5/1/2023 0 Comments The tower heist![]() ![]() He became close with Roman Polanski after the latter loved Rush Hour and wanted to meet him, he says, and the same happened with Quentin Tarantino after Money Talks. In 2003, Robert Evans – the man Ratner describes as his "best friend" – wrote in Vanity Fair that Ratner "can maestro most anything he wishes". He was brought in late in the day to direct X-Men: The Last Stand – so late that Matthew Vaughn had already stepped down citing too little time to do it justice – because the studio knew he could handle the set-pieces and could do the job, reliably, without risking anything leftfield or unpredictable.Īnd while he may not have had respect from his peers at film school, he has it from many of his peers today. He knows the multiplex audience, because he is the multiplex audience. The secret to his success lies in the fact that choices like this are unabashedly enthusiastic, as opposed to cynical and studio-driven. Rush Hour traded off a tried, tested and well-worn buddy-movie formula Ratner was a fan of both Chris Tucker and Jackie Chan, and his idea to juxtapose the two, bringing together both black audiences and martial arts fans, was as effective as it was simple. Ratner's own films are not ground-breaking, nor does he claim they are. I grew up watching 48 Hours and Beverly Hills Cop. "If it wasn't for Eddie, Rush Hour wouldn't exist, for sure. I feel like he felt really comfortable working with me." Ratner had wanted to work with Murphy for years. "I think he was waiting for the right director," he says, "because doing that in the wrong hands might not work and could hurt everything. ![]() Ratner is especially proud of the film's character development and the cast's chemistry, although his biggest coup might be coaxing the best performance out of Eddie Murphy in aeons. Ben Stiller, Casey Affleck, Matthew Broderick and Gabourey Sidibe make up a gang of misfits who team up with thief Eddie Murphy to rob their fraudulent billionaire boss (Alan Alda), and it's smart, witty and a lot of fun. His new film, Tower Heist, has been a Ratner project since 2006. Ratner, now 42, is almost as famous for his parties as he is for his career, another thing that seems to rankle his critics, but he insists he only ever wanted to be a film-maker the money and women merely accompanied the success. After the signing, Ratner brought Rodgers and a host of music types, including Bryan Ferry, back to his house for a party. When I speak to him Ratner's in his New York office, having spent the previous evening hosting a book signing for Chic's Nile Rodgers, a lifelong friend. Winning the hearts of disgruntled fanboys is not a concern. His Rush Hour films alone have grossed $850m. He cut his teeth on Def Jam music videos, and was 26 when he directed his first feature, 1997's Charlie Sheen/Chris Tucker action comedy Money Talks, which more than doubled its $20m budget at the box office. ![]()
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