Envy (2004)

User Rating:

4.6/10   

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer (WGA):

Steve Adams (written by)

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy

Tagline:

Success didn't go to his head, it went to his neighbor.

Plot:

A man becomes increasingly jealous of his friend's newfound success.

Plot Keywords:

Best Friend | Frat Pack | Airplane | Employment Dismissal | Rain

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Ben Stiller	...	Tim Dingman
Jack Black	...	Nick Vanderpark
Rachel Weisz	...	Debbie Dingman
Amy Poehler	...	Natalie Vanderpark
Christopher Walken	...	J-Man
Ariel Gade	...	Lula Dingman
Sam Lerner	...	Michael Dingman
Lily Jackson	...	Nellie Vanderpark
Connor Matheus	...	Nathan Vanderpark
Hector Elias	...	Eduardo
Angee Hughes	...	Woman at Play
Manny Kleinmuntz	...	Dimitriov
Blue Deckert	...	Cal
John Gavigan	...	Les
Terry Bozeman	...	3M Worker

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for language and sexual/crude humor.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Canada:PG (Ontario) | Brazil:14 | USA:PG-13 (certificate #40103) | Iceland:LH | Netherlands:AL | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Australia:M | Finland:K-7 | Germany:o.Al. | Italy:T | Singapore:PG | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

Brazil

Company:

DreamWorks SKG

Trivia:

The movie having been shot almost two years before it was released in theaters was in danger of being released straight to video due to poor audience response during test screenings. It was only due to The School of Rock (2003)'s huge success that it finally got a theatrical release.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Tim first goes into the bar he sits right next to a bright red stool. When J-Man sits next to Tim, there is another stool in between Tim and the red stool.

Quotes:

Michael Dingman: Boy that flan was good. I wish we had flan.
Tim Dingman: [grimaces, gets up from the bed, pats Michael's arm and whispers to acknowledge Michael] OK.
Michael Dingman: Dad?
Tim Dingman: Yeah?
Michael Dingman: How come we're getting the little itty-bitty pool?
Tim Dingman: Mikey, It's not a little itty-bitty. The square one is the little itty-bitty. We're getting the bean shaped model. Right?
Michael Dingman: A little itty-bitty bean.
Tim Dingman: It's not a little itty-bitty bean. It's an averaged sized bean, Mikey. And I've got news for you, my friend. There are kids in parts of the world who would walk 50 miles through quicksand just so they could stick a toe in your swimming pool. And I've got news for you about beans too...

Soundtrack:

The Happy Wanderer

No Wonder Christopher Walken Plays in This

This could be looked at in many different ways. This movie sucks, its good or its just plain weird. The third one probably explains this movie best. It has strange themes and just has a strange plot. So who else but Christopher Walken would play in this no matter how bad, average or even how good it might be.

The acting was what you would expect especially out of Ben Stiller. Jack Black I have always liked so you know what you will get out of him but this is not bad. Christopher Walken is always off the wall. He is always enjoyable to watch no matter how bad the movie is. Comedy wise it is somewhat funny. This of course meaning that it does have its moments (though very few) but can get a little over top here and there which makes me feel like the movie is just desperate for laughs but of course not in a good way.

The directing was average as well. Barry Levinson is a slightly overrated director and really did not do a good job here. This movie seemed that it had a lot more potential and he did not do much to reach it. Just very average and did not seem like a lot of effort was put into making this film.

The writing is the key to a good comedy. Obviously that means the writing here failed. At best it is below average. Considering it does have its moments it was not too horrible. That is never a good thing to say about a movie though.

If not for Christopher Walken and it stupid ridiculous ending I would have given it a lower rating. He is always quite a character in his movies. Stil this is just a whacked out strange movie with strange characters that really don't go anywhere. Not completely horrible but I would not really recommend it though because it is a very forgettable movie.