'Tower Heist' combines action and comedy

The November 4 opening of the movie “Tower Heist” was not intended to coincide with the “Occupy Wall Street” protest. The movie was in production prior to the protest, and it’s also not the first time Eddie Murphy has starred as an African-American hoodlum who helps workers get rich at the expense of the investment barons who abused them. While “Tower Heist” has similarities to “Trading Places”, there are also enough significant differences that it’s not by any means a remake of the 1983 film.

“Trading Places” involved the good guys getting rich utilizing a plot to manipulate the stock market...