When I first heard that Jack Black and Ben Stiller were doing a movie together, my first thought was, "Wow, I've got to see this!". I went through several more stages, going back and forth from wanting to wait until it came out on video to, again, wanting to see it in theaters until it finally reached the point where I ended up seeing it in theaters, and on purpose.
I must admit that I am rather pleased by having seen this in the theater. Why did this open at number six though? This should have been number two!
While I am a fan of Jack Black, I am a huge fan of Ben Stiller. I don't think I've ever seen Ben Stiller do a bad movie. And don't let this movie fool you either: Ben Stiller and Jack Black appeared together (sort of) in the Cable Guy. So this isn't their first movie together for sure.
The plot of this movie is that two best friends share everything and one day one of Jack Black's crazy ideas takes off and Ben Stiller thought it was so dumb that he didn't invest in it. So Ben Stiller becomes jealous of Jack Black throughout the whole movie, and it seems like the more fortune that Jack Black's character gets, the more misfortune comes to Ben Stiller's character.
Envy is a very smartly written, funny movie that I just enjoyed from start to finish. Ben Stiller plays such a great frustrated sort of loser and Jack Black really hams it up as the rich neighbor/best friend. If for no other reason, you should also see this movie just for Jack Black's wardrobe.
But let's be honest. Jack Black, we all know, is funny. Ben Stiller, we all know, is funny. So put them together, you got yourself a great comedy. How can anyone not see that?
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