Envy (2004)

Envy is the kind of studio comedy that swings for the fences with a truly bonkers premise—what if sudden wealth came from the least dignified invention imaginable—and then lets Barry Levinson and a game cast worry that absurdity like a loose tooth. Ben Stiller makes jealousy feel uncomfortably recognizable while Jack Black turns success into a loud, lovable spectacle, and the film’s best laughs come from watching their friendship strain under the weight of ego, regret, and escalating weirdness. The vibe is offbeat and slightly grimy, the sort of comedy that prefers awkward escalation and oddball detours over tidy punchlines, which gives it a personality you don’t see much anymore. It’s not for everyone—there’s crude humor and some macabre sight gags—but if you’re in the mood for something original, intermittently hilarious, and unapologetically strange, it’s an easy curiosity to say yes to.

Envy is clearly trying to be a dark, suburban jealousy comedy where a silly invention spirals into friendship-killing resentment, and on paper Stiller and Black under Barry Levinson sounds like a win. In practice, the movie can’t decide if it wants to be a grounded character farce or a gross-out fever dream, so the tone lurches around and the jokes often feel like they’re straining for laughs rather than earning them. If scatological humor, awkward sexual banter, and a surprisingly persistent dead-horse gag are dealbreakers, you’ll likely find this more irritating than funny. The redeeming bit is that the cast commits and there are flashes of a sharper satire about insecurity and regret, but they’re buried under a script that keeps wandering off into chaos.