VARIOUS: In comedy movie Tower Heist starring Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Matthew Broderick, blue collar workers decide to take revenge on the blue bloods

Record ID: 220623

  • Title: VARIOUS: In comedy movie Tower Heist starring Eddie Murphy, Ben Stiller and Matthew Broderick, blue collar workers decide to take revenge on the blue bloods
  • Date: 25th October 2011
  • Summary: NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (OCTOBER 24, 2011) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) MATTHEW BRODERICK, ACTOR, SAYING: "A lot of people on Wall Street have been hurt by this crisis as much as anybody else. So that's the kind of person I was in."
  • Embargoed: 9th November 2011 12:00
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  • Location: Usa
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVABJNY2Q3A4346CPT2HZHTNR61R
  • Story Text: Stars flooded the red carpet of the world premiere of comedy movie "Tower Heist" on Monday (October 24) at New York's Ziegfeld theater.
    The cast of the movie include big name actors such as Ben Stiller, Alan Alda, Eddie Murphy and Matthew Broderick, the latter also brought his famous wife -- Sarah Jessica Parker to the premiere.
    The comedy-action film follows the staff of a luxury Central Park condominium who try to take revenge on a Wall Street executive after they discover the billionaire has stolen their retirement money.
    Veteran actor Ben Stiller is in the lead as Josh Kovak, the manager of the building who decides to take action.
    Stiller says that the movie has the feel of a modern version of Robin Hood.
    "The theme is one of the people trying to get back what they deserve, the working class guys getting some pay-back of what they deserve. So I guess that theme, that Robin Hood theme is there and it's a pretty timeless theme," Stiller told Reuters Television.
    Also starring in the movie is Eddie Murphy, who plays Slide, a petty crook who comes aboard the the tower heisting gig at Josh's urge.
    Stiller said that his favorite scene in the movie involves Murphy explaining how to pick a door lock.
    "I love the scene where Eddie is giving us, showing us how to use a bobby pin to break into a door. The way he says 'here's your bobby pin, here's your bobby pin, here's your bobby pin.' The minute he started saying that everybody kept on saying "bobby pin" on the set," Stiller said.
    The movie is in fact the brainchild of Murphy, who pitched it to producers back in 2005. When asked if the plot of the movie has changed since then, Murphy said that he only had a concept six years ago.
    "Absolutely. When we first started we didn't have all the stuff with the Bernie Madoff type character and all that stuff wasn't in it," Murphy told Reuters.
    "My core idea was about 'I want to get a bunch of comedians together to pull of the worst heist ever.' The movie was supposed to be the antithesis of "Ocean's Eleven." And the script went through a bunch of different changes and maybe two years in it all turned into the script that you are seeing now," he explained.
    Six-time Emmy winner Alan Alda portrays the antagonist of the film, Alan Shaw, who operates a massive ponzi-scheme a-la-Bernard Madoff.
    Matthew Broderick plays in the role of Mr. Fitzhugh, a Wall Street broker who loses everything in the financial crisis and decides to join the heist.
    "A lot of people on Wall Street have been hurt by this crisis as much as anybody else. So that's the kind of person I was in," Broderick said about his character.
    The unlikely gang of crooks includes a feisty maid Odessa portrayed by Gabourey Sibide, a high strung concierge portrayed by Casey Affleck and a rookie bellhop portrayed by Michael Pena. The group joins forces to steal $20 million (USD) that they believe is hidden inside Shaw's penthouse apartment, housed within the building that they know better than anybody else.
    "Tower Heist" opens widely in theaters on November 4th.
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