Matthew Broderick says Eddie Murphy is "hilariously funny" and is "just perfect" to work with.

The 49-year-old appears alongside the funnyman in the Brett Ratner-directed Tower Heist, which also stars Ben Stiller and Casey Affleck.

Matthew says Eddie who also served as producer on the comedy action film was great to have around.

"First I read the script and found it very entertaining and funny. I liked my part. Ben Stiller [was in the cast], who I've worked with before, I was delighted to have another chance to work with him. And then there's Eddie Murphy.

"To work alongside, he was just perfect. He was hilariously funny and he can improvise rings around anybody if he feels like it. If they say can you try something else, you get like five great new jokes. But I've got to say, he talked about movies and old movies he's a real movie buff. It was very annoying," he laughed in an interview with Kyle and Jackie O radio show.

Matthew lives in Manhattan with wife Sarah Jessica Parker and their three children James Wilkie, eight, and two-year-old twins Marion and Tabitha.

Matthew loves having anonymity in the city.

"I take the subway almost every day, I would say. I walk a lot, I ride a bicycle, and up until recently when I realised it was ridiculous, I rode a Vespa. Very masculine. A very butch Vespa," he quipped.

"I don't get noticed all that much. The nice thing about New York also is nothing fazes them. People here mind their own business. People leave you alone a bit here.