“Barry and I thought about how someone would react to having a gazillion dollars overnight,” Kempster comments. “We decided he would want all these boy toys, so for the exterior of the house we built a carousel, a go-cart track, an area for archery, a batting cage and, in the center of it all, Casa Corky, Nick’s palatial home for his beloved horse. Corky’s barn was designed to be a smaller version of the mansion.”
Costume designer Gloria Gresham, who has collaborated with Barry Levinson on ten previous films, was also able to let her designs run the gamut of taste for “Envy.” She offers, “This was probably the broadest comedy I have done in years. Barry did give me one major direction for Jack Black’s costumes: ‘Think of Ralph Cramden with money,’” Gresham relates, referring to the character from the classic series “The Honeymooners.” “Jack was open to everything,” Gresham continues. “Nothing was ever too much. Ben, on the other hand, played a more conservative character, so it all worked out.”
Gresham also notes that the color palette reinforced the contrasting lifestyles. “We wanted to keep the ‘everyman’ palette muted, so you will see some denim, gray, beige and washed-out green. Then, as the money comes into play, the colors become bolder and the costumes become more flamboyant.” “There is a real cause and effect with money,” Levinson says. “It’s part of the American dream, and countless people who have come up with some invention and hit it big have lived it.”
In today’s television culture, what would the selling of any new invention be without those ubiquitous infomercials? Vapoorizer is no exception. “Shooting our own infomercial turned out to be a lot of fun,” Levinson states. “The infomercial has become so much a part of our culture, touting all manner of products. I’m sure if you took the infomercial in our movie and put it on television, people would be calling in.”
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