Rating: 
Summary: Yet another example of why 2004 was a bad year for comedy
Review: It might be a bit early to get in a verdict on 2004, simply because there are still about a third of the year's films left to come out on DVD, but I am just about ready to declare it a bad year for comedy. In the last week I have watched "White Chicks" and "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" only to be disappointed, and have now topped it off with "Envy," which is the worst of the bunch. The only reason this one gets three stars is because it has Christophen Walken in it, and no matter how bad the script might be he is one actor who is going to make things interesting every moment he is on screen.
The selling point for this 2004 comedy is that Nick Vanderpark (Jack Black) becomes a really rich guy because he invents "Vapoorize." This is one of the greatest inventions in the history of the world because you spray it on dog poo and the dog poo disappears (ergo, "Vapoorize"). Nick comes up with this idea one day while he and his best friend, Tim Dingman (Ben Stiller) are commuting to work at the sandpaper factory. Nick offers to split this great idea 50-50, but Tim cannot get past the fact that there is no explanation for how Vapoorize would work. So he passes on the deal.
Now, the whole Vapoorize idea is really just to set up the exploration of the friendship between Tim and Nick, because while Nick becomes one of the richest people on earth he continues to live across the street from his best friend. He just happens to build his new mansion there and continues to invite Tim and his family over for food and fun. However, Tim's wife, Debbie (Rachel Weisz) cannot get past the fact her husband has thrown away their one chance at being rich. This explains where the film's title comes into play as the green-eyed beast consumes Tim's soul. Meanwhile, Tim's wife, Natalie (Amy Poehler) is running for the state senate, but her campaign is being derailed by her opponent's big question: where does the poo go?
Our expectation is that there will be a big payoff to this question, but there is really not much effort to do anything with the Vapoorize idea. What really matters is that it is a farfetched idea and that if it did work it would obviously make its inventor really rich. But then you would also expect Jack Black to be a lot funnier than he is in this film, because otherwise why would you hire him to play the part? Stiller's character is in more familiar territory as he learns why you do not shoot an arrow into the air without any idea of where it is going to land. Fortunately the gets to do a lot of scenes with Walken's character, the J-Man, but that is not enough to salvage this film.
I actually read that "Envy" was intended to be a black comedy, in which case it is even worse than I thought. There are some nice parodies of television infomercials, but none of the sharp wit I associate with a classic black comedy (e.g., "Hospital"). In addition to Walken's performance the only thing I find redeemable about "Envy" is where it ends, which I thought was a nice touch given where it starts. It is just how you get from that first point to that last point that does not work and unfortunately that is most of the movie.
Rating: 
Summary: this movie deserves to be vapoorized
Review: Just rented this movie from blockbuster and well, it sucks, big time. not funny at all, multiple subplots that amounted to nothing. Movie was super dry, super boring, actually fast forwarded through half of it and then just turned it off it was so mind numbing. save your money.
Rating: 
Summary: One word: Strange (SPOILERS?)
Review: That's the word that came into my head when the credits began to roll after I watched ENVY today: STRANGE. I had expected something funnier, but this is only moderately funny. The plot kind of goes no where and it's just...STRANGENESS happening throughout the movie. Tim (Ben Stiller) is a successful guy at a sandpaper factory who seems to have a secure job and a happy family. Nick (Black) has a problem with focusing and has to work hard because he does not have a cozy office like Tim does. Tim gets annoyed with Nick, his best friend, because he always comes up with crazy ideas for inventions. On their way home from work, they see a dog pooping and then the owner picking it up with a plastic glove. They both cringe and drive away. Nick gets an idea that there should be a product that makes poop disappear. Tim is sick of his stupid ideas and tries to tell him that it's not an invention but a silly idea. Nick gets with a chemist and asks Tim to be his partner to develop his new product, VaPooRizer. Tim refuses to contribute $2,000 of the $4,000 needed to develop the product, and the product ends up working. It is a huge hit and Nick becomes enormously wealthy. He builds a mansion, has a horse named Corky, has a bowling alley, his own vinyard, a carousel, the works. Nick is jealous of everything that Nick has and begins to have trouble focusing at work. He loses his job when he blows up at his boss and meets a bum, THE JAY MAN, who basically becomes his friend. He tells Tim a story about when he was ten a boy across the street had everything, even a bebe gun, and to get back at the boy he took the gun and shot bullets into his own windows, making it appear that the rich boy had shot at their house. The boy's gun was taken away. When Tim gets drunk that night, he tries to shoot an arrow from Nick's house into his own house but accidentally hits Corky, Nick's beloved horse. Nick gets rid of the body with THE JAY MAN (the bum) and Nick asks Tim to be his partner. When the jay man finds out about the partnership, he tells Tim to become his partner or else he will tell Nick about Corky.Like I said, it's very silly and strange. It's not a bad movie, it's just strange! :)
Rating: 
Summary: Pretty good movie!
Review: This is not such a bad movie but funny, funny, funny. It has some laughs to give and a pretty good plot. See it or you have missed a good comedy!
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