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:

It's for the neighbor with everything.

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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, Wide Release

Gross USA:

$12,181,484, 23 May 2004

Company Credits

Production Co:

DreamWorks, Columbia Pictures Corporation, 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

Just after Tim has made the pool builders stop digging the hole in his yard, there's a shot of him standing by the hole, and someone is clearly visible moving in the upstairs window of his house behind him, even though his family have left so there wouldn't be anyone there.

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Quotes

J-Man: If a pretzel is a quality pretzel, it doesn't need salt. It's just a fact.

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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

Old Drunk Philosopher
Written by Mark Mothersbaugh
Performed by Dan Navarro

User Reviews

This was a weird movie- I loved it.

Actually a different comedy- slightly dark humor. Ben Stiller plays the bumbling, timid but pent-up simple man - a common role for him but always entertaining. Jack Black plays an overexagerated happy family man - little overly dramaitc, but I think that's just the way he is, Lord bless 'im. It was kind of refreshing not to have any fart humor or homosexual humor, which seems so previlent now. If you liked Royal Tenanbaums, you might like this. And Christopher Walken is AWESOME! Such a character.