No stepping around it: ‘Envy’ is a waste of talent

Wasting the conceptually ripe pairing of Ben Stiller and Jack Black and the considerable potential of its premise, “Envy” is a woeful little comedy that runs out of steam shortly after its opening sequence.

Directed by Barry Levinson from the first produced screenplay by veteran writer Steve Adams, the movie explores the destructive nature of its title emotion on a friendship. One of its many problems is that there is little evidence why these guys are even friends other than proximity.

Tim Dingman (Stiller) and Nick Vanderpark (Black) live across the street from one another on a tiny cul-de-sac in the Valley. They commute to their dreary jobs together, and their families do everything together. But it’s hard to see what Tim sees in Nick or why Nick doesn’t resent Tim’s condescending manner.

On their daily drive to work, Tim seems downright annoyed by Nick, a wide-eyed poster child for adult attention deficit disorder, and his cockeyed “inventions.” Tim testily points out that they aren’t actually inventions, they are merely ideas.

When one of Nick’s “inventions” turns into an infomercial sensation after Tim passes on an opportunity to invest in the research-and-development phase, the table is set for Nick’s ascension to wealth and prosperity while his neighbor sulks.

The invention is Vapoorizer, a spray that makes dog droppings disappear, and its mega-sales allow Nick to build a huge mansion. Not wanting to leave his buddy behind, Nick builds his splendiferous new digs on the cul-de-sac, unintentionally rubbing Tim’s nose in its grandeur.

The sometimes overwound Stiller is fairly effective, underplaying as Tim slides into a morass of resentment. Tim’s jealousy of Nick’s success is fanned by his wife Debbie’s (Rachel Weisz) constant reminders of the missed opportunity.

Things liven up a bit with the arrival of Christopher Walken as J-Man, a denizen of a bar that Tim happens into at the depths of his misery. When Walken does comedy these days, he seems to be doing Kevin Spacey doing Walken, which for some reason makes you laugh regardless of what comes out of his mouth.

Black is, well, Jack Black. A sweeter, perhaps more docile version, Black still possesses the brow-cocked intensity put to better use in “School of Rock” and “High Fidelity,” but the two main actors are never given the opportunity to connect. Near the end of the film, Stiller gets to unleash a long-winded, breath-defying apologia -- but it’s a case of too little, too late.

*

‘Envy’

MPAA rating: PG-13 for language and sexual/crude humor

Times guidelines: Tame by today’s scatological standards

Ben Stiller...Tim Dingman

Jack Black...Nick Vanderpark

Rachel Weisz...Debbie Dingman

Amy Poehler...Natalie Vanderpark

Christopher Walken...J-Man

DreamWorks Pictures and Columbia Pictures present, in association with Castle Rock Entertainment, a Baltimore/Spring Creek Pictures production, released by DreamWorks. Director Barry Levinson. Producer Barry Levinson and Paula Weinstein. Executive producer Mary McLaglen. Screenplay by Steve Adams. Cinematographer Tim Maurice Jones. Editors Stu Linder, Blair Daily. Costume designer Gloria Gresham. Music Mark Mothersbaugh. Production designer Victor Kempster. Art director Seth Reed. Set decorator Ronald R. Reiss. Running time: 1 hour, 39 minutes.

In general release.