![]() Dolittle 2," "Daddy Day Care," "The Haunted Mansion" and the romantic comedy "Norbit," in which he played three characters as well as serving as the film's producer and screenwriter. He added a character to play a total of eight roles in the sequel, "Nutty Professor II: The Klumps," co-starring Janet Jackson. In addition, Murphy starred in and produced the hit comedy "Life," co-starring Martin Lawrence, and starred opposite Steve Martin in the comedy "Bowfinger." He was also the voice of Mushu the Dragon in the successful animated epic "Mulan." In 1996, Murphy portrayed seven different characters in the worldwide box office smash "The Nutty Professor," for which he received another Golden Globe Award nomination. In 1989, Murphy made his directorial debut with "Harlem Nights," a period comedy he also wrote and starred in, opposite Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx. Murphy garnered Golden Globe Award nominations for Best Actor in a Comedy for His performances in "Beverly Hills Cop," "Trading Places" and "48 Hrs." ![]() Dolittle," "Coming to America" and the "Beverly Hills Cop" franchise. His films have been among the highest-grossing comedies in the industry, including "48 Hrs.," "Trading Places," "Dr. In 1980, at the age of 19, he joined the cast of "Saturday Night Live," and has since gone on to establish a successful career on the big screen. ![]() Murphy began his career as a stand-up comedian 25 years ago. Murphy won an Annie Award and earned BAFTA and MTV Movie Award nominations for his performance in the first "Shrek," and recently reprised the role of Donkey in the final installment of the hugely successful franchise, "Shrek Goes Fourth." Murphy was next seen in the heist comedy, "Tower Heist" in which he served as executive producer and co-stars with Ben Stiller. The movie clears an incredibly low bar, but it clears it with such chipper enthusiasm that it's tough to do anything but shake your head and smile.EDDIE MURPHY is the most commercially successful African-American actor in the history of the motion picture business, and is one of the industry's top-five box-office performers overall.Īt the tender age of 53, Murphy is on the very short list of actors who have starred in multiple $100 million pictures over the past three decades, from "Beverly Hills Cop" to "Daddy Day Care." He is also the voice of Donkey in the Oscar(r)-winning animated film "Shrek" and its sequel, "Shrek 2," which is the top-grossing animated film of all time. If you ever felt that the Ocean's Eleven movies were too well-made, stylish, and intelligence, then Tower Heist is for people who don't care about all that. Its most "controversial" point is that devious rich people shouldn't screw over honest, hard-working folks. It's difficult to hate a trifle like Tower Heist. While a few of the supporting cast members are underutilized-particularly Alda and Judd Hirsch- everyone else provides solid comic back-up. Tower Heist is proof he still has the goods when he tries, and there's no need for the crappy kids movies and fat suits. An even larger surprise is Murphy who hasn't really tried to give a fun comic performance since 1999's Bowfinger. There are times when Josh gets flustered, especially by Slide, but for the most part he's a compelling protgaonist and Stiller does a terrific job. After seeing countless movies where Stiller plays a meek, milquetoast character, it's a relief to see him play a strong, confident, and competent guy like Kovacs. Ratner's feather touch provides a solid tone, but the entertainment comes from the cast. Unfortunately, he still has no idea how to direct action and the movie's big set piece delivers none of the intended thrills or drama. The movie hums along and Ratner is competent enough to keep style to a minimum so his flick can avoid any comparisons to a much better film like Ocean's Eleven. It wants to be entertaining and it's moderately successful because Ratner keeps up the humor and pacing. ![]() I could continue to rattle off moments of inept screenwriting and storytelling from what's clearly a Frankenstein's monster of a script full of dangling plot threads, but Tower Heist isn't trying to insult your intelligence because it think it's smarter than anyone. Also, Tower Heist really hopes you don't know that pure gold is much heavier than steel. ![]() That's why the movie wants you to believe that a major schemer like Shaw can be brought down with a single piece of evidence, or a wealthy man can only afford a safe that's sold in a storefront window, or characters can magically know the plans of other characters, and everyone can easily turn gold into cash and get the full value of the trade. ![]()
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