kylakrucifixion
Jack Black and Ben Stiller perform wonderfully, as does Christopher Walken. I won't go in to a long description. However, forget what the other critics say and give it a try. It really is great. It's bizarre, yes. And It's silly. It's also funny as he'll, despite what others may say. It's unique with its story, I've never seen another movie like this. I give this movie a 10 rating. I only wish it did better.
Steve Pulaski
Envy might have worked for a twenty-two minute episode of Seinfeld or Still Standing, but as a one-hundred minute film it falls flat on its face. This is a boring, drawn-out, long and agonizing film that just moves at a snail's pace, and doesn't make a strong enough attempt to be funny or creative.The story follows Tim and Nick, (Stiller and Black) two best friends who work at the same job. Nick is constantly trying to come up with wacky get rich quick schemes, and he is confident that he has got a good one; a spray that makes feces from your dog evaporate into thin air. I'd buy one, and apparently, enough people do to make Nick an almost instant millionaire.Nick offers Tim a percentage of what he makes off of the spray, but Tim backs out believing the idea is "stupid." Because he backs out and Nick becomes rich, Tim's wife (Weisz) is now angered by his act and believe that their life and their kid's as well could've been benefited by this.The fun doesn't stop when Tim accidentally kills Nick's new pet horse, and buries him in the front yard of his own home. Tim also befriends a lonely drifter at a bar nicknamed J-Man (Walken). The subplots and the antics don't seem to stop, and the laughter doesn't seem to start.Every so often I cruise Netflix: Watch Instant just to see what movies are on there. Going through the comedy section is a risk some may not want to take. So much of Netflix: Instant is populated by lame, raunchy, and aimless b-movie comedies, loaded with nobodies, and seem to be made, wrote, and directed by nobodies as well. Envy belongs there with two no-name leads, and a cast of no-namers as well. Not Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Rachel Weisez, and Christopher Walken's names plastered all over its cover luring you into thinking what you're about to see may be a halfway decent film.My point is that Envy is not something I'd expect to see on the film list of Ben Stiller and Jack Black, two well-known, and above-average comedic actors. This is just one unfunny scene after another, with characters that I simply can't believe. I wonder how Tim and Nick have remained friends when he is doing things like lying about Nick's horse and not supporting his ideas. It just makes no sense.Christopher Walken and Rachel Weisz show up in the picture, giving mediocre performances, and they seem to sport the, now often, "collect the check" attitude towards this picture. Nobody seems to be very happy or very proud to work on such a project, and they all just want to get the thing out of the way.There are two things that need to be said. The horse killing is an act of desperation on the film's part because, for one thing, the film knows its has a plot fit for a cheesy sitcom, and two, I think Ben Stiller has some sort of satisfaction deep-down having his movie character always harming some animal. This was also seen in There's Something About Mary.The other thing is in eighteen months, could you really make enough money to buy a huge mansion, a merry-go-round, a horse, a huge bed, fancy flooring, and be able to pay servants? I don't believe it is ever said how much money Nick makes, but for one thing, it would need to be millions upon millions to afford the luxuries he buys. Because of all these flaws, Envy may leave you green in the face with its sour jokes and lame attempts at comedy.Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Amy Poehler, Rachel Weisz, and Christopher Walken. Directed by: Barry Levinson.
ThreeThumbsUp
Though he often takes himself too seriously and generates reviews that contain words too large for even a well-read thespian like myself (wink, wink), I respect Roger Ebert's opinion. I thought he was going to savage Envy, but he really didn't. Though his review was far from glowing, he didn't viciously attack the characters, plot lines or dialogue like he normally does for such low-grade flicks. I think it's a case where he expected the movie to be funny because of the reputation of the two main actors (Black and Stiller where hot commodities in 2002-04 when this film was created and released) so he attempted to contrive even the slightest bit of positivity from it.Truth is, though, there really wasn't all that much to like about it.I saw Envy for the first time six and a half years after its release in 2011 and I sort of knew what to expect. I understood the plot and pace were a little bizarre and Ben Stiller was nominated for a Razzie for his performance. So, I guess it's safe to say it lived up to it's reputation as a wondering, darkish comedy with very little character development and concrete story lines. If I would have gone in blind, I probably would have turned the damn thing off half way through, right after Stiller kills Black's pet horse in a drunken stooper.3/10 stars, I guess?
