There are perhaps few film stars in Hollywood who disappoint as much as Eddie Murphy. Looking at a list of his acting roles - ranging from great early films like Trading Places to the mind-numbing stupidity of Meet Dave - is like looking at a school report which says: “So much early promise, but really must do better.” Yet in a scene midway through Brett Ratner’s new comedy Tower Heist, when Murphy’s petty thief Slide is standing wise-cracking beneath the tower blocks of New York City, the audience feels transported back to Trading Places. In Tower Heist Murphy gives his best comic performance in years and brings a bit of spark to this better than average comedy.

The action takes place in credit-crunch stricken New York, where the staff of a prestigious apartment building discover that they have been scammed out of their savings by the building’s main resident – the fraudulent billionaire Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda). The manager of the building, Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller), decides to recruit a team of staff to conduct a chaotic heist to seize their money back from Shaw, and enlist the help of local thief Slide (Murphy) in the process.

It is clear from the outset that Tower Heist is no Ocean’s Eleven. The plot does feature all the recognisable elements of a heist movie, from lock breaking, to the obligatory climbing an elevator shaft scene, but in between this there is very little originality or intelligence to the film. A truly successful heist movie should keep you guessing, but unfortunately Tower Heist is really rather predictable.

Despite this lack of originality the film is still a thoroughly entertaining watch. Alan Alda makes a great modern villain, and in addition to Murphy’s excellent performance, credit must also be given to Matthew Broderick who excels as a rather pathetic member of the heist squad.

Tower Heist is not a classic heist movie and it is unlikely to win any great accolades. It is, however, an extremely entertaining film and an encouraging return to form for Eddie Murphy.