Sunday, May 2, 2004

MOVIE - ENVY - Review Rating $$$ (OUT OF 10) STARRING - Ben Stiller (Tim Dingman), Jack Black (Nick Vanderpark), Rachel Weisz (Debbie Dingman), Amy Poehler (Natalie Vanderpark) & Christopher Walken (J-Man) DIRECTOR - Barry Levison (Rain Man, The Natural, Wag the Dog, Bandits & Good Morning, Vietnam) Envy, despite good intentions, just doesn't achieve its potential. Director Levison does his best to create an interesting visual canvas to backstop this high-minded comedy but the script doesn't hold up its end of the bargain. The Vapoorizer is silly enough but the humour associated with this gag disappears almost as quickly as the sprayed dog poo does. What's left isn't strong enough to be either entertaining and/or thought provoking. Envy reminded me of Punch-Drunk Love without the edge. Stiller's character is a timid version of Punch-Drunk's Barry Egan (Sandler). The inner rage barely boils to the surface. Without a minefield of inner demons to conquer, obsessive flossing aside, Tim Dingman (Stiller) is as interesting as reheated leftovers. Cerebral humour requires insight that is sorely lacking in Envy. Contrivance contributes to Envy's downfall too. The J-Man (Walken) , in particular, just didn't work for me and neither did the dead horse escapades. Mrs. Vanderpark's political aspirations answers a question no-one was really asking. In the final analysis, the problem with Envy is that you don't care where the poo goes but you do wish you hadn't stepped in...the theater. Despite decent acting, an interesting concept and some cerebral humour there is nothing to be envious about in Envy. Running time - 99 minutes ALTERNATIVE REVIEWS: Roger Ebert's Review Peter Travers / Rolling Stone Review Rotten Tomatoes Reviews Envy Official Web Site Comments by Halo Scan: 11:29:44 PM     |

© Copyright 2005 David Schwartz. Last update: 2/28/05; 1:24:08 AM. This theme is based on the SoundWaves (blue) Manila theme.