Envy Details

This Barry Levinson-directed comedy was hanging around on the shelf until the success of Jack Black in The School of Rock thankfully freed it from potential obscurity. Ostensibly, it's the tale of two best friends/neighbours/co-workers, Tim Dingman (Ben Stiller) and Nick Vanderpark (Black). The duo's lives are turned upside down when Nick comes up with a revolutionary idea for a substance that makes dog excrement disappear into thin air: the appropriately named “Vapoorizer”. Tim turns down the chance to invest in the product so, when his buddy becomes a multi-millionaire, their relationship follows the doo-doo into oblivion, as Stiller is eaten up by an all-consuming envy. With the comic calibre of Stiller and Black on parade (as well as an almost obligatory Christopher Walken cameo), you'd think this would be a cast-iron laugh-fest. But, despite the undoubted talent of the leads, it's a comedy that offers titters rather than belly laughs, with Black, in particular, in unusually restrained mode.

Had School of Rock not made Jack Black so bankable, this comedy would surely have gone straight to video ... read more on Time Out