Ben Stiller is the movie star equivalent of J??germeister -a shot here and there can be stomached, even relished. Unfortunately, there's always that one night where you overdo it, going back to the bottle entirely too many times until you wake up in Guadalajara wondering what happened to your watch. And your pants.
Ladies and gentlemen, there are five-count 'em, FIVE-films starring Ben Stiller on schedule to be released by the end of 2004. The first two (\Along Came Polly"" and ""Starsky and Hutch"") have already hit theaters, raking in over $80 million each on their way to their positions as the third and fourth place box-office earners thus far. Before anyone sees this as much of an accomplishment, keep in mind that just behind them in fifth is ""Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed.""
There's still the little-heard-of ""Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story"" scheduled for June and the potentially decent ""Meet the Fockers"" scheduled for late December. But the most disturbing case of Stiller overexposure is ""Envy,"" limping its way into theaters this weekend. Starring Stiller and Jack Black, ""Envy"" is about Black's character getting rich from an invention that vaporizes dog crap, and Stiller's resulting jealousy. With that spectacular story premise going for it, what could go wrong? Nevermind that this is a film shot nearly two years ago and, rumor has it, almost went straight to video until Black hit it big last fall with ""School of Rock.""
Are you kidding me? Does anyone still think Stiller is more than mildly entertaining? The only good comedies he's starred in were ""There's Something About Mary"" and ""Meet the Parents."" In the meantime, he's delivered disposable crap like ""Mystery Men"" and ""Zoolander,"" punctuated by the only slightly above average ""Keeping the Faith.""
Personally, I was never impressed with Stiller in the first place. In each of the films that he is supposedly starring, Stiller is consistently shown up by the talent surrounding him. Cameron Diaz did it in ""Mary,"" Edward Norton did it in ""Faith,"" and Owen Wilson does it in nearly every film featuring the duo, from ""The Royal Tenenbaums"" to ""Zoolander."" I have no doubt that Jack Black will do the same in ""Envy,"" and that Robert de Niro will repeat his dominance in the sequel to ""Meet the Parents"" come Christmas.
I fully understand the fundamental driving force of Hollywood is earning money, and Stiller films do that. They're basic comedian vehicles which usually cost about half of what they make at the American box-office alone. But to risk oversaturating audiences with this much Stiller this quickly is career suicide. It makes no business sense-and, frankly, makes each of his movies seem that much more forgettable. Unless he demonstrates some new comedic skills or develops some serious acting chops (see Jim Carrey in ""Eternal Sunshine"" earlier this year), then Stiller's act will be nothing but nauseating. Just like that J??germeister I mentioned earlier.
wwtemby@wisc.edu
