Along Came Polly Review
by Bob Bloom (bobbloom AT iquest DOT net)February 19th, 2004
ALONG CAME POLLY (2004) 2 stars out of 4. Starring Ben Stiller, Jennifer Aniston, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Debra Messing; Hank Azaria, Bryan Brown, Alec Baldwin and Bob Dishy. Written and directed by John Hamburg. Rated PG-13. Running time: Approx. 90 mins.
He’s a buttoned-down, play it safe kind of guy. She’s a free-spirited, live-for-the-moment kind of gal.
Where else but in the movies would two such people find each other.
He, Reuben Feffer (Ben Stiller), was dumped on his honeymoon when his bride runs off with a scuba diving instructor.
She, Polly Prince (Jennifer Aniston), has just returned to New York after roaming the globe trying new experiences, jobs, relationships.
Reuben is the star risk assessor for a leading insurance company. Polly is a waitress, and not a very good one at that.
Yea, you can see where this is going. They have as much in common as J Lo and Osama bin Laden. But by the end of Along Came Polly, though, Reuben, through Polly’s influence, is a changed man.
Agreeable would be the adequate word to describe this fluff piece.
No great demands are made on the actors: Stiller plays his usual easily embarrassed, often humiliated young professional.
Aniston is disorganized, flighty, cute and funny as Reuben’s new best friend.
Along Came Polly offers no surprises or twists; it’s a simple, straight up romantic comedy, a diverting date movie.
The charm of the players carries the film. The stars are aided by some rather bizarre turns by Philip Seymour Hoffman as Reuben’s ego-inflated actor friend; Hank Azaria as the scuba instructor with the thickest French accent since Pepe LePew; and Alec Baldwin as Reuben’s crass boss.
The cast also includes Debra Messing as Reuben’s bride and Bryan Brown as a adventuresome Australian tycoon whose risk factors Reuben is assessing.
Polly is a January movie; one of those features the studio dumps during the doldrums to drum up a few extra bucks for the coffers.
It’s not a bad movie, nor is it memorable. The feature just came along to fill some screen space. Stiller and Aniston have done better work — and worse.
Bob Bloom is the film critic at the Journal and Courier in Lafayette, Ind.. He can be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or at [email protected]. Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Journal and Courier Web site: www.jconline.com
Bloom's reviews also can be found at the Rottentomatoes Web site: www.rottentomatoes.com or at the Internet Movie Database Web site:
www.imdb.com/M/review_by?Bob+Bloom
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