MovieChat Forums > Envy (2004) Discussion > Absolutely Brilliant

Absolutely Brilliant

posted 20 years ago by aka_mac
21 replies | jump to latest

I can't believe that so many people thought that this movie was so terrible. After watching it the first time i was in awe. First and foremost i think it was possibly Walken's best bit of acting ever, and yes i realise the magnitude of that statement but the Jay Man was a perfect. Second, if you didn't get the comedy of this movie it just means that you are a little stupid and are not capable of understanding Ben Stiller, let alone Jack Black. Stiller has always been ahead of his time (Case in point, the Ben Stiller show from 1991) and this was another step forward teaming with Black. They are both comedic geniuses, tho admittedly you need to be on their level.
Aside from that, this movie was a cultural commentary that delved deeply into the inner workings of this society. There are three types of people, the haves (Black), the have-nots(Stiller) and the have-no-needs: the artists, philosophers; represented beautifully by Walken.
To an extent this is like Cable Guy in that people go in with expectations of Carry tearing it up with laugh after laugh and then they are shocked or repelled when they see that it's so dark and makes you think, which ofcourse is not why most people watch comedy. But if you give it a chance, prepare yourself to think, it's an excellent movie. I'd go so far as to say Ben Stiller's 5 min monolouge at the end is near oscar material. (again knowing the scrutiny i'm setting myself up for)
So say what you will, but if you're just going to bash all that i've said here, it likely means you were just another one of those fools who has not the capacity to understand this movie.

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] rammstein_x 20 years ago

I just got done watching it and I thought it was pretty good, Dunno why the bad reviews.

[–] ella_dr 20 years ago

In my opinion, I think most people just had incredibly high and clear-cut expectations from stiller, walken and black.
Before watching the movie, people already had a mindset of what they wanted to see and want to hear.
I think that's why most people didn't appreciate the movie.
I mean, I myself was a bit disappointed at the movie at first...but after watching it again, i saw past my 'standards' for stiller & black, and appreciated the movie a whole lot more. ;)

[–] jerk-face 20 years ago

There is no deep meaning in Envy. I did get the comedy of this movie, the fact is it was not funny. I am not an idiot, in fact I'd bet my life I'm smarter than you are, aka_mac. This movie was just plain mediocre, simple as that, bringing intelligence into the argument just makes you look like the dumbass.

If Envy was so awesome, why did Jeffrey Katzenberg publicly apologize for it?

Man if ever I find myself "in awe" of a movie as *beep* as this, I hope someone shoots me.

[–] aka_mac 20 years ago

wow, ignorant, go ahead and bet your life, i'm not of any inclination to measure my intelligence against you, i'm quite comfortable with my own. Call me a dumbass, whatever, just because you were expecting something quite different and were dissapointed with the result doesn't mean there isn't genious to be found here, there is, especially with regards to Walken and his character. I suppose intelligence however might have been the wrong term, there are plenty of intelligent people out there who have no conception of enlightenment what-so-ever, so i will retract my previous statement and say that those who are enlightened will understand the brilliance of this movie, whether or not Katzenberg understood it himself, accidental genious is still genious...
But for you to come on here and bet your smarter than someone else, then just state a bunch of oppinions really doesn't prove your superiority in any way. Plus the fact that i've seen some of your other posts elsewhere just makes your statement laughable, good luck with your mediocre existance kid...

"Please!!! Tell me about the f@#$ing golf shoes..."

[–] yht33 20 years ago

Jeffrey Katzenberg should publicly apologize for that big green piece of *beep* ogre!

[–] johnk-31 20 years ago

And I'd bet my life I'm smarter than you. who do you think that you are? I didn´t like the movie either, but just beacause someone likes it, it doesn't make him a stupid. I think that you're the ignorant.

[–] eric217 20 years ago

My friends and I are huge Ben Stiller fans back when he had his Fox show in the early 90's, so I've liked a lot of what he's done and disliked some stuff too. If you understand Ben's humor than this movie is exactly like much of what he's done throughout his career. He pushes the lines of comedy to a certain point that a lot of people don't understand why it's so funny. A lot of his humor makes fun of the average comedy movie and adds a twist. Ben Stiller reminds me of Steve Martin's early stuff like "The Jerk," because the humor is so silly that you can't help but laugh.

I thought Jack Black and Ben Stiller are a no miss combination even though they could have made a funnier movie "Envy" was a very good start. Jack Black is so over the top that none of what he was doing in the movie seemed to out of the ordinary including riding a huge white horse around town. If you are a fan of either comedian in the movie than you won't be disapointed with the movie.

[–] mtrupe 20 years ago

I am glad to see I am not the only one who enjoyed this movie. I almost didn't bother renting it based on comments here. I am glad I did. It really is great. I think many people must not get it. I can only guess.

Walkin is great... Phenominal, actually. He can do no wrong in any movie he is in. Black and Stiller are great too. Its a slightly different role for Stiller. Black, as always, is over the top funny. I really don't see why this is rated so poorly.

[–] roberto_td 20 years ago

There were moments of brilliant comedy threaded throught this movie. I'm sure the thoughts, feelings and actions portrayed bring back hilarious reminiscence of similar moments in all our lives. But the movie would especillay appeal to the typical bored corporate slave who spends most of his or her career at a large company with little but unmet dreams to show for it.

How many of us have not been momentarily inconvenienced by a seat belt while attempting to abruptly make a simple adjustment? How many of us have not fallen prey to the unfairness and capricious application of today's sterile corporate work assessment tools that ignore most real indicators of employee worth and struggled to avoid telling the boss off because of it? And whether we do or not, how many of us haven't found ourselves tempted to drown our troubles soaking up alcoholic beverages in a bar?

Aside from the fact that I am a former 3M employee--yes, I did a stint in "sandpaper"--I found the movie to be great entertainment. If you have yet to see Envy, don't take it too seriously. Let your mind drift off to weird philosophical meaning if you wish but mainly just sit back and laugh.

Rob

[–] 20 years ago

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[–] Roiin07 20 years ago

I think the reason i didnt like it is because my expectations were so high. Im a big Stiller fan and i enjoy Walken and Jack Black very much. But this is the first movie, that after watching it, i said to myself "what a waste of money, i hated it." I didnt really hate it, but i didnt like it much.

Its a lot like Malibu's Most Wanted, in the sense that you laugh a lot, but not throughout the entire movie. It gets boring.

[–] aurelie_ledoyen 20 years ago

I'm a fan of both Ben Stiller and Jack(Jaebbles) and think that this was one of those films where the casting of these 2 together caused people to expect a sort of laugh-out-of-you-seat comedy.

It was different than anything I'd seen before, but I really liked it. Sort of a dark comedy without the darkness. I wanna say 'dramedy', but it was much quirkier and funnier than a dramedy, at least to me.

How can anyone not like it just for Jack Black's character, he was a sweetheart and totally hilarious as always!

Always... no, no... never... forget to check your references.

[–] shiney1972 20 years ago

I loved the film. I know, I know. But I loved it. I need some help though. There is no soundtrack for the movie and I really really need to find out what the title is to the song that was playing on the radio (Walking and Stiller were singing it too, I think) when they were in the van while the horse was strapped to the roof. pleasepleaseplease tell me what it was. my email is [email protected]

any help would be greatly appreciated. I can't find it anywhere, and my wife will kill me if I rent the movie again just to find that song.

[–] Andrewjc009 20 years ago

god i hope like hell that was a lame attempt at a troll :/

[–] 20 years ago

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