Tower Heist

First Hit:  There are some very strong funny laughs in this totally improbable story.

From the beginning of the film, there are strong laughs, out loud laughs.

Maybe it helped that the woman behind me was fully engaged in her very out-loud amusing laugh at many of the situations. But like her, at times, I found some of this film very funny.

Arthur Shaw (played by Alan Alda) is a Bernie Madoff type character who has been accused of inappropriate use of investor money. “The Towers” where he lives in the penthouse suite which has his pool on the roof and a hundred dollar bill painted on the bottom.

“The Towers” (looking like Trump Tower), has a staff that is there to fully serve the residents. The manager is Josh Kovacs (played by Ben Stiller) who has a staff of willing workers including Charlie (played by Casey Affleck) the concierge, Lester (played by Stephen Henderson) the doorman, and Odessa (played by Gabourey Sidibe) as a chambermaid.

There is also a resident named Mr. Fitzhugh (played by Matthew Broderick). When Shaw is arrested trying to sneak out of the country by FBI special agent Claire Denham (played by Tea Leoni), the staff realizes that all their money, invested by Shaw, is gone. After a suicide attempt by Lester, the staff and Mr. Fitzhugh decide to find the $20 million dollar stash that is believed Shaw has hidden in his penthouse.

Also in the Penthouse is Shaw’s pride possession, a Ferrari once owned by Steve McQueen. The staff, guided by, their expert thief Slide (played by Eddie Murphy) set out to find the $20M only to find more but not in the form they expected.

Stiller is perfect as the controlling, yet flexible, Manager. Alda is beyond perfect as the arrogant financier who thinks he’s getting away with something. Murphy is great as the smart-alecky thief. Affleck is very good as the overly cautious father-to-be, who is only looking to have his baby born healthy. Sidibe is funny in this comedic role. Broderick is more forlorn than usual which fits him. Leoni is very funny as the FBI agent who wants to play by the rule book, gets drunk well, and wants The Tower’s staff to get their just deserts. Ted Griffin and Jeff Nathanson wrote a funny and impossible story. Brett Ratner did a good job of pulling laughs from the characters and dealing with improbability.

Overall: This film has a great cast, was funny often but what and how they rob Shaw was not realistic.

Precious: Based on the novel Push by Sapphire

First Hit: A powerful film about a young woman finding both hope and her path after growing up in abuse.

Gabourey Sidibe embodies Precious a teenage girl finding a way out of a life of physical and emotional abuse.

Precious’ mother is powerfully played by Mo’Nique who allowed her daughter to be sexually abused by her boyfriend and Precious' father. These are just two of many engaging performances in this film.

The relationship between these two as mother and daughter is extraordinary in its exposing how twisted and embattled a parental child relationship can get. To escape, Precious fantasizes about being a famous star, about being married to her teacher, and about having a different life which are interludes in the film.

The director Lee Daniels chose to represent these fantasies as realistic scene segues which didn’t quite work for me. I thought they took away from the film. As Precious finds her own strength and voice by going to an alternative school class taught by Ms. Rain (played by Paula Patton), she begins to learn how to read and write her story as a way of seeing, processing and dealing with her life of abuse.

The scenes of her classmates surrounding her and supporting her after she delivers her second baby (her father is the daddy of both children) was a true measure of how these teens still have the ability to lift themselves out of horrible situations when they are given respect, attention and seen as people with honor.

Lastly, I’d like to say that Mariah Carey as the social worker was a great casting selection. Her performance was spot on. Towards the end of the film when she, Precious and Mary sit together one last time, the dialog and performances were breathtaking.

Daniels did an incredible job directing this film although I wasn’t a fan of the fantasies. Sidibe was hauntingly wonderful as Precious. Mo’Nique was beyond amazing as Mary and her monologue when she explains why she allowed the abuse to go on in the interview with Carey was without hesitation the most powerful scene on film this year. Patton was strong and a ray of light in this very dark film.

Overall: Astonishing piece of work with no punches pulled.