Envy Review
by Andy Keast (arthistoryguy AT aol DOT com)May 1st, 2004
Envy (2004): 1/2 out of ****
Directed by Barry Levinson. Screenplay by Steve Adams. Starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Rachel Weisz, Amy Poehler and Christopher Walken.
by Andy Keast
The word "stupid" is derived from the Latin verb stupere, which means "to be stunned," and that is a fitting little nugget I shall use to describe "Envy." I'm stunned by it. I'm stunned at how Barry Levinson, the director of such films as "Diner," "The Natural," "Good Morning Vietnam," "Avalon," "Bugsy," and
"Wag the Dog," could have made this putrid film, the theatrical release of which had been delayed for over a year, and at various points was considered for straight-to-video distribution. I'm frightened that my brain may have actually atrophied from my 99-minute exposure to it, thus I will approach what I'm about to write more as a public service announcement or health advisory rather than a movie review.
My god, where to begin? With the directing, which drops the ball from the very
beginning, losing any grasp it may have had on the film's structure, pacing or tone? Or maybe the screenplay by Steve Adams, an amorphic, ridiculous mess of characters, backward plot points, failing sight gags, and those awful, uncomfortable "pauses" between lines, so that the audience can (not) laugh at what Ben Stiller is saying? Perhaps with the movie's bizarre photography and editing, which uses telephoto lenses and sun-dried close-ups as if this were a Bruckheimer production? Consider a scene between Stiller and Jack Black that takes place in an office: the way it's blocked and edited makes it look like some dead filmstrip from the 1970s. I won't bother going into the opening sequence, which is just…strange. Even the score by Mark Mothersbaugh, who has done charming work for children's television and Wes Anderson, is out of place.
I haven't even hinted at the actual content of the film. From out of the quagmire I have pulled the following: dog feces, maple syrup, a horse, a cabin in the woods, scat music, a carousel, an infomercial, and a bow and arrow. That's it. I have found it impossible to describe the plot, because there is none, due to no tenable screenplay being written, and thus there being nothing usable to direct. Somewhere in the middle of "Envy," a character finally asks what the remnants of the audience want to know: "What in the shit *is* this?" Indeed.
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