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Envy
Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera, the 2004 comedy Envy should have been a better than it is. The basic idea of this movie is a good one, but it degenerates into a lot of silliness making it difficult to stay engaged.
Tim (Ben Stiller) and Nick (Jack Black) are best friends, and co-workers who commute to work together every day. Nick is always coming up with outrageous get rich quick schemes that Tim usually talks Nick out of. One day Nick decides that he needs to invent an aerosol spray that when you spray it on dog poop, or any kind of poop for that matter, it simply disappears. Tim tells Nick it's a stupid idea, but Nick ends up actually inventing the spray and it turns him into an instant billionaire. He tears down his house and builds a mansion and buys a horse. Though he is in denial about it, Tim is consumed with jealousy regarding Nick's success.
Complications arrive when environmentalists want to know where the poop goes when it disappears and this seemingly minor issue begins to derail political aspirations for Nick's wife (Amy Poehler). Tim also meets a bum in a bar (Christopher Walken) who Tim confesses everything to and decides to fan the flames of Tim's jealousy via blackmail.
A story about the toxic effect of jealousy and greed was an intriguing premise upon which to base a movie, but screenwriter Steve Adams lets the idea get away from when. Instead of thoughtfully exploring these subjects through a light comedic eye, he goes off the deep end with silly slapstick comedy and some really ugly character motivations for Tim that really test the character's likability quotient. Once Tim shoots Nick's horse with a bow and arrow and then buries the animal, this movie started to lose me.
On the positive side, we do have Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson behind the camera who is a competent storyteller more than capable of establishing a proper canvas for a story and then taking it into squirm territory. The whole environmental angle of the story was one I really didn't see coming, but Levinson doesn't shy away from it.
I also was impressed with the casting of Jack Black as the straight man in the story, a refreshing change of pace for him. He actually puts most of the burden of the comedy on Stiller, who delivers for the most part. I loved Stiller's monologue at the film's climax where he comes clean with Black's character...a long and rambling monologue that Stiller actually nails. Rachel Weisz and Poehler's roles are thankless and Walken's blackmailing bum is a matter of taste. It's a really great premise that gets lost in a lot of silly slapstick but it does wrap nicely.
Considering the talent in front of and behind the camera, the 2004 comedy Envy should have been a better than it is. The basic idea of this movie is a good one, but it degenerates into a lot of silliness making it difficult to stay engaged.
Tim (Ben Stiller) and Nick (Jack Black) are best friends, and co-workers who commute to work together every day. Nick is always coming up with outrageous get rich quick schemes that Tim usually talks Nick out of. One day Nick decides that he needs to invent an aerosol spray that when you spray it on dog poop, or any kind of poop for that matter, it simply disappears. Tim tells Nick it's a stupid idea, but Nick ends up actually inventing the spray and it turns him into an instant billionaire. He tears down his house and builds a mansion and buys a horse. Though he is in denial about it, Tim is consumed with jealousy regarding Nick's success.
Complications arrive when environmentalists want to know where the poop goes when it disappears and this seemingly minor issue begins to derail political aspirations for Nick's wife (Amy Poehler). Tim also meets a bum in a bar (Christopher Walken) who Tim confesses everything to and decides to fan the flames of Tim's jealousy via blackmail.
A story about the toxic effect of jealousy and greed was an intriguing premise upon which to base a movie, but screenwriter Steve Adams lets the idea get away from when. Instead of thoughtfully exploring these subjects through a light comedic eye, he goes off the deep end with silly slapstick comedy and some really ugly character motivations for Tim that really test the character's likability quotient. Once Tim shoots Nick's horse with a bow and arrow and then buries the animal, this movie started to lose me.
On the positive side, we do have Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson behind the camera who is a competent storyteller more than capable of establishing a proper canvas for a story and then taking it into squirm territory. The whole environmental angle of the story was one I really didn't see coming, but Levinson doesn't shy away from it.
I also was impressed with the casting of Jack Black as the straight man in the story, a refreshing change of pace for him. He actually puts most of the burden of the comedy on Stiller, who delivers for the most part. I loved Stiller's monologue at the film's climax where he comes clean with Black's character...a long and rambling monologue that Stiller actually nails. Rachel Weisz and Poehler's roles are thankless and Walken's blackmailing bum is a matter of taste. It's a really great premise that gets lost in a lot of silly slapstick but it does wrap nicely.