Along Came Polly
The Plot:
Ben Stiller plays
risk-averse Reuben Feffer, whose best-laid plans for life and love careen
wildly off track when his bride dumps him on their honeymoon for a muscle-bound
scuba instructor. Stunned, humiliated and in the grip of acute indigestion,
Reuben plans to play it safer than ever. But a chance encounter with an adventure-craving,
childhood friend named Polly (Jennifer Aniston) shoots him into a whirlwind
of extreme sports, spicy foods, ferrets, salsa dancing and living in the moment.
(From Yahoo Movies)
My Thoughts: (Reviewed by K-Billy)
Along Came Polly is a comedy that tells the story of Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller), a risk analyst that is wary of taking any and all chances. In the opening of the film Reuben gets married to his fiancé, played by Debra Messing. However while on their honeymoon Reuben sadly walks in on his new bride having sex with their scuba instructor (Hank Azaria). Crushed Reuben returns back home, having to hear advice on life from his former film star friend (Phillip Seymour Hoffman). That is until he meets Polly (Jennifer Aniston), a girl that he knew from grade school who sparks his interest. Sparks fly when the clash of personalities come together, and Reuben thinks he’s once again found the one. But how will Reuben’s neurotic behavior and Polly’s penchant for a little more risky way of living affect their future.
This has to be about the fourth film Ben Stiller has been in in the past 4 months. The man is working in overdrive and so far many of his films aren’t turning out to be that good. Envy, received a collect D from the critics, which is a hard score to get unless your film really happens to be terrible. And Starsky and Hutch, while entertaining was ultimately not as funny as it was supposed to be and mildly unsatisfying. Do not fret however, because Stiller’s new film Dodgeball looks to be quite funny. Sadly, this movie is not as fortunate. The stories simple enough and standard romantic comedy fare but at a little past the half way mark you simply stop caring about what's going to happen. The ending of this film falls into a downward spiral of clichés and precious moments that mostly make you want to throw up…mostly.
Which brings me to the acting. Ben Stiller portrays Reuben Feffer, the neurotic risk analyst, and not surprisingly, Ben Stiller plays him like so many other comedy characters that he’s been doing lately. I’d say he’s got a little bit of Greg Fauker in him from Meet The Parents. I’m not sure whether to blame Stiller or the way the character was written, but either way he’s not very interesting. To be honest the only reason I went to see this movie was to watch the gorgeous Jennifer Aniston strut her stuff onscreen. She’s amusing and likable in this film but very similar to a Rachel type character from Friends which takes away from her performance. It’s not as if I really expected her to play the part any other way, but at times I was looking for Ross, Phoebe, Chandler, Monica, and Joey to show up and invite Polly Prince over to the Central Perk. The standout in this film is Phillip Seymour Hoffman. His basketball scenes with Stiller where he shouts out various phrases while shooting and missing horribly are hilarious. White Chocolate!! Rain Dance!! And any time a character comes up with a new word that’s sure to enter into people’s vocabulary you know it’s a good performance. Shart anyone? The best aspect of his character is his inability to let go of his fifteen minutes of fame, and his denial. Simply amusing.
While I really didn’t have much expectations for this movie I was overall disappointed anyway. Yes, when I saw it in the theater I laughed quite hard, but that was more so because I was sitting with eight friends in the front row then because anything in the movie was all that funny. The comedy in it is few and far between and the performances aren’t really that great, with the exception of Hoffman. The only reason I can recommend it is some nice sexy scenes with Jennifer Aniston.
Starring: Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing, Philip Seymour Hoffman,
Hank Azaria
Directed by: John Hamburg
Rated PG-13