# Envy (2004 film)
**Envy** is a 2004 American black comedy directed by [Barry Levinson](https://www.edgepedia.org/barry-levinson) and starring [Ben Stiller](https://www.edgepedia.org/ben-stiller) and [Jack Black](https://www.edgepedia.org/jack-black) as two best friends whose relationship collapses when one becomes rich from an invention the other refused to invest in.[1](https://www.levinson.com/envy) The film was written by Steve Adams, produced by Levinson and Paula Weinstein, and distributed by DreamWorks Pictures.[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63056-ENVY) Released wide on April 30, 2004, it earned about $14.6 million worldwide against a budget reported between $20 million and $40 million, and drew some of the weakest reviews of its stars' careers.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) • [4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1131155-envy)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / writer | Barry Levinson; screenplay by Steve Adams[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63056-ENVY) |
| Lead cast | Ben Stiller (Tim Dingman), Jack Black (Nick Vanderpark), Rachel Weisz (Debbie Dingman), Amy Poehler (Natalie Vanderpark), Christopher Walken (J-Man)[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63056-ENVY) |
| Premise | Tim turns down a stake in Nick's spray Vapoorize, which makes dog feces vanish; Nick becomes a multimillionaire and Tim is consumed by envy[5](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/envy/) |
| Release | Wide release April 30, 2004 (DreamWorks); 99 minutes; PG-13 for language and sexual/crude humor[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) |
| Box office | $13,548,322 domestic, $14,566,246 worldwide; opening weekend $6,160,886 in 2,445 theaters[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) |
| Budget | $20,000,000 per The Numbers; $40,000,000 per Box Office Mojo[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) • [6](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3729884673/) |
| Reception | 7% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 115 reviews; 27% audience score[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1131155-envy) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Tim Dingman (Stiller) and Nick Vanderpark (Black) are best friends, neighbors, and co-workers at a sandpaper factory.[1](https://www.levinson.com/envy) • [7](https://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/movies/article/smell-something-it-s-the-stench-of-envy-1143574.php) Nick, a dreamer, conceives of Vapoorize, a spray that makes dog excrement disappear into thin air, and offers Tim a 50 percent share in the venture.[5](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/envy/) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004) Tim, unable to see how it could work, declines the investment.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004)
The product works and becomes a worldwide sensation, making Nick enormously wealthy while Tim, who lives across the street, seethes with envy.[5](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/envy/) • [9](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/envy/umc.cmc.2er1jatko1yh1ccc26u34k6pe) Nick does not want to move away, so he builds a mansion opposite Tim's house, complete with a full-size carousel, a yellow [Lamborghini](https://www.edgepedia.org/lamborghini), a butler, and a white horse.[9](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/envy/umc.cmc.2er1jatko1yh1ccc26u34k6pe) Tim's envy leads to outlandish activities involving revenge and a cover-up: he accidentally kills Nick's horse with a bow and arrow, an incident that drives much of the later plot.[9](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/envy/umc.cmc.2er1jatko1yh1ccc26u34k6pe) • [8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004) After his life melts down, Tim meets a vagabond who calls himself J-Man (Walken) at a saloon, who offers advice and has a plan to turn the tables and profit himself.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004) • [10](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/envy)
## Production
The project began at [Castle Rock Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/castle-rock-entertainment), the Warner Bros.-based company, after a pitch by [Larry David](https://www.edgepedia.org/larry-david), who is credited on the film as an executive producer.[11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/) • [1](https://www.levinson.com/envy) Warner Bros. would not meet the $40 million budget Castle Rock had packaged, and DreamWorks took over financing.[11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/) The film finished production in 2002, received poor test screenings, was pushed back from a planned May 2003 release, and was briefly in danger of going straight to video.[11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/)
Roger Ebert, the longtime [Chicago Sun-Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/chicago-sun-times) critic, reported that the screenplay was by Steve Adams "reportedly with uncredited input by Larry David."[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004) The credited crew includes cinematographer Tim Maurice Jones, editors Stu Linder and Blair Daily, and composer [Mark Mothersbaugh](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-mothersbaugh).[2](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63056-ENVY) Animal action was monitored under the American Humane Association's No Animals Was Harmed program; the dead horse was played by prop horses, and the rearing-horse sequence combined a real horse, a stunt rider, and a stuffed prop stitched together in editing.[5](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/envy/)
## Release and box office
DreamWorks opened the film wide on April 30, 2004 in 2,445 theaters.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) It opened sixth for the weekend with $6,160,886, which accounted for 45.5 percent of its eventual domestic total, and grosses fell 59 percent in the second weekend.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) The domestic total was $13,548,322, with only $1,017,924 from international markets, a 93.0 percent domestic share; worldwide gross was $14,566,246, about 0.7 times the $20 million production budget listed by The Numbers.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy) Box Office Mojo lists the budget as $40,000,000, a figure Bomb Report also cites for the packaged budget Castle Rock proposed.[6](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3729884673/) • [11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/) The film reached home video on September 28, 2004, from DreamWorks Video.[3](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy)
Bomb Report notes that 2004 was a crowded year for Stiller, with four other films released that year ([Along Came Polly](https://www.edgepedia.org/along-came-polly), Starsky and Hutch, DodgeBall, and [Meet the Fockers](https://www.edgepedia.org/meet-the-fockers)), and Envy was the only one that bombed.[11](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/)
## Reception
The film was panned by critics. Rotten Tomatoes records a 7 percent Tomatometer score from 115 reviews, with the site's critics consensus stating that Jack Black and Ben Stiller "fail to wring laughs from a script that's essentially one extended poop joke"; the audience Popcornmeter stood at 27 percent.[4](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1131155-envy)
Ebert gave the film two stars. He wrote that the screenplay was best at showing a friendship being destroyed by envy but weak at exploiting the comic potential of the invention, and that the story strayed into plot logistics involving the dead horse and a merry-go-round. He praised Walken's J-Man, whose dialogue he described as "Walkenized," saying strange things in strange oracular ways, but noted the character was not used enough by the plot.[8](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004) William Arnold of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer called the film "one extended dog-poop joke," arguing that instead of focusing on the comedy of envy it concentrated on scatology, and that Levinson, a director he credited with Bugsy and Rain Man, had no gift for crude humor.[7](https://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/movies/article/smell-something-it-s-the-stench-of-envy-1143574.php) A Daily Iowan review noted that not even Walken could save the movie.[12](https://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/DI/2004/di2004-05-06.pdf)
## References
1. [Envy (2004), The Official Website of Barry Levinson](https://www.levinson.com/envy)
2. [Envy (2004), AFI Catalog](https://catalog.afi.com/Film/63056-ENVY)
3. [Envy (2004), Box Office and Financial Information, The Numbers](https://www.the-numbers.com/movie/Envy)
4. [Envy, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/1131155-envy)
5. [Envy (2004), American Humane Association production report](https://www.americanhumane.org/production/envy/)
6. [Envy, Box Office Mojo](https://www.boxofficemojo.com/release/rl3729884673/)
7. [Smell something? It's the stench of 'Envy', Seattle Post-Intelligencer, April 29, 2004](https://www.seattlepi.com/entertainment/movies/article/smell-something-it-s-the-stench-of-envy-1143574.php)
8. [Envy movie review & film summary, Roger Ebert, April 30, 2004](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/envy-2004)
9. [Envy, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/us/movie/envy/umc.cmc.2er1jatko1yh1ccc26u34k6pe)
10. [Envy, Paramount Pictures](https://www.paramountpictures.com/movies/envy)
11. [Envy (2004): Nearly Went Straight to Video, Bomb Report](https://bombreport.com/yearly-breakdowns/2004-2/envy/)
12. [Daily Iowan, May 6, 2004](https://dailyiowan.lib.uiowa.edu/DI/2004/di2004-05-06.pdf)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 2003 to 2004 › Titles 1 to L*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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