Envy (2004)

"Envy"

Tim Dingman (Ben Stiller) and Nick Vanderpark (Jack

Black) are the best of friends. While Tim takes pride

in being "focused" in life, Nick is a dreamer who is

always thinking up wacky invention ideas to get rich

quick. When he comes up with the notion of a new

product, Vapoorize - a spray that makes doggie dung

disappear - Tim poo-poos the idea. But, when the

concept becomes reality, it is too late for Tim to

climb on board the success train, leaving him with a

serious case of "Envy."

Director Barry Levinson had, once upon a time, a

pretty fair track record in creating comedies. I,

personally, liked the quirky, low-key comedy/crime

caper film, "Bandits," and thought "Wag the Dog" a

clever and entertaining satire. And, who can forget

Cruise and, especially, Hoffman in "Rain Man." But, a

past track record is no guarantee that the next effort

will be as good and this is just the case with "Envy."

First time feature scribe Steve Adams had a fabulous

idea with the concept of two best friends, struggling

but happy with life when one hits it big, leaving the

other to stew in his own juices for failing to get in

at the ground floor of opportunity. The idea is rife

for comic exploration and, with Stiller and Black on

board and veteran helmer Levinson taking the reigns,

one would think that this couldn't miss. It does. Big

time.

Things start out in a standard way as neighbors Tim

and Nick begin their respective days in their

tick-tacky homes under the power lines somewhere in

California. They kiss their families goodbye, climb

into Tim's beat up econo car and head off to their

mundane jobs at the local 3-M factory making

sandpaper. Tim is newly promoted to a low level

management position and advises his friend that

success can be his, too, if he would just focus. Nick

tells Tim of his latest wacky idea for an invention -

a spray that makes dog poo disappear. He even comes up

with a nifty name for the miracle product - Vapoorize!

Tim has heard this all a thousand times before and,

when Nick approaches him to invest $2000 in the

invention - Nick actually found some who could create

the magic spray - he prudently refuses. Big mistake!

Flash ahead 18 months and Nick and his wife, Natalie

(Amy Poehler), are filthy, stinking rich. Nick loves

his friends across the street so much that, instead of

moving to Beverly Hills, he builds the most garish,

outrageous monstrosity of a home imaginable - it even

has a small mansion to house his pet horse Corky -

where their old home used to be. If anything, the

Vanderparks are, at the very least, incredibly

ostentatious (and with zero good taste) and surround

themselves with an indoor bowling ally, swimming pool,

a full size carousel, go-cart track, archery range and

more. 

For Tim, every day since his friends hit it rich has

been sheer torture. It's not like Nick doesn't spread

the wealth a bit as he lavishes his best buddy with

such elaborate gifts as a restaurant-size espresso

machine. Tim's wife, Debbie (Rachel Weisz), has not

forgotten that, for a mere $2000 that her too-frugal

husband wouldn't invest, she is, literally, living in

the shadows of a life that could have, should have,

been hers, too. She does not let Tim forget this fact,

either.

This setup might have been a good one in the hands of

a better screenwriter. Steve Adams's script takes the

potent premise and dumbs it down to nothing more than

silliness. The entire envy idea is wrapped up in less

than and hour and a guilt trip involving a bottle of

wine, a bow and arrow and a horse wandering in Tim's

yard in the middle of the night becomes the focus of

"Envy." Things then take several different turns with

Christopher Walken making his appearance as J-Man, a

decidedly oddball drifter who allies himself to Tim to

help "fix" his problems with Nick. Walken is so

offbeat, his character actually takes the edge off, a

little, what is a painfully executed, non-funny

comedy.

Ben Stiller does his routine slow burn that he does so

frequently. In "Envy," though, it is not funny. Jack

Black has the thankless job - I hope he was paid well,

at least - as the second banana kept in the background

as a big kid with a lot of money to buy expensive

toys. He does little more than provide Stiller with

"un raison d'etre" for his envy, etc. Rachel Weisz is

merely shrill as Tim's envious wife Debbie. Amy

Poehler, who did such a wonderful job as the cool mom

in "Mean Girls," is totally wasted here, relegated to

wearing tasteless, gaudy costume and is given little

else to do. There are, virtually, no supporting

characters of note.

Barry Levinson hasn't always had success with his

films. I remember, painfully sitting through a

screening of "Toys," another film that, on paper, must

have sounded great. "Envy," like "Toys," is a missed

opportunity that only needed a real story to be

entertaining. Oh, and I would have liked to have seen

the wild-eyed Jack Black, with his manic comic timing,

in the role of the envious one. I give it a D. 

For more Reeling reviews visit www.reelingreviews.com

robin@reelingreviews.com

laura@reelingreviews.com

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