Fast paced and fluffy, "Tower Heist" is a spectacle-laced comedy with widespread appeal. Even Alan Alda's Bernie Madoff-styled antagonist gets a soft treatment so as not to offend the "1%" of potential audience members his evil character represents. You can practically hear a chant of "rich people must share more" roiling under the clamor of nonstop hijinx. There's irony in the setting of Donald Trump's "Trump Tower" in Manhattan as the penthouse apartment belonging to Alda's filthy rich character Arthur Shaw. Shaw is accustomed to being pampered by the Tower's hand-and-foot servants as overseen by the building's general manager Josh Kovaks (Ben Stiller). With a rooftop swimming pool and a little red sports car formerly owned by Steve McQueen sitting in his living room, Arthur Shaw proves an easy target when the time comes for the Tower's disgruntled former and current employees to rob the $20 million they believe Shaw has stashed in a safe in his apartment. The proverbial poo hits the fan when an FBI investigation into Shaw's dirty dealings exposes his pillaging of employee pensions and shakedown of the building's salt-of-the-earth doorman Lester (Stephen McKinley Henderson). Lester’s quick decent into a dark depression over the loss of his life’s savings sends Josh and his associates into action to take back the money Shaw stole from them.

Even with its expected episodes of high-wire suspense, much of the humor is character-driven. Eddie Murphy is right at home as Slide, a petty thief Josh brings in to plan and execute the complex caper. Where there's scene-chewing to be done, Murphy never misses a beat. Gabourey Sidibe puts a confident foot forward as Odessa, a spirited Jamaican woman working in housekeeping and safe-cracking. Matthew Broderick shines as a bankrupt ex-stockbroker whose condo in the Tower is in foreclosure. “Tower Heist” is a prime example of the standard issue kind of big budget comedy Hollywood is capable of. While it might not aspire to greatness, “Tower Heist” is both funny and entertaining.

Rated PG-13. 104 mins. (B-) (Three Stars - out of five/no halves)

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