , who worked with the director 11 years ago in `` The Family Man , '' gamely plays a no-nonsense FBI agent with cute rough edges . And Gabourey Sidibe , the striking plus-size Oscar-nominated star of `` Precious , '' makes her Hollywood leap as a feisty Jamaican chambermaid who gets in on the heist action . ( The girl 's got mad safecracking skills . ) I do n't know why Ratner and cinematographer Dante Spinotti felt compelled to push the camera in close , as if gawking at Sidibe 's dramatic coloring and size . But then , I also do n't know why she was n't used more : Murphy never looks more alive and excited by a fellow actor -- challenged to peak performance -- than during ribald , flirtatious banter with Sidibe 's self-possessed working girl . She 's something new ; Murphy in `` Tower Heist '' is something rebooted . Together they build something with more visual interest than any Trump Tower on any tourist map . EW.com rating : C+ . See the full article at EW.com . CLICK HERE to Try 2 RISK FREE issues of Entertainment Weekly . © 2011 Entertainment Weekly and Time Inc. All rights reserved .
` ` ' ' '' is the cinematic version of a Trump presidency . Trump 's nowhere to be found in the first half . Sidibe 's self - absorbed working life is something new .