Synopsis

Tim Dingman and Nick Vanderpark are best friends, neighbors, and co-workers until Nick's bizarre invention, Vapoorize, makes him a multimillionaire. Tim, who dismissed the idea and passed on the opportunity to invest, becomes increasingly resentful as Nick's success transforms their lives. His jealousy damages his marriage, his career, and his friendship, especially after he turns to a mysterious drifter for guidance.

Factoids & Trivia

• Principal photography took place from July 29 through September 2002, nearly two years before the film's April 30, 2004 theatrical release.

• Although the story sends Tim and Nick to Rome, those scenes were filmed in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Other production locations included Santa Clarita and Culver City, California.

• The horse-rearing sequence combined footage of Jack Black riding a real horse, a stunt rider, and a stuffed prop horse. The production also made two stuffed horses for the later "dead Corky" gags.

• The Vapoorize cans used around birds and sheep contained only air. The animal performers were monitored under American Humane's "No Animals Were Harmed" program.

• After weak test-screening reactions, the film was reportedly in danger of going straight to video. The theatrical success of Jack Black's School of Rock helped support its release in theaters.

• DreamWorks executive Jeffrey Katzenberg publicly apologized for the film during a 2004 Cannes press conference for Shark Tale.

• Envy earned about $14.5 million worldwide against a reported budget ranging from $20 million to $40 million, and Ben Stiller received a Razzie nomination for Worst Actor.