Brett Ratner
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Connections, in both directions
Sure, you’ve seen this story before (although all the Uber references are certainly new), and intentionally so, because Stuber gives a big, joyful nod to the films that came before it, from 48 Hours to Rush Hour .
So “Stuber” is kind of buddy-cop movie combined and an odd-couple movie: a cop reluctantly teaming up with a regular Joe, like “Rush Hour” and “48 Hrs.” Vic’s a bull in a china shop, and Stu’s an Indian version of Tony Randall from “The Odd Couple,” except upgraded with millennial-speak and 2019 potent sarcasm, and lots of man-screaming (because Vic does dangerous things).
The plot just described isn’t Rush Hour , it’s director Michael Dowse’ Stuber : An illogical buddy comedy with hopes of confronting toxic masculinity that often swerves to avoid blindly hitting plot holes.
This is a throwback or send-up of interracial buddy-action comedies like Lethal Weapon, 48 Hours and Rush Hour — or even more series iterations of the same idea, such as Anton Fuqua’s Training Day or Michael Mann’s Collateral.
“Stuber” is certainly worth a thought or two for how it fits into the tradition of buddy action movies, those bromances with bullets that include “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,” “48 Hrs.,” “Bad Boys,” “Rush Hour,” “21 Jump Street” and so forth, ad infinitum.
It is like a mixture of Lethal Weapon meets Rush Hour meets Mr. Magoo .
Best of all, he somehow manages to get a ferocious, energetic performance from Eddie Murphy, who is at his fast-talking best, recalling his star-making turns in 48 Hrs. and Trading Places .
That performer, of course, is Eddie Murphy who segued from "Saturday Night Live" cast member to Hollywood superstar with "Beverly Hills Cop," "Trading Places" and "48 Hours."
He's been portraying the sharp-tongued hustler since "48 Hours" and "Trading Places" in the early 1980s.
Beginning with “48 Hours” and then following up with such popular films as “Trading Places,” “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Coming to America,” Murphy was the standard that all other comedians were compared to.
Murphy essentially plays a 25-years-older version of his character from Trading Places, another comedy about revenge against evil rich villains which had a much more witty and creative third act than does Tower Heist.
A sequence where he tasks the amateurs each to steal $50 worth of merchandise at a mall is particularly funny, but really, it's just a pleasure to see the Eddie Murphy of Trading Places and Beverly Hills Cop again.
In this one which must have been put together by someone who watched "It's a Wonderful Life" after a little too much eggnog and methamphetamine Nicolas Cage plays a high-rolling international investment star who is shunted into an alternate universe by a helpful angel and comes to see the pleasures of living in a crappy house in New Jersey.
And why is it that when a film blatantly steals from a classic -- "It's a Wonderful Life," in this case -- the characters almost never acknowledge it?
The best "What if?" movies are dark and troubling on some level -- It's a Wonderful Life starts with a man who wishes he'd never been born, and in Groundhog Day, Bill Murray's character is driven to suicide by the banality of day-to-day existence.
Cage eases into the role with the charm and affability of Jimmy Stewart and its no coincidence, since "The Family Man" is essentially a reworking of that Christmas staple "It's a Wonderful Life" (right down to its angelic Clarence Oddbody, here fleetingly realized by Don Cheadle).
December 25, 2000 -- "The Family Man" is a slightly different riff on the story in the old movie "It's a Wonderful Life."
The plot, which involves Triad members up to no good in Paris, is inconsequential and predictable (I knew Max von Sydow shouldn't be trusted the moment he showed up), but it rolls along at a nice enough clip (though, again, antiquely slow compared to "The Bourne Ultimatum") and it does work as an excuse for a free-for-all homage to Asian action cinema, from old kung fu flicks (look for a reversal of the Bruce Lee / Kareem Abdul-Jabbar fight in "Game of Death", as Tucker takes on the world's tallest Asian!) to John Woo's gangster movies (watch Tucker work twin handguns in a hospital, "Hard Boiled"-style!).
This is more in the vein of the "Rush Hour" flicks where it's funny to see little, five-foot-tall Kevin Hart get body slammed by Morpheus or for Ice Cube to toss a football at the back of Jay Pharoah's head (the "SNL" star has a funny cameo as a neighborhood snitch).
The motor-mouth comic takes on what’s essentially the loquacious Chris Tucker role from the “Rush Hour” movies, with Ice Cube standing in for Jackie Chan in the laconic straight-man part.
If there’s a surprise in this movie, it’s that Hart is marginally more restrained than his obvious influence: Chris Tucker in the “Rush Hour” movies.
Most of all, Ride Along seems struck from the same template that produced the Rush Hour series, which paired an all-business Jackie Chan with the live-wire Chris Tucker for comic effect.
Kevin Hart (left) and Ice Cube star in "Ride Along," a story about unusual police partners with a plot that might sound familiar to anyone who saw "48 Hrs." in 1982 or "Rush Hour" in 1998.
So even though Kevin Hart is basically playing Chris Tucker in Rush Hour and Ice Cube is basically playing Nick Nolte in 48 Hrs., some of their own patented patter breaks free every now and then.
And many combine those elements, resulting in films such as "48 Hours," "Bad Boys," "Rush Hour," "Men in Black" and so on.
Since then, fans of the relatively new sub-genre have enjoyed the pairing of such opposites as Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker (“Rush Hour,” 1998), Simon Pegg and Nick Frost (“Hot Fuzz,” 2007), and Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg (“The Other Guys,” 2010).
Directed by Paul Feig, who also helmed the surprise 2011 smash hit “Bridesmaids,” and scripted by Katie Dippold of “Parks and Recreation,” “The Heat” is derivative of any number of mismatched buddy movies from “48 HRS.” and “Midnight Run” to the “Rush Hour” films.
In fact, it follows the same basic formula of movies like “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Rush Hour.”
Tim Story’s “ Ride Along ” was garden-variety fluff, a copy of a copy that saw buddy-cop progenitor “Beverly Hills Cop” filtered through any one of its endless imitators (“Rush Hour,” “Blue Streak,” and so on).
But the two cops’ respective plans go awry when they come face-to-face with the hacker, AJ (Jeong), a resourceful geek whom James dismisses as “a low-budget-ass Jackie Chan,” perhaps in an attempt to stir fond memories of “Rush Hour.”
Probably a good test of whether you should consider riding along with this low-rent version of “Bad Boys” meets “ Rush Hour ” is if you are tickled by Ben suggesting that he and James call themselves “The Brothers-in-Law.”
One would expect a fight reminiscent of Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker from Rush Hour, but the inclusion of the realistic effects of the complex punches and kicks makes it an interesting sequence.
It's no surprise that the writer of 2001's "Ocean's Eleven," Ted Griffin, was involved as the film has the same basic template without the loose camaraderie of that film's cast.
The buzz: It’s not quite the all-star line-up of “Ocean’s Eleven,” but director Brett Ratner’s heist-driven action-comedy does feature a theoretically major comic pairing in Stiller and Murphy.
Initially conceived as an "urban" Ocean's Eleven (from which only Eddie Murphy remains), this genially absurd, gently cathartic, and slightly stale Brett Ratner caper is now about the employees of America's most expensive apartment building (played by the haphazardly disguised Trump International Hotel & Tower on Central Park West), who plot to take back what was rightfully theirs when the billionaire in the penthouse (Alan Alda) embezzled their pension fund.
But the script by Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and Jeff Nathanson ("Catch Me If You Can") doesn't make the usual action comedy mistake of piling on the action at the expense of the comedy.
Alert to the righteous rage of the 99%-ers and canny about how to mine that rage for laughs, Tower Heist is like Ocean’s Eleven meets class consciousness.
All of this is to say that "Tower Heist" winds up being a poor man's "Ocean's Eleven."
Meanwhile, Harvey Keitel ("The Grey Zone," "U-571") shows up as another FBI agent, Mary-Louise Parker ("The Portrait of a Lady," "Fried Green Tomatoes") plays Norton's wife, Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Almost Famous," "State and Main") embodies a seedy journalist and Anthony Heald ("Proof of Life," "8MM") reprises his role from "Lambs."
Meanwhile, Harvey Keitel ("The Grey Zone," "U-571") shows up as another FBI agent, Mary-Louise Parker ("The Portrait of a Lady," "Fried Green Tomatoes") plays Norton's wife, Philip Seymour Hoffman ("Almost Famous," "State and Main") embodies a seedy journalist and Anthony Heald ("Proof of Life," "8MM") reprises his role from "Lambs."
X-Men: First Class (2011)
Directed by Matthew Vaughn
influenced by X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Themes
For an origin film like "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" (2009) and a prequel to "X-Men" (2000), "X-2" (2003), and "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006), "X-Men: First Class" is surprisingly brisk.
After a noisy, cluttered third sequel (2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand ) and a dreadful spin-off (2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine ), the X-Men superhero series was looking pretty worn, and a prequel featuring an entirely new cast seemed like the wrong way to set things right.
That sociopolitical dynamic had been largely lacking from the last two X-Men films, which included Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), and its re-emergence in First Class helps bolster its character arcs and the action sequences, which Vaughn orchestrates with a sense of both grandeur and coherence.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows (2016)
Directed by Dave Green
influenced by Rush Hour (1998)
Music
Then there’s Edwin Starr’s “War” which brings to mind Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan in Rush Hour .
But in between them, will it really hurt him to do something in the vein of “Shanghai Noon” and “Rush Hour”?
Whether it’s the irreverent silliness of “The Other Guys,” the sci-fi splashiness of “Men in Black” or action hero machismo of the “Rush Hour” series, none of them would work if not for the comedic energy both stars funnel into the other.
Central Intelligence (2016)
Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber
influenced by Rush Hour (1998)
Themes
It’s an action-comedy utensil, like “Rush Hour” crossed with an old Arnold Schwarzenegger shoot-’em-up, with a few goofy added sprinkles of “Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion.”
Es por eso que a Un espía y medio le falta mucho por alcanzar el nivel de su símil noventera Rush Hour (Brett Ratner, 1998) y aún más para superar a McCarthy.
Miss Congeniality 2: Armed and Fabulous (2005)
Directed by John Pasquin
influenced by Rush Hour (1998)
Plot
The film echoes such genre outings as "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Rush Hour" by dumping Gracie into the hostile jurisdiction of Las Vegas FBI supervisor Collins (Treat Williams, "Hollywood Ending," walking through the film) just as her friends are being ransomed.
Brett Ratner doesn't come near to transcending his influences like Tarantino did in "Kill Bill", but we're more or less on the same level of silly fun as Carpenter's "Big Trouble in Little China".
This is especially true of Tucker, who is essentially doing a caricature of Eddie Murphy in the "Beverly Hills Cop" movies, as he runs on at the mouth as he's wont to do and garners a few laughs from an arsenal of "it's a black thang" maneuvers.
Before you could say 48 Hours (or Beverly Hills Cop or Lethal Weapon...), Chan found himself paired with Chris Tucker in a stupidly sure-fire vehicle.
Catch Me If You Can (2002)
Directed by Steven Spielberg
influenced Tower Heist (2011), Rush Hour (1998)
But the script by Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and Jeff Nathanson ("Catch Me If You Can") doesn't make the usual action comedy mistake of piling on the action at the expense of the comedy.
Scenes never overstay their welcome; indeed, at film’s end, one half-remembers hints of storylines never returned to, and one wonders if swaths of the script – by Ted Griffin (Ocean's Eleven) and Jeff Nathanson (Catch Me if You Can) – were ruthlessly excised by quality control for not fulfilling one of two directives – to service the action, or to service the comedy.
It helps that the screenplay is from two veteran writers, Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and Jeff Nathanson ("Catch Me If You Can") who have been down this road before.
Too bad screenwriters Ted Griffin ("Ocean's Eleven") and Jeff Nathanson (whose credits range from the "Rush Hour" sequels to "Catch Me If You Can") skimp on another vital heist-movie component, glossing over much of the intricate preparation for the outlandish caper itself.
Griffin had written the screenplays of Matchstick Men and Ocean Eleven, while Nathanson had written Speed 2: Cruise Control, Rush Hour 2 & 3, and Catch Me If You Can, so perhaps it makes sense that Tower Heist is consistently entertaining, delightfully hilarious outrageous while never insulting the audience�s intelligence like most American comedies do nowadays with excessive toilet humor.
Considering the combined pedigree of Griffin and Nathanson (who, respectively, penned "Ocean's Eleven" and "Catch Me If You Can"), it shouldn't come as a surprise that they've applied the same sort of crime caper magic to this offering.
Jackie Chan and Chris Tucker had it in “Rush Hour”.