With Jack Black and Ben Stiller sharing name above title in this picture, you'd think it would have been funnier. Then, I remember Stiller was in "Along Came Polly," and Black was in "School of Rock," and I am again not surprised.

"Envy" was a small film with little to no marketing about two guys working at a sandpaper manufacturing company. One, Tim, is focused on his station in life, while the other, Nick, is a dreamer.

One day, Nick's harebrained invention for a spray, making animal poo magically disappear, succeeds, so his family and he are super ugly rich within the next 18 months.

However, across the street, Tim is extremely envious, especially having turned down the chance to be partners with his friend on the product. Soon, Tim's wife leaves him, cause he's a loser maybe--I can't tell. He goes and gets drunk in a bar where he meets J-Man, a homeless man with a flair for the….well….it's a little tough to describe him, but he's a hoot.

The picture has every opportunity to create solid situational comedy, which is takes, but somehow fails to make them work, including Tim accidentally killing Nick's white mare with a bow and arrow. All the ingredients were there for a high quality comedy, but director Barry Levinson (Bandits, Wag the Dog) fails to make it reach out and grab the viewer this time around.

There are so many scenes with improvisational footage, I get the feeling Levinson barely cut a frame of it. One scene in act three--which ran WAY TOO LONG, where Tim finally comes clean with Nick, drags on SO much with this lengthy rant of why people with money should not be judged for having fun with it by those who don't. That is a fair message for a movie to present, but not in a five minute improved ramble by Ben Stiller.

Once again, Jack Black was allowed to be his usual idiotic self, like most of his other movies. His over-the-top line deliveries are giving me a friggin' headache. With Levinson's experience, resume and clout, one would think he'd be brave enough to pull Black back into something more suited for this film, but he didn't. He, like almost every other director Black has had, allowed the man to be a retarded clown, YET AGAIN.

The only director(s) who have been able to "real" this actor into something fantastic was the Farrelly Brothers with "Shallow Hal," This is quickly becoming the quality performance Black will never top.

As for Stiller, he once again plays the straight man who can't seem to catch a break. The role he always gets. Yawn.

The best part of the movie was the performance by Christopher Walken (Catch Me If You Can) as J-Man. The oddity of this character was completely generated from Walken's ability to find his place in the picture and work it. The movie sucked unless he was on screen.

Another good reason to watch, Rachel Weisz (Runaway Jury) plays Tim's wife and is pretty damn hot in it. Its fun to watch her in a more outlandishly comedic role.

For the most part, don't cry for missing this picture in the theaters. If you see it on DVD, at least you can stop the disc and double up your medication.

Benn - Where's the Humanity?