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The Directors: Brett Ratner, ‘Tower Heist’

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Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

It didn’t take long for Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda) to fleece investors out of countless millions. Transforming Shaw’s Ponzi scheme into “Tower Heist” proved a bit more time-consuming.

Envisioned six years ago by Eddie Murphy as an all-black take on “Ocean’s Eleven” (with a hoped-for supporting cast of Chris Rock, Chris Tucker, Dave Chappelle and Jamie Foxx), “Tower Heist,” directed by Brett Ratner, slowly evolved into a multi-ethnic ensemble drama about the staff of a luxury high-rise trying to recover their pilfered pension from a penthouse-dwelling swindler.

In the film that opens Nov. 4, Ben Stiller plays Josh Kovacs, the manager of a Manhattan apartment tower where the average digs run $5.6 million. When Kovacs learns that Shaw boosted his colleagues’ savings and may have stashed $20 million somewhere in his home, he enlists three co-workers (Casey Affleck, Michael Peña, Gabourey Sidibe), a down-on-his-luck tenant (Matthew Broderick) and a none-too-slick thief (Murphy, playing a lesser role than first imagined) to turn the tables on the well-heeled thief.

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As rewritten by “Ocean’s” scribe Ted Griffin and Ratner’s frequent “Rush Hour” collaborator Jeff Nathanson (the story is by Adam Cooper and Bill Collage), “Tower Heist” aims to mix quick-riff comedy with high-altitude thrills. “I wanted it to be really reminiscent of a 1970s heist film — ‘The Hot Rock,’ ‘The Anderson Tapes.’ It’s character-driven, not just about some guys stealing something,” said Ratner, who recently signed on to co-produce next year’s Academy Awards.

“I love the tone of it — that’s what I’m most proud of,” said the director, whose last feature was 2007’s “Rush Hour 3.” “It’s the most exciting thing I’ve done.”

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