Envy

Hot off the heels of Stiller's other summer comedy Dodgeball, comes Envy.

Jack Black (Nick Vanderpark) and Ben Stiller (Tim Digman) play two friends who not only live side by side, but also work and socialise together. Despite Nick's inability to focus on the job at hand, he hits upon a product that makes him rich overnight; a spray that makes dog dirt disappear in an instant, something in which Tim had a chance to invest in from the beginning but didn't. From that point on Tim grows increasingly envious at everything Nick has (and there are a lot of things!), almost at the cost of his own sanity.

From the outset it's pretty obvious that this is not going to be anything special; the nauseating camera work in the opening credits is probably the worst part of the whole experience. Laying the groundwork for the characters, Tim is shown doing very organised and responsible things such as getting up with the alarm, and helping the children get ready for school, while Nick is seen sleeping through his alarm and later mock-fighting with his son before heading off to work. While some would consider Black and Stiller to be a comedy dream-team, neither seem comfortable enough in their roles to really let loose and make their roles memorable.

What does come as some surprise is the absolutely brilliant performance by a long haired Christopher Walken as "J-Man". While both Black and Stiller have their funny moments, Walken is constantly funny, with his rambling insults, crazy ideas and perfect delivery. After a number of roles in suspect films such as Gigli and The Rundown, it's good to see such a talented actor get back to form. Besides Walken, there is still reason to see this movie; scenes such as the cheesy infomercials that sell Nicks "Vapoorise" product are entertaining, as are the lavish and often tacky surroundings of the Vanderpark mansion.

Also, with his general enthusiasm and manic-happiness, Black never really fails to make you smile even when his lines aren't that good. Stiller, master of suppressed rage (ala 'the airport scene' in Meet the Parents) is as always enjoyable to watch as he slips into rationalised madness and slowly begins to crack. Seeing him desperately try to cover his tracks as he lies more and more is also something he does well, once again much like in Meet the Parents.

The problem with Envy is that it doesn't seem to utilise its decent line-up as much as it should. Stiller could do a much better job but just doesn't seem to try here, it's as though he knew he had another movie to fall back on. While the story can only be described as odd, it tries to stay in-between being straight forward and being off the wall just to avoid alienating un-amused audiences. Also while a movie based around faeces is never going to be whiter-than-white, this does its best to avoid crude and bad taste jokes as if just to ensure a family audience.

I have no problem with that in theory, but when a movie seems desperate to go low-brow at every turn, making it kid-friendly seems pointless. There are many scenes that push towards There's Something About Mary-type gags but back off at the last moment, much to the expense of the overall movie. Both of these aspects give the impression that a better story and better jokes were possible but were avoided for fear of narrowing the audience down any more than they had to. It's almost schizophrenic in that some moments are bizarre and some are very PC, with no decent common ground found, and no rational link up between the two.

With so much potential, it's disappointing to only come out with one really solid character. With a duo like Stiller and Black, you would be forgiven for getting quite excited. Both have played their part in some of the funniest (if not silliest) comedies of the last few years, and both have the potential to make a good film great all by themselves, however neither seem to shine here. Jack Black seems odd playing anything but a drop-out rock wannabe, and Stiller doesn't have the same crazy edge shown in Meet the Parents or even his cameo in Happy Gilmore. Both Tim and Nick are also far too extreme to be well rounded and enjoyable characters; Tim is far too straight laced for you to sympathise with his plight, and Nick is far too loud and in-your-face to be likeable.

Tim's wife Debbie, played by Rachel Weisz is a complete space filler, adding absolutely nothing to the story in any way. This is at odds with Nick's wife Natalie (Amy Poehler) and her political aspirations which actually tie in well with the progression of the plot. All in all the quality of the individual characters is quite patchy, some are there for no reason other than convenience, while others are less enjoyable than they probably should have been. Direction is nothing more than average, although with films like this you aren't expecting anything ground breaking, the same can be said for the effects used (with the disappearing poo being about the closest to cutting edge we get).

A great performance by Christopher Walken and an OK job done by Black and Stiller makes things watchable, while the on-off script has its strong moments. Even the worst parts aren't all that bad; let's face it, who doesn't find the magical spray's name, Va-poo-rise, the slightest bit amusing? Unfortunately the ingenuity of the product title is about the most effort that has been put into this movie and the filmmakers fail to build upon any of the good groundwork in place.

Adam Maguire
Staff Writer, Kikizo Movies