Envy

Even if you have not yet tired of the eye-bugging, eyebrow-dancing, class-clown schtick of Jack Black, or the eye-bugging, eyebrow-dancing, fretful straight-man schtick of Ben Stiller, these two one-trick ponies are still unlikely to draw a single laugh in this slapdash story of one-dimensional envy run amok. Stiller is a fusspot pragmatic who turns bitter green when his wild-eyed, daydreaming, best friend Black gets rich by inventing an aerosol spray that makes pet poop evaporate. Normally reliable director Barry Levinson (Wag the Dog, Rain Man) is asleep at the wheel as subplots flail around like an out-of-control garden hose (Black's dingbat wife runs for "Congress, or state Senate, or whatever") and scenes end so abruptly that it seems as if a reel went missing. The actors have clearly been left to their own devices, the result of which is a cobbled-together mess of scenery-chewing high jinks and under-rehearsed improvisation--and the punch lines are clunkers, such as this chant of anti-vaporizer environmental protesters at the wife's campaign rallies: "Where does the shit go? We want to know!" The answer: into this movie's screenplay. Not recommended. [Note: DVD extras include both widescreen and full screen versions, a 10-segment “Best of Black” index to Jack Black's “funniest moments,” text production notes, cast/filmmaker bios, and a photo gallery. Bottom line: Jack Black's funniest moments? Gimme a break.] (R. Blackwelder)