Envy (2004)

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

Director:

Barry Levinson

Writer:

Steve Adams

Stars:

Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Rachel Weisz

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
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

Storyline

Ben Stiller and Jack Black star as Tim and Nick, best friends, neighbors and co-workers, whose equal footing is suddenly tripped up when one of Nick's harebrained get-rich-quick schemes actually succeeds: Vapoorizer, a spray that literally makes dog poop, or any other kind for that matter, evaporate into thin air -- to where exactly is anyone's guess. Tim, who had scoffed at Nick's idea and passed on an opportunity to get in on the deal, can only watch as Nick's fortune -- and Tim's own envy -- grow to equally outrageous proportions. When the flames of jealousy are fanned by an oddball drifter (Walken) who imposes himself into the situation, Tim's life careens wildly out of control ... taking Nick's with it.

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Plot Keywords:

falling downhill | fired | dog | jealousy | neighbor | 

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Taglines:

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

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Genres:

Comedy

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for language and sexual/crude humor

Details

Official Sites:

Dreamworks Pictures.

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 April 2004 (USA)

Also Known As:

L'envie

Filming Locations:

Brazil

Box Office

Budget:

$40,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,160,886, 2 May 2004

Gross USA:

$13,562,325

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$14,494,036

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Columbia Pictures, Castle Rock Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

DTS Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

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 School of Rock (2003)'s huge success that it finally got a theatrical release.

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Goofs

When Tim is trying to do chest compressions on the horse after he shoots it, the entire torso rocks back and forth, an obvious dummy.

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Quotes

Michael Dingman: [as Tim has put him to bed] Daddy, why can't we have flan?

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Crazy Credits

During the end credits, viewers see a TV infomercial for Dingman and Vanderpark's new invention, Pocket Flan.

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)
(Piangono Gli Uomini)
Written by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier & Eddie Holland (as Edward Holland Jr.)
Performed by The Four Tops
Courtesy of Motown Records
Under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User Reviews

while not great...

this movie doesn't deserve to be called the worst ever. This weekend I saw two movies that were less entertaining than Envy: they were Dickie Roberts and Van Hellsing. Now, those two movies were just stupid. While Envy didn't really make me laugh, I did find it somewhat entertaining. All the things Nick buys once he makes his millions was funny. Plus, just the concept and demonstration of his invention was amusing. And all the people picketing at his wife's political office asking "where does the **it go", which is exactly what Tim asks. I didn't really care for Christopher Walken's character. I didn't think the J-man added much.

FINAL VERDICT: I'm not sure why this movie has gotten the reputation as being one of the worst movies ever. I don't think it is. So, if you like movies that really don't require brain power, then I recommend this one.