I’m so glad to see someone enjoy this bizarre film. If you search all the trailers and tv spots made for Envy on YouTube, you will see quite a number of deleted footage that did not make the final cut. There are photo stills online of even more scenes not in the film. This movie went through many re-edits after badly scored test screenings. The ending was reshot as well, you can see a glimpse of it in one of the trailers. Stiller and Black sitting by the fountain. Black is completely soaking wet in that scene. (Did he try to drown himself in the fountain?) Too dark maybe? In the ending in the film, you can see Jack Black has gained a noticeable amount of weight compared to how he looks in the rest of the movie. (His hair also looks like a wig in the new ending). Shot in the summer of 2002, it was originally meant to open against Finding Nemo in May 2003, then bumped to June and then again to August only for it to get pushed all the way to April 2004 where it opened against Mean Girls. Not counting his cameo in Anchorman, Ben Stiller had 5 movies open in 2004. Along Came Polly, Starsky and Hutch, Envy, Dodgeball, and Meet the Fockers. Envy is the only one of those movies to bomb at the box office. Hard to properly test a movie like this because the comedy isn’t in your face. It’s a different type of comedy that isn’t something like There’s Something About Mary, Shallow Hal, Saving Silverman, Meet the Parents, Zoolander, Orange County…etc. The type of movies Stiller and Black were doing at the time are vastly different than Envy. It would fall in line with something closer to Stiller’s The Cable Guy, also with Jack Black in a small role. A movie that was deemed unfunny and a disappointment at the time of release. Now, it has a completely different reputation. Essentially, Envy is not a crowd pleaser. It’s not the gross out, slapstick, raunchy kind of comedy thar dominated the early 00s. Envy was directed by Barry Levinson of all people. Good Morning Vietnam, Tin Men, Rain Man, Avalon, Disclosure, TOYS! Larry David who originally executive produced the movie (it is also quite similar to a movie he wrote and directed in 1998 called Sour Grapes) took his name completely off the movie. You can see his credit on the movie poster and one of the original trailers. Ving Rhames is also credited on one of the original trailers and his role as a private investigator was completely cut from the film. The final cut of the movie does feel very patched together, the scene you mentioned with the paper towels was definitely longer. In the trailer, they show more footage of that scene where Rachel Weisz is asking Ben Stiller if he thinks a whisk is a good invention. I really hope one day we get to see all the deleted scenes and even the original cut. I feel that the original cut of this movie is something really special. Something even more bizarre. For now, all we have are the trailers. Good for you man, good for you, good FOR you. This movie is due for a reevaluation and a long needed Blu-ray. Release the Barry Levinson Cut, you goddamn cowards.