"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
