Having taken a three-year hiatus from feature filmmaking after Rush Hour 3 to spend more time bragging about the models he’s slept with, Brett Ratner has finally decided to go ahead and make another movie. Only problem? This time he’s taking truly talented people down with him.
Tower Heist, which was supposed to be a star vehicle for Eddie Murphy and Chris Rock, about two Trump Tower employees planning a heist of that particular building, has now evolved into something entirely different. It will now be rewritten by Academy Award-nominated screenwriter Noah Baumbach and star Ben Stiller. The plot is being changed as to now focus on blue-collar workers robbing a Bernie Madoff-esque figure (who will likely be played by James Caan).
The “point-and-shoot-at-comedians-and-not-have-to-worry-about-doing-anything-cinematic” approach that Ratner is known for would likely have been a perfect fit for the previous version of this project. Now that this looks like it could actually be a quality film, it would probably be best that Ratner steps down and let an actual director make it. I’d especially think this would be good since both Baumbach and Stiller are coming off rave early reviews for their first collaboration, Greenberg.
And, let’s not forget, both Baumbach and Stiller have worn the director’s hat before, and wore it better than Ratner ever could.
Are you looking forward to this Tower Heist film, or does Brett Ratner’s black-hole of talent scare you away?