When you look at movies like 2009's Old Dogs and this October's The Big Year, the guiding thought behind their creation seems to be, "Let's get aging actors and comedians currently experiencing mid-life crises, put them in ridiculous situations, then watch hilarity ensue." Anyone who's seen even a trailer for one of these types of movies knows that hilarity doesn't ensue. Instead, these movies are cash-grab gimmicks that often disrespect the actual talent of the actors.

Admittedly, Eddie Murphy and (to a lesser extent) Ben Stiller are as guilty of this as anyone else in the business. So when Ben Stiller, Matthew Broderick and Eddie Murphy grace the trailers of director Brett Ratner's Tower Heist, it's easy to write the movie off before the opening credits. Luckily, Tower Heist defies expectations with humor, cleverness and a healthy dose of excitement.

Heist follows Josh Kovacs (Ben Stiller) as the building manager for The Tower, a luxury New York apartment high-rise. Stiller is the leader of his lovable gang of misfit employees: the soon-to-be parent concierge Charlie Gibbs (Casey Affleck), the former Wall Street-investor-turned-squatter Mr. Fitzhugh (Matthew Broderick), the childish klutz bellhop Dev'Reaux (Michael Peña) and the sassy Jamaican maid Odessa (Gabourey Sidibe).

After they lose their pensions to a Ponzi scheme run by multi-millionaire building resident Arthur Shaw (Alan Alda), Kovacs enlists the help of Slide (Eddie Murphy) to steal Shaw's on-hand cash of $20 million following a drunken suggestion from Kovacs's love interest, the FBI agent on Shaw's case, Claire Denham (Téa Leoni). What follows is a laughable heist film chock-full of unbelievable situations and one-liners.

This movie works (and well) because instead of taking the older actors and trying to get them to play washed-up versions of themselves, Ratner doesn't ask them to do too much. None of the actors have to carry the movie on their own, which allows all of them to stay fresh.

Stiller shows glimpses of his character from Meet The Parents, yet whereas that character ran its course over three movies, this character is allowed to sit back and show sincerity while other characters get laughs, only to then steal laughs of his own. One such example is an enjoyable scene where he shoplifts women's panties from a Victoria's Secret by stuffing them down his pants to prove his criminal ability to Slide. Murphy's quick-witted delivery demands attention in a way that harkens back to his eighties persona and adds a much needed jolt to the movie. Broderick is wonderfully subtle in a way that clashes perfectly with Murphy.

With those actors working in unison, the rest of the ensemble shines. Affleck is just dumb enough to be endearing and just smart enough to seem like the only sensible character. Peña contributes some great lines and energy as well, complimenting but not intruding on Murphy's performance. Sidibe looks like she's playing a character in a Saturday Night Live skit, but in a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, it's still fun to watch.

In truth, the heist doesn't matter. The plot is secondary to the characters. Still, while the scheme is far-fetched, you never get the sense that the characters are trying to pull a fast one on the audience. A cast of characters barely good enough at their jobs in a hotel wouldn't be able to pull off this heist in real life, but no one really talks only in one-liners in real life, either.

You'd be best off to just suspend disbelief and enjoy the ride. This is the type of movie where Playboy magazines successfully distract guards and loose ends don't really need to be tied up. This isn't Ocean's Eleven smugly showing you how clever it is. Instead, every time something unbelievable happens, you can practically hear Ratner whispering to the audience, "Just go with it."

You can think of this movie as the veteran sports team that uses former superstars to play a contributing role instead of carrying the team. And while they don't win the championship, they do pretty well in the playoffs.

This movie won't win any Oscars but as an unexpected treat, you could do a lot worse with 10 bucks.