Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
Dreamworks has three comedies on the books for this year that I know of right now: OLD SCHOOL, HEAD OF STATE, and ENVY. Of the three, the one that intrigues me the most is ENVY. In some ways, it sounds like Larry David (whose CURB YOUR ENTHUSIASM makes me laugh until I physically ache) has recycled many elements from SOUR GRAPES, his film from a few years back. With Ben Stiller, Jack Black, and Christopher Walken (who I now realize has indeed won an Oscar, thanks to all the polite and friendly letters you guys sent me after my Oscar morning fuck-up) onboard, how badly can things go?
Harry,
Had the privelege last night of catching an early rough cut of the new Barry Levinson film Envy starring Ben Stiller, Jack Black and everybody's favourite oddball, Christopher Walken. (In terms of my film tastes I should say I'm a huge fan of the Coen Brothers, just as much as I like goofy comedies like Something About Mary, and I can equally enjoy a good Jarmusch movie or even more esoteric stuff like Wenders or Herzog.) The film was introduced by a bloke who may indeed have been Levinson himself, and he stated that this was only the second time it had been cut together and screened. The film was somewhat jumpy in parts, not color corrected, audio cues were missing or repeated and some minor effects shots were unfinished. But that aside it was a pretty enjoyable experience nonetheless.
Now, down to the flick itself. Without wanting to give too much away, the film essentially centres around the friendship between two neighbours/colleagues (Stiller and Black) which is transformed when one of them (Jack Black) invents a revolutionary product known as the Va-poo-rizer. This invention is an aerosol that has the ability to make dog shit disappear when its sprayed. It becomes a huge success and suddenly Black and his family are instant multimillionaires. The rub is to be found in the fact that Stiller was offered an opportunity to invest in the product at its inception but baulked at it. His main point of contention (and one of the running themes of the movie) is "Where does the shit go?". So, once Black's family is catapulted into the high life of riches, the envy of the film's title kicks into full effect. Stiller and family covet the gains of his neighbour and relationships invariably begin to crumble all around.
The film is not without its flaws. Certain subplots appear and disappear without any real reason (i.e. Ving Rhames appears in a thankless role as a private investigator, Jack Black's wife running for Senate, the disappearance of the co-creator of the Va-poo-rizer), but overall it was an enjoyable film with some really funny moments. We're told at the start by an onscreen title that "This is a fable" and as a result the story is fairly didactic and is headed towards a somewhat predictable end with a message about envy. Still though, Jack Black is in rare form in this movie giving me some serious belly laughs and Ben Stiller plays the angered everyman to a tee (with echoes of his performance from The Royal Tenenbaums), but it is Walken who comes out strongest from the film as the mysterious J-Man, a sage-like drifter who dispenses advice and practical help to Stiller as the various plot machinations unfold. It is an over the top performance that still manages to have a real sense of humanity, and in the end his character ends up being the only one with any integrity and honour. It should also be said, he is very very funny in the role. The film was perhaps a little long and dragged in parts, but seeing as this was an early version of the film I'm sure they'll trim it down before its released.
A good movie. I'm keen to see what it will be like once its actually finished.
If you choose to use this review call me
ComeOnIreland!
Cool. Thanks a lot, and I look forward to getting a peek at this one, too.
"Moriarty" out.
