TOWER HEIST OPENS TODAY NATIONWIDE

With Occupy Wall Street protests cropping up across the globe and angry working-class citizens protesting the ugly habits of the rich, Tower Heist may be this year's best big-screen example of art mimicking life. There aren't many surprises in the plot, which sticks to a never-fails feel-good theme: poor folks beating conniving rich folks at their own game. It does deviate in that it infuses comedy into what is really a tragic exploitation of hardworking people, the inevitable result of having two mega-comedians, Murphy and Stiller, leading the cast.

It's unlikely, however, that Tower Heist will be as iconic as the Eddie Murphy action comedies before it. Perhaps, if Murphy's original idea for the film -- bringing together an all-black superstar cast of comedians including Martin Lawrence, Dave Chappelle, Chris Tucker, Mike Epps and Katt Williams -- had been realized, Tower Heist might have been the kind of gut-bustingly funny that we've come to love and expect from Murphy. But the film is fun, light and worth watching -- and its rich-vs.-poor storyline is eerily appropriate for the times.

Conceptualized by Murphy in 2005, the film follows condominium staff members as they seek justice -- and revenge -- from a Bernie Madoff-esque banker who milked members of the crew for their pensions.

Murphy couldn't have cast anyone better than himself in this film, since few actors do action comedy better than he does. In 1982 Murphy broke new ground with 48 Hours, in which he plays a former convict out to catch a cop killer. In the Beverly Hills Cop series, which began two years later, he plays a street-savvy cop looking to avenge the murder of his best friend. The series brought Murphy international fame, and he ascended the throne as the king of action comedies.

"There would be no Rush Hour series if it wasn't for Eddie," said Rush Hour and Tower Heist director Brett Ratner. "Not only was [Tower Heist] Eddie's idea, but in a lot of ways, he invented the genre."

In Tower Heist, Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovaks, the workaholic manager of a luxury condominium off of New York City's Central Park. Josh seeks payback after he discovers that he and his staff have been entangled in a Ponzi scheme orchestrated by his billionaire penthouse tenant. With only days to act before the Wall Street crook gets away with the crime, Josh assembles a crew to steal $20 million that he believes is hidden in the penthouse.

His accomplices include Slide, a petty crook played by Murphy; not-so-bright Charlie (Casey Affleck); fidgety and nervous Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick); and down-for-whatever bellhop Enrique (Michael Peña). Gabourey Sidibe plays Odessa, a fiery, Jamaican-born maid who doubles as a seasoned lock picker.