Envy

When I first heard about a movie with Ben Stiller and Jack Black, yeah, I got my hopes up. I love these guys. Then I'd heard it started getting terrible reviews and my hopes sank. I think this is a necessary step to enjoying the movie. Because whoever gives it a negative review is someone who was clearly expecting a different movie, and rather than enjoy what they got, they complained about what they didn't. The comedy is SUPER dead-pan. If you're expecting Ben Stiller out of 'Something about Mary' or Jack Black out of 'Tenacious D', stop. Jack Black, by Jack Black standards, is in a coma in this movie. While some people want to see him scream and yell and all that (which is great), I found it just as funny that he was being 3/4's serious.

Quite unexpectedly, Christopher Walken made this movie. His personality was spot-on. This movie quite reminded me of another movie, which I can't quite remember unfortunately, but in some ways it also reminded me of Office Space. The dry, normal guy humor. "What would you do if you had a million dollars?" "Two chicks at the same time." And in some ways it reminds me of another recent Ben Stiller movie, Starsky and Hutch. It took me awhile to get into Starsky, because I thought it was meant to be a parody. Once I realised it was "serious" I had a lot more fun with it. And I laughed as much as Starsky, if not more, in Envy.

Any Levinson fan should check this film out. Sure its your typical stupid comedy, but thats exactly what its intended to be. Anyone who enjoyed Toys or Bandits will probably enjoy this film.

Sure its not the greatest, but I do believe it is worth watching. Even from a directing standpoint its a pretty decent film.

The two main characters, Jack Black (Nick Vanderpark) and Ben Stiller (Tim Dingman) play complete opposites. From the first moment of the film you begin to see the differences between their lives. I found all of these little differences entertaining to watch.

Don't believe the reviews or what others are saying....go see it for yourself and find out.

6.5 out of 10

"Envy" bombed at the box office in 2004, but that doesn't mean it's not worth watching (or owning). Jack Black and Ben Stiller play neighbors & best friends in Southern California who work at a sandpaper factory. Black strikes it rich with an invention and builds a vast mansion where his former home was. Of course, this stirs the envy of Stiller who gets mixed-up with an eccentric vagabond, played by Christopher Walken. Amy Poehler and Rachel Weisz play the wives.

While "Envy" isn't very laugh-out-loud funny, it's consistently amusing and the story is good enough to maintain your attention. Walken stands out as the offbeat bum. What I like best is the film's originality; I really can't think of any other films like it. Maybe that's why it bombed. I also like the way "Envy" pokes fun at materialism and everything that goes with it, e.g. envy. In addition, it's nice to watch a comedy like this without overt sleaze and overkill cussing, like 2007's "The Heartbreak Kid" (I don't mind realistic cussing in movies, but when it's overdone it's neither impressive nor funny; it's just stoo-pid and smacks of lazy writing).

Weisz and Poehler are as gorgeous as ever, but they're decidedly peripheral and the filmmakers never take advantage of their presence. Regardless, "Envy" is solid, original amusement.

The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in Santa Clarita, L.A. & Culver Studios, CA, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

GRADE: B

I'd just like to comment on this movie. I was surprised on how funny it was. I mean, yes..most people who saw this movie, probably thought it was horrible, I on the other hand, enjoyed it. It was a very different style of directing, acting, and screen play. Comm'on, who thinks up Vapoorise..thats gold! hahahaa..anyways, Ben Stiller (even though, he paid some of his own money so that the movie would not be put out) was funny as always, he kept his character through the whole thing. Even though i'm not too much of a Jack Black fan, he was pretty funny as well, he did go a bit overboard, but its jack black what can you do..heh..and you cant forget about the lovly Rachel Weisz..oh baby she's smoking! Expecially when she wants SEX ON A LAUNDRY MACHINE..and to save the best for last..the one and only Christopher Walken...well, he speaks for him self for a description. I also thought the story was very well done, all the problems that were faced between black and stiller were good...I like the whole "I didn't do it" lie, which grows into a big huge problem. I'm sorry i couldnt give you too much of a description of the movie, but its worth seeing if you have a ciniplex near you, where you pay like 7 bucks. I had some really good laughs, and all the characters worked well together. The End..or is it..DUN DUN DUN!!

I really don't get the hate from this movie, sure it's not an instant classic, but there is some great humor especially at the beginning. I'll admit the humor dies down a bit in the second half, but I still think it was a fun story. If I had not seen the scores here I would have assumed it was at worst a high 5/10 but probably a low 6/10, a 4.8 seems crazy to me.

If you enjoy the actors and like 2000's comedies, I think it makes a great lazy afternoon movie.